Eva Jinek had four reasons to hand in her RTL mega salary and return to the public broadcaster. And an exciting salary structure is certainly not one of them…
It has come as a surprise to many people: Eva Jinek giving up her top salary at RTL – reportedly 1.2 million euros per year – and her mega holidays to work very long seasons at the NPO for a ‘paltry’ €200,000. She will earn six times as little, but will make more broadcasts. What exactly is behind this?
‘I’m making progress!’
Eva has four reasons for this, she explains NPO Radio 1. The most important? Her family. “I think I am improving enormously in terms of my life. I have a five-month-old baby and a five-year-old boy. I loved doing late night, it’s a magical time, but I can see my husband in the evening and take my child to school.”
Reason two? “What is very important for me: I alternated with other presenters and now I can be there eight months a year, four days a week. The viewer will experience that entire TV season with me. I’ve always wanted that and now it’s going to happen at seven o’clock. And I’m never tired again if all goes well. That seems nice to me too.”
Most wonderful time
Eva’s third argument is the time she gets on NPO 1: seven o’clock in the evening. “Seven o’clock is the best time the NPO has on NPO 1, so that is also a huge honor.”
The last reason? The challenge. “I’m also someone who throughout my career has been looking for new adventure and things I haven’t done yet. This is a different time and that requires something different from me. I love it. I never want to stay in one place for too long, so all those elements together mean that I feel like I’m making a lot of progress.”
Preparation time
Eva’s first year at AvroTros is lucky: she does get the two hundred thousand euros, but only has to work from September onwards. “I have to be honest: in the twenty years that I have been working in journalism, I have never had such a long preparation time. If it were up to me, I would start now, but the broadcast schedule was full, so I can’t start earlier.”
What is actually going to be the name of the program? ‘Jinek’ again? “We are still thinking about it. It was me too… I don’t know. I thought: now it might be time for something different.”
‘Eva’ then? “That has passed. We are still in the brainstorming process, so if people have ideas…”
Salary construction
What is Eva’s reaction to the rumors about a salary structure? “I understand that people ask about the money. It was also an unreal salary. That’s just how it is. It was fantastic, but the salary I get now is still a huge salary and I get a different kind of life, which suits me much better.”
The cropped hostess concludes: “There is no salary structure. I don’t get money from anyone other than AvroTros. I’m making progress. I can make something at seven o’clock, I also see my children growing up, it is the best time of the NPO. It’s a no-brainer for me.”