Frank van Leeuwen is sawing the chair legs of Eva Jinek. The WNL presenter would eventually like to create a talk show where she currently broadcasts. “I want that seven o’clock slot.”
Eva Jinek must have breathed a sigh of relief when the historic RTL Tonight debacle occurred on RTL 4 late in the evening. The presenter left the sinking ship on time. She had to give up her mega-high commercial TV salary, but her career is doing better than ever with her seven-hour show on NPO 1.
Frank vs Eva
However, the chair legs of Eva (47) are now being sawn, because the young TV talent Frank van Leeuwen (30) is also seen in that spot. He currently works at Goedemorgen Nederland, where Eva also started, and eventually wants to work towards a program in the evening of the country’s most watched TV channel.
Frank says in the VARA guide: “In eight years? I will be 38… If I dream, I would like to have the seven-hour time slot with a talk show that is similar to what Eva is making now. Something like what DWDD used to be.”
Late night
Still, Frank hasn’t completely figured it out yet. “Or, and here comes my internal struggle… Maybe a late-night talk show… With room for a robust political interview over a good glass of wine.”
Could he also present Pauw & De Wit? As a summer substitute, for example? “Nowadays it is indeed also a broadly oriented political talk show, so in that sense it is a place that could suit me. The broadcasting color has diminished there.”
Clear color
Frank is of course now with the right-wing conservative WNL, while Pauw & De Wit broadcaster BnnVara is left-progressive. “Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s good that there are programs that have a clear color. WNL on Sunday is also a more right-wing talk show than Goedemorgen Nederland.”
He continues: “But we make the NPO breakfast show, Pauw & De Wit make the NPO late night talk show, every viewer should be able to feel at home there.”
Too right?
So Frank himself is not fanatically right-wing? “It is important to me that the themes that belong to a broadcaster also suit me. A lot of politics, economics and some national pride. That suits me.”
WNL suits him well, he says. “Certainly. It is an energetic, small club with short lines of communication. That can be a risk, but also a strength. It is a place where everyone gets every opportunity. Do you like this? Go ahead and do it. That has helped me enormously.”
