Arjen Lubach should be paid considerably more at the NPO, according to TV expert Victor Vlam. He argues for an exception rule, so that his salary can be increased from two tons to one million euros.
Most A-stars at public broadcasting earn the salary maximum, which is 216,000 euros this year. It is likely that Arjen Lubach as a presenter of a daily program will also receive two hundred thousand. Far too low, thinks TV connoisseur Victor Vlam. He argues in his podcast The Communicados for a much higher salary.
Heavy work
Victor advises Arjen to move to the seven o’clock lock of NPO 1. “Then he probably has to work a little more and that is really hard work. I feel sorry for Arjen Lubach, because it’s a tough job. I think we should be really honest about that. That is why I would like to present the following as a solution: give him more money.”
Arjen gets far too little, says Victor. “As far as I’m concerned, we value our top talents too little. Arjen Lubach is currently under the WNT standard, which in 2022 will be 216 thousand euros per year, including all kinds of allowances. I would just be in favor of just giving that man a million a year, just like Eva Jinek.”
16 million
Arjen’s American counterparts also receive a lot more money, he says. “I think a lot of people are going to fall for it, but I think that’s unfair. I just checked out how much Stephen Colbert earns in the United States. He makes a similar program as Arjen Lubach and he gets 16 million. That is a huge amount.”
Victor continues: “Jimmy Fallon also gets 16 million a year and Jimmy Kimmel 15 million a year and James Corden 9 million a year. These are all people who earn considerably more than Arjen Lubach for the same work and the same working days. That does indicate that this is something that should be rewarded more.”
Salary too low
But in America there are many more people watching, right? “Stephen Colbert’s program, the most-watched late night show in the United States, (…) hovers around 3 million viewers. That means that with his salary of 16 million he only has three times as many viewers as Arjen Lubach with his salary of less than 200 thousand.”
“Then I think: this is simply too low a salary. What Arjen Lubach does has social value, because he knows how to explain complex subjects in a funny and accessible way for a large audience. This is someone we should cherish, this is a unique talent.”
Appointment
It would be good if the NPO top came to the realization that five times as much money should go to Arjen, Victor concludes. “Let’s just give him a million a year and make the deal: five days a week, nine months a year The Evening Show.”
He says it works both ways. “It will be a hard few years of work, but at the same time, we as the Netherlands benefit from it.”
The Communicados
The podcast The Communicados: