Lars Duursma, debate expert and opinion maker, thinks that people who still watch Good Times Bad Times in 2023 are ‘crazy Henkies’. “Faded glory!”
RTL 4 is cutting back more and more on Good Times Bad Times, the soap opera that was once a ratings cannon, but nowadays scores rather meager. Not only has the number of episodes been reduced from five to four per week, but the summer break is also a month earlier than usual this year. What is going on?
‘GTST not a competitor’
GTST is just a bit passé, says media connoisseur Victor Vlam in the podcast The Communicados. According to him, even competitor SBS 6 no longer takes this into account. “Prime time on SBS 6 already starts at 8.27 pm, so three minutes earlier than in the past. It is striking, because in the past they were really Nazis here at SBS.”
Previously, SBS 6 only wanted to start with the primetime titles after the GTST cliffhanger, Victor knows. “I think they are starting prime time a little earlier these days because GTST is actually no longer a major competitor. It used to be. GTST currently only scores around 700 thousand viewers. In the past, of course, it was much more.”
Silly henkie
You don’t postpone your programs for such a viewership, says Victor. “Nowadays they no longer have to take that into account. There are several signals that GTST is really way past its peak, because it has already gone back to four days a week and the summer break already starts on June 1. It indicates that it is also past glory.”
Co-host Lars Duursma makes fun of the people who still watch GTST. “As a viewer of Good Times Bad Times, shouldn’t you also realize that it’s past glory? One day less, longer breaks, etc. At a certain point, don’t you feel like you’re a crazy Henkie when you watch Good Times Bad Times?”
Out of fashion
Victor understands that comment. “Yes, yes, soap operas are really out of fashion internationally. I think that’s also something those people know, but there’s apparently an audience for it. Many American soap operas have also been discontinued.”
Lars: “If you feel that everything is coming to an end, then it is one self-fulfilling prophecy at a given moment. That will only get stronger.”
The Communicados
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