Johan Derksen is not disappointed that RTL is not interested in bringing back the men of Today Inside. He himself does not want to return to the channel group. “They’re out of luck!”
The men of Today Inside each earned 350,000 euros a year at RTL. They wanted to go to 450 thousand euros, but RTL offered no more than 390 thousand. The last known Talpa salary of Wilfred Genee is just under 1 million with Johan Derksen and René van der Gijp a few hundred thousand less. However, they seem to want more.
“Bad luck!”
However, the salary negotiations with Talpa are not progressing smoothly and what does not benefit their market value is that RTL publicly says that it is not interested in the men of VI. What does John think of that?
John doesn’t seem impressed. He says against RTL Boulevard: “You don’t think I’m going back again or something, do you? I don’t have the back and forth. No. RTL had the chance and let us walk for a few cents. Yes, unlucky.”
‘I’m 74’
The biggest asset in the contract negotiations seems to be Johan’s age. At 74 he no longer needs it. “John de Mol would like to continue, but I’m 74, right? At some point there will be an end. I can still handle it all physically now, but when you are 74, you will no longer sign long-term contracts.”
What does he know about the discussion with Talpa? “We have a manager, don’t we, who does that? Mr Gene. Van der Gijp and I do not interfere with that. Wilfred does the negotiations and if I have a good feeling, John de Mol hates him in the meantime.”
Glass of champagne
Everything will be fine, Johan expects. “We will hear about it when it is finished, because then we will have to take a picture with Mr De Mol with a glass of champagne. It always ends that way, because in his heart he is also disappointed when we go to RTL again, of course.”
Well, Johan himself already rules that out, Boulevard host Luuk Ikink notes: “I don’t know what else there is to negotiate. Then you either leave SBS and stop, or you stay with SBS.”
‘They are strong’
Colleague Miljuschka Witzenhausen disagrees. “They must have earned more than enough by now, right? They don’t have to go through, do they?”
She concludes: “They have a very strong negotiating position. They can just say, ‘We have enough. Take it or leave it.'”