John de Mol instills quite a bit of fear in companies that make TV programs. They do not dare to speak out against the takeover of Talpa by RTL, says the podcast Koster & Van Dijk.
RTL Nederland wants to take over competitor Talpa Network. It would yield John de Mol no less than thirty percent of the shares in the Dutch branch of RTL. However, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) has yet to give the green light, and that will not happen just like that. For example, media giant DPG Media is strongly against the merger of RTL and Talpa.
Afraid of John
TV producers are also not happy with the TV monopoly that is emerging, but according to media journalist Mark Koster, they do not dare to speak out against the takeover. “Producers, the clubs that have to join RTL and Talpa pitchare quite afraid that John de Mol will get too big a position and never dare to say anything about it.”
According to Mark, it is a sign on the wall that the ACM asks the TV producers to tell them ‘on an anonymous basis’ how they view this, he says in the podcast. Koster & Van Dijk†
‘Nobody dares’
Colleague Ton F. van Dijk, the former boss of NPO 1, says: “There is no producer in the Netherlands who actually dares to say out loud that they are against such a merger, because imagine if it goes ahead after all. In fact, you always come across John de Mol and everywhere, so he is so powerful that no one dares to say: ‘We are not like that.’”
It is not for nothing that the producers only dare to talk anonymously, Ton continues. “The ACM then decides: we are going to conduct an anonymous survey, we will send a link to all producers and they will have to fill it in. So the essence is not so much the survey, but that it is done anonymously.”
closed door
If you, as a producer, speak out against the takeover, you will never get in with the vengeful John, Ton thinks. “Imagine that it leaks out or becomes known, then you can’t get in anymore. Then you just don’t get any more assignments.”
He continues: “By the way, that shows that this is a serious subject, because if those producers are so afraid that they will no longer receive orders… It does indicate what the power of John de Mol is. That’s what the whole competition issue is about.”
podcast
The podcast Koster & Van Dijk: