Linda de Mol and Paul de Leeuw are icons of Dutch television, but what does it actually mean in 2023 if you are a so-called A-star? They don’t score anymore…
There is no doubt about it: Paul de Leeuw and Linda de Mol are household names, celebrities that almost everyone in our country knows. They are icons of Dutch television and A-stars, but what can you buy for them these days? Times have clearly changed as they are both no longer crowd pleasers.
Big ratings hit
Is it going too far to call Paul and Linda faded glory? Maybe. But their viewing figures certainly give reason to ask that question. They can probably both fill an espresso cup with tears of ratings sadness on this Sunday morning, because what a misery, those ratings from last night.
Paul will probably be hit hardest. He sees his strongly criticized show Hotel Hollandia collapse from 1.1 million viewers last Saturday to 597 thousand viewers last night, reports the TinaOnderzoek Foundation. “Oof. A big ratings blow for Hotel Hollandia,” can be read on it ratings channel by TV expert Tina Nijkamp.
Almost halved
Tina thinks viewers are gone for good from Paul’s new show. “Paul de Leeuw’s program has almost halved: only 597 thousand viewers. Last week there were 1.1 million linear viewers. And that is a serious decline in viewership. And it even has fewer viewers than Ik Hou Van Holland: 600 thousand.”
Huh? Linda had 537 thousand last week. Does she really know how little to benefit from Paul’s horrible TV fall? Yes. Linda-Paul is now 1-1 again. But given the decline, this will probably be a big win for Linda in the coming weeks. DNA Singers on RTL 4 now wins the 9:30 p.m. slot.”
Political types
While Ik Hou Van Holland is a gray TV format, Hotel Hollandia is a brand new show that is still being tinkered with. “It was better than last week in terms of transitions, and it was an okay conversation with Jamai,” says Tina. “But the boy with his impressive book, did that fit into this entertainment show?”
She continues: “Furthermore, the viewer likes political types less than entertainment types and there were a lot of them. And Hugo Borst had a cameo role? The program does NOT yet meet an important condition for a successful format: that you can explain it in one sentence.”
Chantal in the lead
All in all, not good news for TV sixties Linda and Paul. Will we now see the TV nobility fall live? The much younger Chantal Janzen (44) certainly scores. And with an old program from Linda: Oh What A Year.
Tina: “Oh what a year scored surprisingly well. With 889 thousand viewers, it is number two on 8/8:30 PM and beats Best Singers in the target group 25 to 54 years: 26.9 versus 21 percent. So it was a nice viewing figure morning for Chantal.”