Luuk Ikink thinks it is a great pity that on the initiative of NPO, Talpa and his own RTL it has been decided to keep the viewing figures secret for a week from now on. Unless channels want to cheer…
The medium of television is losing a lot of urgency now that the viewing figures will remain secret from now on. While there are currently daily reports in all major news media about the viewing figures of the night before, both hits and flops, that will come to an end after this week. Then the scores are only published after a week, to first boost them with delayed viewers.
Luke disappointed
Luuk Ikink, the presenter of RTL Boulevard, is very sorry. From now on, he and his colleagues will appear slightly lower on the viewing figures, because his program has relatively few delayed viewers. “Monday will be the viewing figures from last Monday [nog een keer] published with a week overlap. But then ‘completely’ of course.”
In other words: with delayed viewers. He continues on Instagram: “And then ‘new’ postponed figures from 4 September. It’s a pity. So we will not know the next morning how much the Dutch national team has been watched, or B&B. Or The Smartest. Except if the broadcasters and stations want to, they are allowed to publish about their own programs.”
Jubilant channels
And the latter is of course exactly what is going on here: TV channels want to control what comes out about the viewing figures. A flop? They try to keep them under wraps for a week. A ratings hit? They are jubilant about it in press releases. And that flop? They hope that the media will no longer find it interesting after a week.
Joost Maiburg, the viewing figure connoisseur of RTL Boulevard, has difficulty with that. He questioned NMO, the organization behind this increasingly shadowy viewing figure measurement. “When are channels allowed to share linear ratings (the morning after, ed.)? It has been agreed that they ‘only do this in very exceptional cases’.”
Hesitant
Only in very exceptional cases? Ah, so only with ‘exceptionally’ large ratings hits. “It can also only concern their own programmes”, says Joost. “In addition, only the absolute figures may be mentioned and not, for example, market shares or terms such as ‘best viewed of the evening’, because you are not yet allowed to compare it with anything.”
He continues on his analysis channel: “When asked which exceptions allow broadcasters to publish figures, the answer remained vague: ‘It is difficult to make definitions for this. So we said: only from our own content and we have asked all parties to exercise restraint.”
Tina is bummed
Tina Nijkamp, the most important viewing figures expert in our country, thinks it all a travesty. “Vague. That is indeed the best word for this. 😂”
Who is responsible for this shady viewing figure construction? So the TV channels. “We hereby respond to a request made by the NPO, RTL and Talpa, which has been approved by the board,” concludes the NMO.