Olcay Gulsen and Ruud de Wild do not live up to the expectations that come with a spot on the main stage. Their real life soap on NPO 1 is a big flop. And she is especially concerned about that.
It doesn’t happen often that NPO 1 broadcasts a real life soap about celebrities, because we normally only see that on RTL 5 or SBS 6. Olcay Gulsen and Ruud de Wild would have fitted in perfectly with those channels, but on the main stage of Dutch television they are completely wrong. They are slain by viewers and critics.
Bread knife
Rob Goossens, the TV expert of RTL Boulevard, thinks it’s terribly bad. “Is broadcasting Ruud and Olcay a social experiment? What does it mean that after watching for three minutes I am already sawing my lower leg with a bread knife?” he tweeted during the broadcast last night.
It reminds former news boss Hans Laroes of the season when NPO 1 programmed all infantile TV shows, such as Tik M Aan and Showcolade. “Ruud and Olcay, that’s a kind of Showcolade, isn’t it?”
Low ratings
The first episode of Ruud en Olcay was watched by 586 thousand people (14 percent market share), good for the very last place in the top 15 viewing figure. Rob: “Viewers immediately realized it yesterday, but the figures from SKO now confirm it : Ruud and Olcay cause an ugly dip on NPO 1. This will certainly not happen again.”
Viewing figure oracle Tina Nijkamp thinks the same. “Is this surprising, this low score? Not really, although it was highly promoted and has a good influx. But the program does not have a BN there with a fan base (…) and there are too few side characters. That is the condition for a reality series to be successful.”
Olcay responds
Olcay has already commented on how she feels when the ratings are low prior to the first episode: jerk. “I would really be disappointed if it wasn’t viewed properly. Sorry, we’ve been working on this since November. I do have a kind of ambition level,” she said The Telegraph.
She continued: “I would really hate it if people didn’t like it and I would also really hate it if people didn’t look at it. I’m just being honest about that.”
Viewing figures
The viewing figures of Wednesday, April 26, 2023 (SKO):
Top 15 | Market shares (18-24h, 6+) |
|---|---|
| 01. Journal 20:00 (NPO1) 1,666,000 | 01. NPO1 / 21.4% |
| 02. Half past seven news (RTL4) 945,000 | 02. RTL4 / 19.3% |
| 03. Journal 18:00 (NPO1) 942,000 | 03. SBS6 / 13.2% |
| 04. RTL Boulevard (RTL4) 873,000 | 04. NPO2 / 8.8% |
| 05. Race across the world (RTL4) 861,000 | 05. RTL5 / 5.8% |
| 06. Today Inside (SBS6) 828,000 | 06. RTL7 / 3.3% |
| 07. Day and Night (NPO1) 809,000 | 07. RTL8 / 3.2% |
| 08. EenVandaag (NPO1) 799,000 | 08.NET5 / 3.2% |
| 09. Good Times Bad Times (RTL4) 757,000 | 09. Vero / 3.0% |
| 10. Op1 (NPO1) 716,000 | 10. NPO3 / 2.9% |
| 11. With the knife on the table (NPO2) 715,000 | 11.BBC / 1.4% |
| 12. Heart of the Netherlands (SBS6) 704,000 | 12. SBS9 / 1.3% |
| 13. Conversation with Prime Minister (NPO1) 650,000 | 13. FOX / 1.1% |
| 14. Khalid & Sophie (NPO1) 602,000 | 14. Paramount / 1.0% |
| 15. Ruud and Olcay (NPO1) 586,000 | 15. Comedy / 0.8% |
Market shares per channel group (18-24h, 6+) | More viewing figures at: |
| 01. Public Broadcasting 33.1% |  |
| 02. RTL Netherlands 32.2% | |
| 03. Talpa TV 20.7% |
Programs that did not make the top 15 include Beau (567 thousand), Shownieuws (553 thousand), Steenrijk Straatarm (544 thousand) and Nieuwsuur (514 thousand)