It is seriously starting to look like the talk show Op1 is dying. Things are rumbling behind the scenes and the big bogeyman seems to be chief bobo Bert Huisjes. “He’s a frustrated man.”
BNNVARA caused quite a shock yesterday afternoon: the broadcaster has decided to withdraw from the talk show Op1. What the hell is going on? De Volkskrant revealed it in an evening revealing article. The problem in a nutshell: chief bobo Bert Huisjes appears to be behaving impossible.
Mighty Bert
Bert, who is also suspected of making a highly inappropriate comment against Roos Moggré, is causing quite a bit of annoyance behind the scenes. Because of him, two backstage celebrities resigned in one week: BNNVARA’s political editor Peter Kee and editor-in-chief Rachel Franse of producer TVBV.
Bert’s power is great. Although Op1 is a collaboration between several public broadcasters, its WNL is the authorized broadcaster, making it the so-called ‘secretary’ who consults with the two editors-in-chief. So Rachel, one of them, has left.
About the blade
Bert accused Rachel of ‘putting employees to the sword’, but all editors De Volkskrant spoke to deny that. Isn’t Bert just the problem? Rachel resigned because Bert would have created a ‘for her personally unsafe working environment’. And according to BNNVARA, Bert is holding back an investigation into the working atmosphere.
Bert’s leadership is not to the liking. Last November, for example, he blocked the arrival of Angela de Jong with a veto, ‘because the AD journalist had been critical of the role of NPO boss Frans Klein’. Peter: “Some politicians are rejected for no good reason, just because they don’t belong to the broadcaster’s color.”
Is Bert guilty of misconduct? According to columnist Jan Dijkgraaf, it seems so. He writes: “I have no doubt for a second that you fit perfectly in the Van Nieuwkerk-Vandermeersch-Albrecht-Wiersma row, in terms of an unsafe working atmosphere.”
Potpourri
One thing is certain: the Op1 experiment, in which one program is made by several broadcasters, has failed. Now only EO, MAX and WNL remain. “Great time to stop this weird musical chairs completely and choose two duos that alternate every three months,” tweets TV connoisseur Rob Goossens of RTL Boulevard.
Journalist Hans Laroes, former boss of the NOS Journaal: “Isn’t it telling that not a single Op1 presenter has developed into a real TV personality? Alternating duos, that is of course a disadvantage here, but there has been enough time now. Time for a more ambitious NPO program in terms of content; without WNL.”
Egomania
Media journalist Mark Koster finds it all very telling. “Look there, the sandbox of our broadcasting system, with egomaniac owners who harass each other. No one cares about the content at all, they say so. What really interests her is who decides who sits in the seats. BNN is taking revenge because they had to share a slot in 2020.”
He continues: “So abolish those broadcasters, put on them the best makers and journalists, and interviewers from all denominations who are knowledgeable in the field, but stop this madness. The viewers are still the most duped.”
Rutger Castricum already feared this kind of reaction: “Op1… In other words: Good evening, who wants a stick to beat the NPO?”
Embarrassing display
Investigative journalist Kim van Keken finds it unbelievable. “This is an embarrassing display. Especially since Bert Huisjes is unable to take two very skilled talk show makers such as Peter Kee and Rachel Franse seriously. For the rest, of course, it remains very problematic that a small broadcaster like WNL is the secretary of such a prominent program.”
Former politician Frans Weisglas: “I think it would be a good time to stop the entire Op1 formula with changing presentation duos and return to a daily program with one presenter à la Jinek and formerly Pauw.”
What does Antoinette say?
Antoinette Hertsenberg, whose broadcaster AvroTros does not participate in Op1, is not surprised. In Marcel & Gijs: “I think this is an effect of all those broadcasters together and they all have to profile themselves. You will be judged on that and then you will get into an argument about it. One evening the EO wants something, then WNL wants right-wing police and BNNVARA wants something wokes.”
Host Gijs Groenteman: “The poor editors should arrange it every day and Bert Huisjes should stand by with a whip or something.”
And fellow guest Liesbeth van Dijk: “Bert Huisjes is a very frustrated person, period. (…) This man will go away.”