Peter van der Vorst exults in a press release and in front of the camera of RTL Boulevard about the scores of the Renze Klamer show Het Onbekende, but the viewing figure connoisseur of the show section is critical.
Starting with 794 thousand viewers and dropping to 640 thousand viewers: you would think that all alarm bells would go off at RTL, but nothing could be further from the truth. The channel sent out a jubilant press release and RTL’s TV boss Peter van der Vorst continued it in front of the RTL Boulevard camera. It would all be postponed and viewed fantastically.
‘Really disappointing’
But can Peter keep up with all this now that The Unknown has collapsed further last night to a downright meager 516 thousand viewers and 12 percent market share? Even the viewing figure connoisseur of Peter’s own RTL Boulevard does not think so. “The Unknown again lost many viewers,” writes Joost Maiburg on his analysis channel Look at ratings.
He continues: “After the drop of 154 thousand viewers last week, 124 thousand viewers watched less yesterday. The program has already lost a third of its viewers. Despite the jubilant press reports about delayed viewing, these figures are really disappointing. Especially without the competition from Cops Maastricht.”
Very wobbly
How does viewing figures scholar Tina Nijkamp view it? On the one hand we hear Peter jubilant, on the other hand we see Renze drowning in the ratings swamp. She poses on her ratings juice channel Life of Tina that this is really not good news. “Only in 14th place with Het Onbekende and significantly decreased compared to the previous two weeks.”
Renze is also declining in the commercial target group, Tina knows. “Already 4.5 points lower. A 20.5 percent market share is fine in itself, but due to the slump and low total figures, things are now starting to get very wobbly. So it drops every week and already 281 thousand viewers less than episode one and that is about a third.”
‘Very sorry’
Tina thinks it’s regrettable. “It’s a pity, but I stand by it: starting at 8 p.m. on a Friday in the spring is much too early for such a programme, which has yet to prove itself. The game also apparently appeals less than, for example, Race Across the World; that scored much more stable. Hopefully this will not drop any further for Renze and RTL 4.”
This time the primetime toppers were Astrid Joostens Twee voor Twaalf (1.2 million and 26 percent) on NPO 2, the drama series Anoniem with 1 million viewers (23 percent) on NPO 1 and the SBS 6 hit Today Inside, good for 893 thousand viewers (23 percent).
Viewing figures
The viewing figures of Friday, May 26, 2023 (SKO):
Top 15 | Market shares (18-24h, 6+) |
|---|---|
| 01. Journal 20:00 (NPO1) 1,688,000 | 01. NPO1 / 21.8% |
| 02. Two to twelve (NPO2) 1,159,000 | 02. RTL4 / 15.1% |
| 03. Anonymous (NPO1) 1,018,000 | 03. SBS6 / 14.1% |
| 04. Today Inside (SBS6) 893,000 | 04. NPO2 / 11.4% |
| 05. Half past seven news (RTL4) 824,000 | 05. RTL8 / 4.2% |
| 06. Journal 18:00 (NPO1) 648,000 | 06. RTL5 / 4.1% |
| 07. Op1 (NPO1) 639,000 | 07.NET5 / 3.7% |
| 08. Classics with Kleinsma (NPO1) 597,000 | 08. NPO3 / 3.4% |
| 09. Conversation with Prime Minister (NPO1) 591,000 | 09. RTL7 / 2.7% |
| 10. Heart of the Netherlands (SBS6) 569,000 | 10. ESPN / 2.2% |
| 11. RTL Boulevard (RTL4) 565,000 | 11. Vero / 1.9% |
| 12. The Cut Guest (NPO2) 553,000 | 12. BBC / 1.3% |
| 13. EenVandaag (NPO1) 551,000 | 13. RTLZ / 0.9% |
| 14. The Unknown (RTL4) 516,000 | 14.TLC / 0.9% |
| 15. Jinek (RTL4) 504,000 | 15. Discov / 0.8% |
Market shares per channel group (18-24h, 6+) | More viewing figures at: |
| 01. Public Broadcasting 36.6% |  |
| 02. RTL Netherlands 27.3% | |
| 03. Talpa TV 20.0% |
Programs that did not make the top 15 include Nieuwsuur (451 thousand), BinnensteBuiten (424 thousand), Shownieuws (353 thousand) and Nadia (329 thousand) the most popular.