Mutiny on the set of John de Mol: his newest addition Raymond Mens starts to rebel. He puts a bomb from within under the good news show, a TV baby of the Talpa boss.
It is a matter of time before SBS 6’s good news show is taken off the air. The viewing figures are bad, the idea is bad, the execution is bad and even at GoedNieuws Today itself they no longer have confidence in it. Raymond Mens, one of the experts, drops a bombshell on the program.
‘Off the tube!’
When asked whether Raymond thinks the program will be canceled, he responds affirmatively. “That could very well be the case. Very simple: if the viewing figures do not increase, and increase dramatically, we will soon be off the air. Anyway, I’m still with you and I’m still doing a lot of other things.”
Just shoot, Raymond thinks. “I often think – I don’t know how you see it – that television makers make life very difficult for themselves. Ultimately you make television for the viewer and I always say at GoedNieuws: Christmas will soon be here, no one has watched us, well, then we will take it off the air and make something else.”
‘Not good’
Does Raymond like the program? He continues in the section In The Walkways: “I don’t think it’s good yet, no. I have always said: if the viewing figures soon drop and it has to go, but I personally think it is very good, then I don’t mind it so much, because then I have a good feeling about it, but I still think it is always not good.”
Host Wilfred Genee: “What causes that?”
Raymond: “The question is: who are you making the program for and for whom is it good news? Now I too often see items in it that are nice and good news if you look at the whole world, but perhaps not for Mien who is sitting on the couch at home.”
Wallet
How would Raymond create the program? “With the thought: is it of any use to you at home? I think the best topics for such a program at six o’clock on SBS 6 are: this is going on, this is good for your wallet, you have to be there and there, you can arrange it yourself. I don’t think that happens enough.”
Raymond believes that only two broadcasts a week are worth it. “It should be more Consumers’ Union-like, so: what is good news for you? That you tell people that and then tell them where they can go to arrange something.”
Storm damage
According to Raymond, it has to be very much home and garden. “This week there was a storm and they had a very extensive item about where you can claim if you have storm damage. That’s not surprising at six o’clock on SBS 6.”
He concludes: “I don’t think it’s good enough, but a lot of people are working very hard on it and we’re trying to make something of it. I keep saying: don’t take it too seriously. In the worst case scenario, no one watches it and then you start making another program. I mean, let’s not make it too complicated.”
In other words: Raymond won’t give a cent more for it. Painful…