RTL 4 is not prepared to include a VI clause in a possible new contract with talk show star Eva Jinek, Angela de Jong suspects. “Indirectly, that is ultimately really too expensive.”
Critics such as Tina Nijkamp and Victor Vlam insist that Eva Jinek’s talk show can make huge gains in viewership if the program moves from 10:00 pm to 10:30 pm, because then she no longer has to compete with Today Inside. This proved itself recently when VI went on holiday a little earlier than Eva and her viewing figures were on the rise.
No VI clause?
Victor argues that Eva should simply demand a VI clause during her contract negotiations with RTL 4, in other words a stipulation that she no longer has to compete with the VI. That would be much better for her personally, because her viewing figures would then increase and her market value would grow proportionally.
However, this is not realistic, thinks AD tiger shark Angela de Jong. She points in the AD Media podcast It is not for nothing that RTL 4 has chosen to advance Eva’s talk show by half an hour. As a result, prime time only lasts an hour and a half instead of two hours, and you can broadcast one elongated show per evening instead of two.
Wishful thinking
Angela thinks that RTL would not comply with that demand. “I think it is a vain hope, because then RTL will have to come up with a new program from 9.30 pm to 10.30 pm. I can’t imagine that those few extra viewers outweigh the costs of that extra program for Jinek.”
Colleague Dennis Jansen, media journalist for the AD, then: “I don’t think so either.”
Angela: “So I think RTL thinks: thanks for all the free advice, but we’re really not going to do that.”
One and a half hour
At the same time, Manuel Venderbos, the presenter of the podcast, wonders how sustainable those long programs of one and a half hours are on RTL 4. “That hour and a half is also impossible to sit through.”
Angela: “No, that hour and a half is terrible. But it does provide them with a lot of financial benefits, because yes, you can of course cram in an extra commercial break, it saves costs.”
Too expensive
Still, Angela expects RTL 4 to continue with that. Such a VI clause would mean that the channel would have to return to two programs on prime time. “Then they really have to pay Jinek a lot. Indirectly too, with that extra program that comes before. I can’t imagine they intend to do that in this market.”
It is a cost-benefit assessment and, according to Angela, it is very much one-way. “You simply save an entire program with it. Every night. Five days a week. It’s a nice discussion, but it’s just not all that relevant.”