Özcan Akyol thinks that the failure of the ‘merger’ between RTL and Talpa is beneficial for the men of Today Inside. According to him, they would thrive less well with the more politically correct RTL.
It doesn’t matter much to John de Mol what you’ve got to record or what you’re shouting: as long as you have high viewing figures or happen to be family, you just stay on the channel. The men of Today Inside can therefore afford quite a bit. Even after their two-week candle break, they just returned to SBS 6.
Moral compass
In that respect, according to table guest Özcan Akyol, it is a good thing that the merger between RTL and Talpa does not take place. “I think it would not be good for this program if someone from RTL decided what happened here. They have a completely different moral compass, let me put it that way.”
You may wonder how RTL would have dealt with the candle riot, but Johan Derksen says he will not be dictated to by a TV boss, not even by one from RTL. “He’ll be out in five minutes, won’t he?”
Özcan: “Yes, you too after that.”
‘Not that bad’
It’s a good thing the merger didn’t work out, Özcan thinks. “I think it’s good news, because otherwise you only have the NPO and a large commercial monster.”
Johan has heard something different from the Talpa management. “So if you want to compete with large international channels backed by large American companies, you must have money and you must be able to invest in order to make good productions. That is not possible now.”
Özcan: “That is one part of the market, but you also have to deal with the linear channels and if that is all with RTL/Talpa, what is the competition then?”
Battlefield
It would also have created a battlefield among TV producers, Özcan thinks. “You have a lot of outdoor products and here at Talpa a lot is produced by John de Mol. All those other outdoor producers would be sidelined, so the market would no longer be there for them.”
René van der Gijp doesn’t care at all. “It doesn’t really matter to me. Whether it goes together or not is beyond me.”
Özcan points him to the lesser TV gods. “Maybe it will pass you by, but many of those B presenters no longer have a negotiating position.”
For the money
The ricochet of the merger is good news for TV stars: they can continue to play RTL and Talpa off against each other in negotiations. Johan: “We would also have no negotiating position if it became one company. Then they say: ‘You can earn this, otherwise you just go to the NPO.’ But that collective labor agreement does not really appeal to us.”
Rob Goossens says in RTL Boulevard that he expects that the VI trio will soon make full use of that negotiating position. “Talpa will notice that the men of VI say: we really are the cork on which the company floats. They will undoubtedly want a substantial pay rise and perhaps they will say: ‘We’re just going to RTL.’”
