The much-criticized trip of Ruud de Wild and Olcay Gulsen to the Turkish quake area was finally included in their controversial real-life soap yesterday. Coincidence or not: NPO 1 is now also in ruins.
According to critics such as Youp van ‘t Hek, it is the ultimate form of vanity: parading through an earthquake zone to make recordings for your superficial real-life soap. Ruud de Wild and Olcay Gulsen’s Turkish journey was already controversial in advance, but the images in question were only broadcast last night in their soap opera Ruud & Olcay on NPO 1.
Clouds of dust
Coincidence or not: precisely this episode in which Ruud and Olcay parade through the quake area now causes clouds of dust around NPO 1. The channel collapses completely because of the two: they arrive at their lowest score to date. 287 thousand people (6 percent market share) watched it yesterday, which is 78 (!) percent below the last weekly average of NPO 1.
Viewing professor Tina Nijkamp has been working in the media industry for quite some years now, but she has never seen anything like this on the country’s most watched TV channel. “It is really bad right now. Only 287 thousand viewers for Ruud and Olcay. That is about the same as Alles is Muziek (the flop by Marieke Elsinga, ed.)”. she writes.
“Off the schedule!”
Tina cannot imagine that NPO 1 will just let this continue. “Because this is such a personality show, NPO would have done better to remove it from the schedule. Take the plaster off in one go, so to speak. Now it becomes very painful for Ruud and Olcay. Really terrible to see your ratings drop every week.”
She continues: “At Dino’s Delivery Service, 335,000 viewers were enough for the NPO to remove it from the schedule. Will Ruud and Olcay only continue on NPO Start from next week? Perhaps Ruud and Olcay are hoping for that by now. At least she would be spared a terrible viewing figure Thursday morning.”
‘This is not possible!’
Remco van Westerloo, TV boss at the NPO, has recorded for Ruud and Olcay. That is of course thoughtful, but you can also go too far. Last week he pretended nothing was wrong: “We are satisfied with this program and also with the total reach. After broadcasting, about 300,000 viewers are added every week. That’s the total of delayed viewing.”
What nonsense, responded Omroep MAX boss Jan Slagter at Jinek’s talk show table. “Then do it online! Of course he has to say something. I understand that, but 348 thousand viewers on NPO 1, the major channel that is watched by at least 700, 800 thousand or preferably a million people, that is just not possible.”
Viewing figures
The viewing figures of Wednesday, May 17, 2023 (SKO):
Top 15 | Market shares (18-24h, 6+) |
|---|---|
| 01. Journal 20:00 (NPO1) 1,592,000 | 01. RTL4 / 19.4% |
| 02. Manchester City – Real Madrid (RTL7) 968,000 | 02. NPO1 / 18.0% |
| 03. Half past seven news (RTL4) 956,000 | 03. SBS6 / 12.3% |
| 04. The Perfect Picture (RTL4) 936,000 | 04. RTL7 / 11.6% |
| 05. Journal 18:00 (NPO1) 906,000 | 05. NPO2 / 6.2% |
| 06. Today Inside (SBS6) 877,000 | 06. RTL5 / 5.2% |
| 07. Good Times Bad Times (RTL4) 868,000 | 07.NET5 / 3.9% |
| 08. Day and night (NPO1) 778,000 | 08. RTL8 / 2.4% |
| 09. EenVandaag (NPO1) 771,000 | 09. Vero / 2.2% |
| 10. RTL Boulevard (RTL4) 676,000 | 10. NPO3 / 2.1% |
| 11. Conversation with Prime Minister (NPO1) 612,000 | 11. Ziggo / 1.9% |
| 12. Journal late (NPO1) 587,000 | 12.BBC / 1.7% |
| 13. Heart of the Netherlands (SBS6) 586,000 | 13. Paramount / 1.2% |
| 14. Edition NL (RTL4) 551,000 | 14. SBS9 / 1.0% |
| 15. Jinek (RTL4) 547,000 | 15. TLC / 1.0% |
Market shares per channel group (18-24h, 6+) | More viewing figures at: |
| 01. RTL Netherlands 39.4% |  |
| 02. Public Broadcasting 26.3% | |
| 03. Talpa TV 19.4% |
Programs that did not make the top 15 include Op1 (532 thousand), Nadia (487 thousand), Steenrijk Straatarm (478 thousand), Shownieuws (446 thousand), 112 Today (379 thousand) and Nieuwsuur (372 thousand).