Paul Römer, one of the bosses at Talpa, has also talked to Matthijs van Nieuwkerk about an exclusive TV contract. Yet he understands his choice for RTL. “SBS 6 is rawer.”
The love for Matthijs van Nieuwkerk has disappeared considerably at the top of the NPO. After his break with BNNVARA, there were still public broadcasters that wanted him, but the NPO leadership refused to put him in the schedule. Omroep MAX boss Jan Slagter in particular hoped to attract the celebrated presenter as the new figurehead.
Close to heartbeat
Matthijs ultimately chose RTL – he signed a four-year contract. Yet it was rumored for a long time that the presenter would sign with Talpa, because his former NPO buddy Frans Klein also moved there. Now it appears that he did have conversations, but still made a different choice.
Talpa bobo Paul Römer tells Speaking tube: “Certainly, we also talked to him. But he chose RTL. I understand that, it suits those more polished programs better than ours, SBS 6 is a bit rawer. With us you see more reality, we do a lot live, close to the heartbeat of society.”
Today Inside
Matthijs would end up at SBS 6 between the dick films of Today Inside and the unacceptable soap opera of Peter Gillis. Or, as Paul calls it: raw television.
John de Mol will not be very sad that Matthijs has made a different choice, because SBS 6 runs very well on VI. “That program is extremely important to us. Every weekday, prime time, about a million viewers.”
Johan exit
Isn’t Paul terrified that Johan Derksen will stop at some point and the mainstay of SBS 6 will come to an end? “Then something else will come along, although it may not immediately equal this success. But for now it is not that far and we will continue.”
For now, there is no indication that VI is coming to an end, Paul said. “I don’t have the impression that the moment to stop is coming, although that will of course happen at some point.”