It is hoped that the Molletjes will not organize a family lunch today, because then at least two of them will be sitting at the table wearing the bokken wig: it is a bad day for John and Johnny.
John de Mol launched a brand new format last night: Ranking the Talent, presented by his son Johnny de Mol. Is this a variation on the Paul de Leeuw show Ranking the Stars? No. It’s another talent show, but this time ‘without a critical jury’. “A public jury determines the winners! And as a viewer at home you can play for free.”
Faulty technology
Um, well, that was the intention. But – and this is no surprise after the miserable Avastars – the technology faltered. You could vote, but not for the candidate in the picture. “We are trying to resolve this quickly,” it said at the top of the screen. It was a shame, said former SBS boss Tina Nijkamp: “It’s really fun to participate with the family, that ranking.”
Tina had a bit of a I Know Much feeling, she writes Insta. “It’s nice that you as an audience can rank at home. Really nice new element for a show. And Johnny, nice presenter. It’s a shame that there are many ‘well-known’ names that we see so often (including Christian Farla, Menno Aben, Charly Luske). Only professionals.”
Few viewers
All in all, Tina was quite positive and said it was ‘a nice family programme’, but not everyone thought so. “Ranking the Talent not only suffered from technical problems with the app, but also from few viewers. Only 405 thousand and only 5.9 percent market share in the commercial target group 25 to 54 years old,” she writes.
She continues: “And that is very, very disappointing. Also for Johnny de Mol. He scored a modest ratings hit with De Kwis met Ballen, but that doesn’t seem to be working out for the time being. I personally thought the program was a nice family program, but the rest of the Netherlands did not. Too much of a Zapp program perhaps?”
‘Never looked like this before’
Things are really going badly with this television genre, Tina has noticed for a while now. “One thing is certain: talent shows or a combination of talent show and game show have never been as popular as in 2023.”
All in all, there are now two Moles with a huge bokken wig walking through the Gooi. “John de Mol may not have been happy in front of the TV last night because there were technical problems with the app and the subtitles were also missing at Ranking the Talent, but this morning there is little reason for more joy.”
Jump surrenders
Can John’s suffering be alleviated somewhat with the viewing figures of his production on RTL 4, The Jump with Marieke Elsinga? No, that too had to be surrendered. After 888 thousand and 731 thousand viewers, 637 thousand people now tuned in. If Tina has to analyze that with two letters, what does she say? “Ai.”
Yeah, that really doesn’t sound good. “Tip for Marieke: REALLY one after this proven instead of doing a new format, then the chance of success is really greater. This is sad for Marieke.”