There was a time when Mariëlle Tweebeeke could make or break party leaders, but last month she shot her own reputation to pieces. And now? “Nieuwsuur is in one big malaise.”
It is undeniably the most painful interview in Mariëlle Tweebeeke’s career: her conversation with Pieter Omtzigt, last month in Nieuwsuur. The leader of NSC floored the presenter, after which she was completely disqualified by AD opinion diva Angela de Jong. She wrote two damning words in her infamous column: “Gone reputation.”
Away viewer
We are now a month further and according to ratings authority Tina Nijkamp, it is not only reputation gone, but also viewership gone. “What is going on with Nieuwsuur? Mariëlle Tweebeeke and Jeroen Wollaars are having major viewing problems,” she wrote ratings channel.
She is seriously concerned about the program’s ratings. “It doesn’t really seem to be noticeable, but if you put the figures together you see one big malaise. The program barely exceeds 400,000 viewers. Even the election interviews were hugely disappointing this fall.”
Showpiece
The Nieuwsuur figures are in decline, according to Tina. “No one watches this oft-mentioned showpiece anymore, which some even suggested in June that it should be on the number one spot. Yesterday only 257 thousand viewers and even worse: 1.7 percent market share in the commercial target group 25 to 54 years old.”
That is even worse than Serious Christmas in the target group, according to Tina. “High time for a crisis meeting. This is going too steeply downhill.”