More and more TV stars, like Wendy van Dijk, are falling victim to the sudden decrease in the number of studio shows on television. According to Tina Nijkamp, this isn’t just a temporary trend…
© William Rutten
If someone had told Wendy van Dijk seven years ago that she would be unemployed and sitting at home due to the changing media landscape, she wouldn’t have believed it. Back then, she was the star of The Voice of Holland, and everything was going her way. Now, she has no studio show left to present.
A Rapid Downward Spiral
TV expert Tina Nijkamp predicts in De Telegraaf that the programming budgets of commercial channels are increasingly under pressure due to the declining linear viewing time.
According to the newspaper, the decline in linear TV is sharply accelerating. “Linear TV viewing figures are really in steep decline,” states their headline. The article notes, “The million-dollar blockbusters are unmistakably dying out, and linear television seems to be going downhill rapidly. Even the NOS news bulletins at 8 PM have recently dropped below a million live viewers on occasion.”
Fewer Studio Shows
Tina believes that linear channels like RTL 4 and SBS 6 will almost exclusively focus on live events such as sports, news, and talk shows. This reflects what viewers want from linear TV; it needs to be current and urgent.
Expensive programs like studio shows are, according to Tina, simply no longer profitable. “I believe it’s going down rapidly. Since last year, there have been increasing days when no program reaches a million viewers.”
“Almost Nothing Left!”
Tina predicts we will hardly see any studio entertainment in the future. “Aside from a few talent shows, we will see significantly fewer large studio programs. Just like dramas, those are expensive to produce. You can see it with Etty on NPO Start; it receives good reviews, but no one is watching it.”
What can viewers expect instead? “Docusoaps featuring celebrities and reality TV. These are cheaper to produce and perform well.”
What’s next for Wendy van Dijk? Perhaps she might consider signing up for De Bondgenoten…
