Wilfred Genee thinks that something is not going quite right with the new audience measurement. Mega hits are suddenly flops and disappointing titles are suddenly hits. “Will it all make sense?”
Something very strange is going on in Hilversum: the new TV season has started with a completely new method of measuring viewing figures and the TV bosses are trying to keep the new scores under wraps as much as possible. The figures will only be published after a week, when they have been supplemented with all kinds of postponed figures. But is it all still correct?
Strange viewing figures
Very strange things are happening now that the new measurement has started: Boer Kijkt Vrouw is suddenly no longer a mega hit, Ik Hou Van Holland is suddenly a flop and Chateau Meiland suddenly scores higher viewing figures than ever before, while the scores have been declining for a long time and the general consensus is that people are tired of this.
Today Inside is one of the titles that benefit from the new audience measurement. The program was already a success, but now numbers such as 1.3 million viewers are effortlessly reached. Without delayed viewing. Before the new measurement started, there were about 900 thousand. So it’s all very strange.
‘Is that right?’
Wilfred Genee likes that VI suddenly scores so much better, but is suspicious of the enormous fluctuations in the viewing figures. “Hey, 1.4 million viewers yesterday guys. Yes, 1.4 million viewers,” he says in the yesterday’s episode.
Colleague René van der Gijp doesn’t understand it either: “Bizarre, isn’t it?”
Wilfred questions the reliability of the scores. “Do you think those figures all add up, Eus, or are you a bit in doubt?”
‘I doubt’
Dinner guest Özcan Akyol doesn’t believe it either. He answers: “I’m a little unsure. It’s very strange, isn’t it? First of all: this program is extremely popular and a lot of people watch it. There is a new measurement and suddenly it turns out that 1.5 million people are watching Chateau Meiland and this figure has also increased again and the NPO no one watches it anymore.”
He continues: “You know what? That you have doubts… I can’t prove it and I just don’t know, but otherwise it means that we have received wrong figures for ten years. For this.”
Secret scores
Johan Derksen doesn’t seem to follow it completely. “Yes, but it is logical that the postponed viewers are now added.”
Özcan clarifies: “Yes, but they haven’t even been added yet.”
Wilfred: “No, they still have to come.”
Johan: “I also think it is a bit strange to no longer publish the figures, just because Angela de Jong would otherwise have them immediately.”
Wilfred: “But we get them all. And everyone gets them in the business, so what difference does it make?”
Big difference
Özcan also thinks keeping the viewing figures secret is ridiculous. “Yes, you can get them anywhere.”
René does not understand the angry TV bosses. “What are you worried about, man?”
Wilfred: “So you think it’s not right?”
Özcan: “No, I’m not saying that, but it is noticeable that there is a difference. So what have we seen in the past? What was tested then? Perhaps some programs were very well watched at the time. Maybe SBS 6 had been a success for years, but those numbers were given to us lower and lower. Strange, right?”