Viewers Flee Arjen Lubach Show During Comedian’s Segment, Ratings Plummet
Amsterdam, Netherlands – RTL 4’s late-night satire program hosted by Arjen Lubach is facing scrutiny as viewership numbers decline, especially during guest appearances.Recent data reveals a notable drop in viewers when comedian Merijn Scholten appeared on the show, prompting concerns about the program’s ability to retain it’s audience and support the launch of RTL Tonight.
According to viewing figures authority Tina Nijkamp, Lubach’s show initially drew 456,000 viewers. However, the audience immediately decreased by 120,000 viewers - falling to 410,000 – when Scholten began his segment.The decline continued, with another 100,000 viewers switching channels during the conversation, a trend Nijkamp described as “Guest = slide” on her Instagram channel.
The program has been shortened in recent weeks, initially by six minutes and then further by RTL leadership, in an effort to allow RTL Tonight to begin earlier. Despite these adjustments and the removal of commercial breaks, RTL Tonight still only garnered 286,000 viewers with a 15.5 percent market share, a slight decrease from the previous week’s 297,000.
These figures contrast sharply with competing talk shows. Today Inside led with 977,000 viewers (26 percent target group share), followed by EVA (834,000 viewers, 11 percent) and Pauw & De Wit (587,000 viewers, 14 percent). Prime-time programming on RTL 4 also underperformed, with Help My Husband is Handyman attracting only 544,000 viewers.
