© BELGAIMAGE
The immediate termination of Dutch talk show Today Inside after controversial comments by football analyst Johan Dirksen confirmed that TV channel SBS6 lost one million viewers in a single day.
Dirksen admitted Wednesday night on the show that he assaulted a drunk woman with a candle fifty years ago. This led to a serious public debate in the Netherlands. Thursday night, Dirksen tried to downplay the facts on the daily talk show, but on Friday afternoon it was announced that he would be stopping immediately on Today Inside. Co-commentator Rene van der Geep and talk show host Wilfried Jenny said afterwards that they did not want to continue the show under these circumstances.
Thursday’s popular episode continues to attract over 1.3 million viewers. Vice program Het Roer Om pulled in just 352,000 viewers on Friday night, according to Dutch foundation KijkOnderzoek. Today Inside typically attracts between 800,000 and 900,000 viewers per day.
Starting Monday, SBS6 will be broadcasting older episodes of Chateau Meiland while Today Inside airs.
“Communicator. Avid web fanatic. Alcohol practitioner. Award-winning organizer. Bacon advocate.”
More Stories
“A woman actually reported sexually aggressive behavior within The Voice in 2018” | showbiz
‘I’ve been looking forward to this for months’: Angel triumphs at Forest National (and will be back this fall) | a musician
Gordon Ramsay receives more than 4 million euros in compensation from a former business partner | Famous