Arjen Lubach defended his daily audience figures against ongoing media criticism while celebrating an RTL contract extension to the end of 2029.
Arjen Lubach defends viewing figures on television
The daily satire program is broadcast at 21:00 on Videoland before airing as a repeat at 23:00 on RTL 4. Lubach explained this schedule during an appearance on Renze Klamer’s talk show, where he pushed back against linear television metrics analyzed by media columnist Tina Nijkamp.
“The broadcast on RTL 4 is just the repeat!” Lubach said, according to Mediacourant. He said that traditional linear ratings show a drop that was anticipated when shifting to the streaming-first strategy.
RTL extends contract until late 2029
Commercial broadcaster RTL announced that it has prolonged its partnership with the comedian and his production team until the end of 2029. Lubach and his team moved to the channel after previously broadcasting with VPRO at public broadcaster NPO.
“This extension feels like a crowning achievement of all the hard work,” Lubach told Shownieuws. Content director Peter Lubbers said that the collaboration “tastes like more in every way” and that the program has quickly found a stable audience at Videoland and RTL 4, as reported by Spreekbuis.nl.
Frustration over parallel worlds in media coverage
Lubach expressed frustration with critics who judge the project solely on linear television numbers while ignoring streaming and online reach. He pointed to a week featuring high viewership alongside viral online clips where columns still declared the project failed, Mediacourant reported.
“That is really a parallel world. That is very wondrous,” Lubach said, as noted by Mediacourant. Producer Pieter Klok has similarly pushed back against external critiques regarding the viewing figures, according to the same outlet.
Future broadcast plans for Human Factor TV productions
Both LUBACH and Taskmaster are produced by Human Factor TV. A second season of Taskmaster, which Lubach co-presents with Diederik Smit, is scheduled for 2027, according to Spreekbuis.nl.
“As a maker, I basically don’t care much,” Lubach said regarding the platform, according to Mediacourant. “I want to write and make jokes with my team and somewhere there are around a million people who want to hear that.”
Questions about the new broadcasting schedule
When is the program broadcast each day?
The daily satire show airs from Monday through Thursday at 21:00 on Videoland and is repeated at 23:00 on RTL 4, as reported by Spreekbuis.nl.
How long does the new contract run?
RTL has extended the agreement with Arjen Lubach and his production team until the end of 2029, as announced by Spreekbuis.nl and TVgids.nl.
When did the comedian transition to commercial television?
Lubach made the move from public broadcaster VPRO to RTL in 2025, with the daily program starting in February of that year, according to Spreekbuis.nl and Shownieuws.
Voorlopig hoeft Arjen zich in elk geval niet druk te maken over de dagelijkse kijkcijfers. Zijn programma ligt alweer stil tot begin februari, waardoor de presentator na zijn relatief korte uitzendperiode opnieuw kan genieten van een maandenlange vakantie.