Top 2000 has become an annual holiday tradition in the Netherlands.
The NPO programme reaches 74% of the Dutch population and has made the
station the market leader over the winter months. For flagship
features, Jan-Willem suggests programmers should pick a special week,
start small and don’t stop. ‘F**k the format and trust the listeners,’
if the feature goes in a different direction to what was anticipated.
Since 1959, SR have hosted Summer – a 90 minute programme with a
well-known Swede where they share their secrets and stories. The
programme has become such a success that being asked to host it is
regarded as an honour as great as a knighthood. However, problems
arise when features become so successful and well-known. Bibi
encourages stations to hold on to their brands and achieve exclusivity
deals wherever possible to discourage the competition.
Mads Steffensen is the host of the hit radio programme Mads & the
Monopoly. The show has been on Danish radio since 2003 and, over the
years, has won every national radio award going. It has an audience of
1 million, around 1/5 of the whole of Denmark. The weekly phone-in
connects with listeners better than much of its competition, largely
because it doesn’t shy away from any issues. The programme’s honesty
is one of its defining characteristics.
