First episode of Sinterklaasjournaal draws over a million viewers

A massive 1,075,000 people tuned in to NTR to watch the first episode of Sinterklaasjournaal on Wednesday night. According to rating foundation KijkOnderzoek, Sinterklaasjournaal was the 10th most watched program of the evening, the Telegraaf reports.

There was much interest in the runup to the first episode. Many schools and foundations were waiting to see what Sinterklaasjournaal did with the appearance of Zwarte Piet before making a decision themselves. The first episode featured both a white- and blackface Piet.

Last year 969 thousand people watched the first episode of Sinterklaasjournaal.

Last month RTL announced that the broadcaster will no longer be using blackface makup on Zwarte Piet. Instead they will use so-called Chimney Piet - with sootmarks on his face - and only call him Piet.