Out of frustration with the inner workings of the Dutch public broadcasting system (which stood in the way of the changes he envisioned), van Nieuwkerk quit his job.

The duo started presenting Nova, a Dutch programme about politics, but they both quit after a conflict with the editorial staff.

Leo Blokhuis [nl] (a music expert) and van Nieuwkerk created and still present the annual Popquiz and Top 2000 à Go-Go.

On 12 February 2020 it was announced that Matthijs van Nieuwkerk would stop with his programme De Wereld Draait Door after the current series, due to finish on 27 March 2020.

At the same time van Nieuwkerk is reported to have signed up with BNNVARA (Dutch public broadcaster) for another three years and that he is in the process of setting up a series Saturday evening programmes for them, due to run from January 2021.

Van Nieuwkerk established the football magazine 'Hard Gras' with Henk Spaan and wrote several books for it.