RTL Group
RTL Group Sells Dutch TV Operation to DPG Media for $1.2B
RTL Group has signed a deal valued at $1.2 billion (1.1 billion euros) to sell its Dutch television operation RTL Nederland to European group DPG Media. The deal comes after Dutch authorities blocked RTL’s original plans to merge its Dutch TV operations with Talpa Networks, the TV group controlled by TV mogul and The Voice […]
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Stephan Schmitter New Head of RTL Deutschland
Stephan Schmitter will take over as the new CEO at German broadcast giant RTL Deutschland as of January 1, 2024. Schmitter will add the CEO duties to his current responsibilities as chief content officer at RTL. As CEO, Schmitter will oversee RTL Deutschland’s broadcasting business in Germany, including its free-to-air RTL and Vox channels, its […]
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RTL Group Revenue Hit As Weak Ad Market Counters Streamer Growth
A still-soft advertising market pulled down revenue at European broadcast giant RTL Group, Fremantle’s parent company, which reported a 6.9 percent drop in turnover from January to September 2023 to €4.66 billion ($4.98 billion). Group CEO Thomas Rabe put the blame on “challenging market conditions,” in particular cronically-weak ad sales. RTL Group now expects TV […]
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Meet the Man Betting Big on Fremantle’s Scripted Strategy
Thomas Rabe was born in tiny Luxembourg, the mini-nation squeezed in between France, Germany and Belgium. But when it comes to business, as CEO of pan-European broadcast giant RTL Group and chairman and CEO of RTL’s parent, global media conglomerate Bertelsmann, Rabe likes to think big. At an RTL shareholders’ meeting back in August 2021, […]
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Streaming Growth Slim Silver Lining at Fremantle Parent RTL Group
European media giant RTL Group, the parent company of Got Talent, X Factor, Price Is Right and American Idol production powerhouse Fremantle, saw revenue and profits slump in the first half of this year as ad sales remained soft, particularly in the company’s core German market. First-half revenue slipped 5.1 percent to €3.1 billion ($3.4 […]
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Ad Slump Pulls Down Revenue at Fremantle Parent RTL, While Streaming Grows
RTL Group, the European television giant and parent company of production powerhouse Fremantle, reported a 9 percent drop in revenue for the first quarter of 2023 to €1.4 billion ($1.56 billion), largely due to a slump in its core free-TV business in Germany and France. RTL Group, reporting its latest figures on Thursday, said TV […]
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Fremantle Takes Minority Stake in Artists, Writers & Artisans, Plans Adaptation of Comic ‘Devil’s Highway’
Fremantle, the production unit of Bertelsmann-owned TV giant RTL Group, has made a strategic minority investment in Artists, Writers & Artisans (AWA), an independent developer of stories from creative talent working across graphic fiction, film and television. James Murdoch’s investment firm Lupa Systems, an existing AWA backer, co-led the new financial injection, which also included new […]
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RTL-Talpa Merger Dropped Amid Anti-Trust Concerns
European media giant RTL Group has dropped plans to merge its Dutch TV operations, RTL Nederland, with Talpa Networks, the TV group controlled by TV mogul and The Voice creator John de Mol. RTL Group on Monday said the Dutch competition authority ACM had informed them it planned to block the deal, first announced in 2021, which […]
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Fremantle Growth Drives RTL January-September Revenue to $4.9B
Production powerhouse Fremantle (The X Factor, American Idol, Britain’s Got Talent) helped drive revenue gains at media giant Bertelsmann’s RTL Group over the first nine months of 2022. Luxembourg-based TV and streaming company RTL Group on Friday reported revenue for the January-September period of 5.01 billion euro ($4.90 billion), up 12 percent from the same period in 2021. Fremantle […]
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RTL to Retain French Channel M6 Stake After Failed TF1 Merger
French broadcaster Groupe M6 is no longer up for sale. RTL Group has decided to keep its near-controlling stake in the French commercial channel after fielding offers for M6 following a planned merger between the French channel and competitor TF1 falling apart amid antitrust concerns. RTL Group said it received “several financially attractive offers” for […]
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RTL Puts French Channel M6 Up for Sale After Failed TF1 Merger
French broadcaster M6 is on the auction block. RTL Group, the European broadcaster that controls just under 50 percent of M6, has confirmed that it is entertaining offers for the French commercial channel after a planned merger between M6 and competitor TF1 fell apart amid antitrust concerns. Thomas Rabe, CEO of RTL parent Bertelsmann, told […]
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Executive Shake-Up at German TV Giant RTL as Co-CEO Resigns
Stephan Schäfer has resigned as co-CEO of German TV giant RTL amid a management shake-up at Europe’s largest commercial broadcaster. Schäfer stepped down Wednesday, leaving a quartet of executives in charge of RTL: co-CEO Matthias Dang, CFO Alexander Glatz, newly-appointed COO Andreas Fischer and Oliver Radtke, who is responsible for coordinating the strategic link-up between […]
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