idol gives back - backstage.rtlgroup.com · participants clocked up 10,109 kilome-tres, raising no...

Idol Gives BackAmerica’s most extraordinary charity event

Luxembourg

“Télévie doubled the amount of moneyfor cancer research”United Kingdom

A reality show for a new audienceGermany

105,5 Spreeradio goes down in radio historyThe Netherlands

Dance for the Queen

the RTL Group intranetweek 17

Newsletter

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COVER: Idol Gives Back show, 9 April in Los Angeles.

American Idol is the most-watched show inAmerica. Now in its seventh season, the hitseries regularly attracts more viewers per epi-sode than its four main competitors – CBS,ABC, NBC and The CW – combined. Based onthat success one of the biggest charity eventsthe United States had ever seen has been laun-ched: Idol Gives Back.

The first run of Idol Gives Back was aired duringseason six in 2007. Donations from viewerswere accepted via phone and website duringthe results show on 25 April. In 2007, USD76 million had been raised as a result of thefirst run of Idol Gives Back. The money wentto children in need in the U.S. and Africa.

This April, Idol Gives Back returned to thescreen with an amazing group of celebrityparticipants to help raise awareness andfunds to benefit various U.S. and Africancharities. Like in the year before, viewerswere able to make donations via toll-freelines and over the Internet. Now, nearly twoweeks after the show on 10 April 2008, IdolGives Back has raised over USD 65 millionand counting.

The money will be distributed by the IdolGives Back Foundation which is a not-for-profit organization established byFremantleMedia North America, 19Entertainment and Fox to raise not onlymoney but also awareness for children and

families living in poverty and at risk in the U.S.and abroad. Idol Gives Back Foundation is har-nessing American Idol’s ability to captureAmerica’s hearts and the power of entertain-ment to benefit some of the poorest and mostvulnerable people in the world.

While the donations for this year’s charity eventare still counting, Backstage had a quick e-mail-correspondence with Cecile Frot-Coutaz,CEO, FremantleMedia North America.


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“Colossal amountsof money”Idol Gives Back is one of the largest charityevents in the United States, something that noother entertainment show had done before.Backstage explains the success and the ideabehind Idol Gives Back.North America - 24 April 2008

Cecile Frot-Coutaz


CBS Chief Executive Les Moonves is tired ofcompeting with American Idol. He wants the hitseries “dead”. NBC-Universal CEO Jeff Zuckerhas said it's “the most impactful show in tele-vision history”. How do You rate the impact ofAmerican Idol on the TV market?It has and continues to be the number one televi-sion show in the U.S. by a large margin: AmericanIdol beats its closest competitor by 7.5 million vie-wers.

How was Idol Gives Back developed?Idol Gives Back was the brainchild of Simon Fuller,who was inspired by what Comic Relief hadaccomplished in the United Kingdom. He broughtthe idea over to the US and enlisted (the screenw-riter) Richard Curtis’ help for the first season. Itwas hard to get off the ground at first, but now allof those involved recognize its amazing impact.

What’s the role of FremantleMedia for IdolGives Back?Both FremantleMedia North America and 19Entertainment produced this episode with the goalof raising as much money as possible. We waivedour producing fees and will also be donating fundsto Idol Gives Back.

Is there anything related to Idol Gives Back thatyou are especially proud of?Obviously, I am very proud we were able to raisecolossal amounts of money both years thus far.But also, it’s important to note that we were instru-mental in doing something that nobody else in theU.S. had done before… to use the power ofAmerica’s most-watched television show andbrand to raise awareness and funds to help impro-ve poverty and children's health issues in the U.S.and Africa.

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Cecile Frot-Coutaz

Cecile Frot-Coutaz is CEO of Fremantle-MediaNorth America, producer of American Idol. Inthis capacity, she oversees the development,production and business operations of over400 hours of network, cable and syndicatedprogramming while exploring strategic growthopportunities for the company. In the IdolGives Back Foundation she works as Director,Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer. Shealso serves on the board of CPEF, the charita-ble entity through which funds raised from IdolGives Back 2007 were distributed.

Simon Fuller Richard Curtis

American Idol’s judges

Brad Pitt, one of the special guests


“We doubledthe amount of moneyfor cancer research”400 employees worked up for a sweat forthe Luxembourg Télévie charity appeal andpedalled 9,644 kilometres. After all, RTL Groupdonated EUR 50,000 to the Télévie.Luxembourg - 21 April 2008

For the seventh consecutive year, RTLLëtzebuerg organised Télévie, the biggest cha-rity appeal in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg,to raise funds for scientific research and there-by make headway in the ongoing fight againstleukaemia and cancer in children and adults. This year its parent company RTL Group wasdoing its bit for the fourth time by organising aTélévie Challenge at its Luxembourg CorporateCentre. This year’s Télévie Challengetook place on Friday, 18 April, betweennoon and 20.00 at RTL Group’s fitnesscentre in Luxembourg-Kirchberg.

The Télévie Challenge is a sportingevent designed to get as many peopleas possible pedalling exercise bikes inteams, including RTL Group employees,politicians and sporting stars. This year,for each kilometre pedalled, RTL Grouppledged to contribute EUR 4.50, com-pared with EUR 4 last year. In 2007, theparticipants clocked up 10,109 kilome-tres, raising no less than EUR 40,436 forTélévie. RTL Group rounded up the finaldonation to EUR 45,000. This year theparticipants clocked up for 9,644 kilo-metres, raising an amount of EUR43,398. RTL Group rounded up this sumto a final donation of EUR 50,000.

CK Fitness Centre, I-BC, Sodexo,Pedus, IMEDIA, ELCO and, for the firsttime, Sales-Lentz, had indicated their

desire to be involved in the charity fundraisingoperation by putting together teams of theirown. These companies have been businesspartners of RTL Group for several years andwere also sponsoring the event.

Elmar Heggen, Chief Financial Officer andHead of the Corporate Centre of RTL Group,said: “Researchers are working without respite

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Elmar Heggen, Cécile Hemmen and Romain Mannelli


to transform the financial success of this fun-draising activity into an unrelenting battleagainst cancer, and leukaemia in children inparticular. With each year that passes, the linksin this chain of life are growing tighter, and thisyear once again more than 400 people took upour Télévie Challenge and pedal togetheragainst the disease”.

Marc Diederich from the Cancer Laboratory ofMolecular and Cellular Biology at KirchbergHospital, who also participated in the TélévieChallenge, added: “Since 2002, the Télévieappeal has doubled the funding of cancerresearch in Luxembourg. In 2008, 35 researchprojects bearing the Télévie Luxembourg labelwill be published in the international medicalliterature. The work underlying them byLuxembourg researchers and placed at the dis-posal of the international community was onlydone because of Télévie. Without it, theselatest scientific findings about cancer and leu-kaemia in both adults and children would notbe available to researchers or sufferers of these

diseases, either in Luxembourg or abroad. So Iwould like to thank RTL Group for its commit-ment to the Télévie appeal and, through it, tocancer research”.

Executive Vice President Corporate HR RomainMannelli said: “It’s only natural for RTL Groupto contribute to the fourth edition of its TélévieChallenge to raise money for the Télévieappeal. Like our subsidiaries RTL-TVI inBelgium and RTL Lëtzebuerg, which have beensuccessfully staging similar actions for severalyears, we are proud to be able to take part inthis tremendous gesture of solidarity”.

The Télévie campaign was launched in 1989 byRTL-TVI in Belgium. RTL Lëtzebuerg joined theinitiative in 2002. Since its creation, Télévie hasraised almost EUR 85 million in total, nearlyEUR 7 million of which stem from activities inLuxembourg. This is a real tour de force, bea-ring in mind the size of the country’s popula-tion. The full amount raised is passed on to theNational Scientific Research Fund.

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Some participants of the Télévie Challenge


A reality show for a new audienceFremantleMedia Enterprises has scooped up the international distribution rights toShe’s Got The Look, TV Land’s forthcoming reality series seeking the next new faceof the fashion industry, but with a twist.United Kingdom - 23 April 2008

The winner will be a woman aged 35 or olderwho exudes sophistication, beauty and confi-dence. The show will premiere on TV Land inthe United States on 4 June 2008 at 22.00.She’s Got The Look is a six-episode seriesmade in partnership with Wilhelmina Models,The winner will receive a lucrative modelingcontract with Wilhelmina and a fashion spreadin Self Magazine which is specialised in fitness,health and nutrition for women. Iconic super-model Kim Alexis, who has graced the cover ofmore than 500 magazines, will host She’s GotThe Look. The series’ judges will be supermo-del Beverly Johnson, who made history as thefirst African-American model to grace the coverof American Vogue, celebrity stylist RobertVerdi and Wilhelmina President SeanPatterson.

David Ellender, CEO of FremantleMediaEnterprises, said: “FME is continually striving touncover new formats and original programmingthat speaks to a worldwide audience. We arevery pleased to be working alongside TV Landin positioning a positive reality show for a newglobal audience.”

“We are so excited about this series and arethrilled that FME shares our passion for theshow”, said TV Land President Larry W. Jones.“She’s Got The Look will send out a positive,global message, that beauty is timeless, andit’s certain to resonate with women worldwide.This deal with FME supports TV Land’s com-mitment to create original programming forpeople in their 40s and 50s.”

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The participants of She’s got the look


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David Ellender, CEO of FremantleMedia Enterprises

FremantleMediaEnterprises headsfor SingaporeFremantleMedia Enterprises andthe Media Development Authority of Singaporehave announced the signing of a multiyearproduction agreement.United Kingdom - 24 April 2008

The new multiyear production agreement com-mits both partners to investing in multimediaTV projects, which are expected to generateincome totalling USD 12 million over the nexttwo years. As part of both parties’ commitmentin this region, the deal builds on the success ofthe partnership that led to the production ofKylie Kwong: My China, which was successful-ly launched at last year’s MIPCOM. MediaDevelopment Authority (MDA) andFremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) will jointlyselect projects by Singapore-based producersto invest in, and FME will be the holder of theirdistribution rights across all platforms worldwi-de.

MDA is keen to create commercially-brandedmulti-platform content that will induce globalbuyers to come to identify ‘made-in-Singapore’content as being synonymous with high stan-dards, top quality and success in the internatio-nal marketplace. FME is keen to source moreprogrammes from the local market and be ableto offer the market a wider range of factual pro-gramming. Both parties hope that the produ-cers’ ideas will harness the strengths of tradi-tional media platforms whilst also takingadvantage of the versatility of new media plat-

forms, such as mobile phones and the Internet.FME CEO David Ellender said: “I’m delighted toconfirm the signing of this deal. It represents acritical part of our regional hub strategy entai-ling us not only extending our ability to sellseamlessly across multiple platforms aroundthe world, but also building up our relationshipswith local production companies and organisa-tions that we are confident will come up withinnovative and successful shows.”

MDA CEO Christopher Chia added: “WithFME’s extensive reach as regards distribution,Singapore’s award-winning talent and our abili-ty to tell compelling Asian stories right herefrom within the heart of Asia, there are excellentsynergies for developing strong commercialhits for ‘made-in-Singapore’ multi-platformcontent that will be enjoyed by global audien-ces.”

Christopher Chia, CEO of MDA


Dance for the QueenEvery year, when Radio 538 organises thebiggest Queen’s Day party in the Netherlands,Amsterdam’s famous Museumplein square iscovered by a teaming mass of dancingorange-clad revellers. RTL 5 will broadcastthe highlights of the concert.The Netherlands - 22 April 2008

A new feature this year is that any partygoerswho want to watch the performances of allartists and Radio 538 DJs again or who missedthe live event can still watch a music recordingthat same evening on the programme RTL 5 InConcert: Radio 538 Koninginnedagconcert.The joint presenters of the compilation pro-gramme, showing highlights of the Queen’sDay Party and various backstage interviews,will be EliZe, the Dutch pop queen famous forhits like Automatic and Into Your System, andRadio 538 DJ Frank Dane. This cooperationshows how the newly acquired radio stationRadio 538 and RTL 5 can combine their activi-ties to reach their young target groups better.

Once again, this year’s line-up of artists ishighly impressive, with Kane, Jan Smit,David Guetta, Krezip, VanVelzen,Jeroen van der Boom, Leaf and AlainClark all set to appear on the Radio538 stage. Of course, the list will beregularly updated to include any newnames. For a full overview of theartists due to appear, check outwww.radio538.nl.

RTL 5 In Concert: Radio 538 Koninginnedag-concert will air between 23.00 and midnight onRTL 5 on Wednesday, 30 April.

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Jan Smit

Radio 538 Koninginnedagconcert in 2006

check out

radio538.nl


105’5 Spreeradio goesdown in Radio HistoryThe 105’5 Spreeradio team and 32 lucky liste-ners have returned from a journey that involvedflying 40,000 kilometres and daily live broad-casts from Singapore, Sydney, Honolulu andNew York.Germany - 22 April 2008

It was an unprecedented, one-of-a-kind event,not just for the travellers. Never before had aradio station gone on a trip around the worldwith its listeners and sent live reports fromevery part of the world.

“It was a tremendous experience, one thatnone of us are likely to forget,” said one of thelisteners upon arriving back at Berlin-TegelAirport. Meanwhile, the stay-at-home listenershad a chance to enjoy the whole trip around theworld vicariously – through Jochen Trus’s liveshows, of course, as well as through postcardssent home from all the various stops on theway, and plenty of souvenirs the travellersbrought back with them. And so the 105’5

Spreeradio team was at far-flung destinationsall over the planet yet always remained close toits listeners in Berlin.

Partner stations in the various cities made itpossible for the station to connect to its home-town: in Singapore, the team broadcast fromthe BBC studios, and in New York CBS helpedto create the connection to Berlin. Renownedguests like Dr. Rolf-Peter Kudritzki, Director ofthe Astronomy Institute at the University ofHawaii, the world’s leading astronomy institute,or Peter Knipp, a chef from Berlin-Charlottenburg who’s made it big in Singapore,enhanced the 35 live broadcast hours with theirthoughts and experiences.

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The travellers returning from their trip around the world


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Heading for new programmesCoinciding with the renaming of Five Life to Fiver at the end of April, the channel hasannounced two more new programmes: Generation Sex and Sofia’s Diary.United Kingdom - 18 April 2008

Die Frau vom Checkpoint Charlie nominatedThe UFA TV production Die Frau vom Checkpoint Charlie (The Woman from CheckpointCharlie) starring Veronica Ferres in the title role, has been nominated for an award in theMini-Series category at the Banff World Television Festival.Germany - 21 April 2008

Red Bull Air Race All Set for the New SeasonTen cities, twelve pilots, a new race mode and plenty of airborne action: the next Red BullAir Race season starts on 27 April. RTL Television will show the races on Sundays as partof its extended Formula 1 broadcasting.Germany - 22 April 2008

Celebrities Steam AheadBuilding on the success of Das perfekte Promi Dinner, Vox now presents another celebrityshow, Promis unter Volldampf.Germany - 18 April 2008

It’s never too late for the truthThe new Teamworx series Unschuldig starring Alexandra Neldel and Clemens Schick madeits debut at 20.15 on 23 April, on Pro Sieben.Germany - 23 April 2008

Impressive market sharesThe days after Standard de Liège won this season’s Belgian football championship,the special editions of the TV news on RTL-TVI achieved market shares of 48.5 percentat 13.00 and 46.5 percent at 19.00.Belgium - 24 April 2008


Two new appointmentsTristan Jurgensen has been appointed general director of RTLnet. Charles d’Abovillehas been appointed Director of Research and of Music Research at RTL Radio, bothstarting from 1 May 2008.France - 22 April 2008

Tristan Jurgensen has been appointed generaldirector of RTLnet. As from 1 May 2008 he willbe in charge of publishing the websites rtl.fr,funradio.fr and rtl2.fr. As a member of theExecutive Committee he will report to Charles-Emmanuel Bon, Director of Development atRTL Radio France.

The young 35-year-old executive is a graduateof the European management school ESCPand joined the RTL Radio Family in November1998 after serving as a research officer atPrisma Presse. He developed Mediapanel, theRadio Family’s research subsidiary, to help itsradio stations devise strategies on their edito-rial line and choice of music. In 2000 he wasappointed Director of Research at RTL, FunRadio and RTL2. In 2006 he was promoted tothe rank of Executive Director of Mediapanel.

Charles d’Aboville has been appointed Directorof Research and of Music Research. Startingon 1 May, he will be in charge of the operatio-nal management of Mediapanel.

The 30-year-old Charles d’Aboville will workalongside Jean-Michel Kerdraon, ViceChairman of the Board of RTL Radio France.Charles d’Aboville joined Mediapanel in 2002after graduating from IPAG business school. Hewas first put in charge of research, thenappointed Head of Music Research atMediapanel. His previous experience includesthe implementation of music and strategic sur-vey at the group’s three French radio stations.

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Tristan Jurgensen Charles d'Aboville


People

Mint has a new presenterBelgium - 23 April 2008

Café Inn, a programme aired by the BelgianFrench-speaking pop/rock radio station Mint,has a new presenter, Thomas Simonis, whosevoice will be gracing the airwaves between06.30 and 10.00 every morning. He will alsoprepare the programme. You can listen to himon http://www.mint.be since 22 April.

After being approached by Eric Adelbrecht,head of the group’s music stations (Contact,Mint and Contact+), Thomas Simonis agreed tobe the new voice of the programme. “I took up

Mint’s offer because I worked for RTBF for 10years and fancied a change”, he added.

Thomas Simonis is 31 years old and has justleft the public radio RTBF, where he was acoordinator for VivaCité. Before joiningVivaCité, he was a presenter on the radio sta-tions La Première and Bruxelles-Capitale. “Ijust love the atmosphere at Mint. It’s exactlyhow I expected and I’m happy to be back wor-king with some of my former colleagues again”,the presenter said.

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