rtl nederland unveils its new season › files › pdf1 › 2007-week31-backstage-newsletter.pdfthe...

France

M6 and PagesJaunes join forcesGermany

RTL family sees rise in audience figuresRTL Crime, Passion and RTL Living are expanding reachSpain

Antena 3 Group acquires Spanish radio group Unión Ibérica de RadioPeople

Sabine Kreft and Jan Paulus promoted at Super RTL

Full speed aheadRTL Nederland unveils its new season

the RTL Group intranetweek 31

Newsletter


Full speed ahead for anewly strengthenedfamily of channelsThe management of RTL Nederland’s new,stronger family of channels is brimming withconfidence and can hardly wait for the start ofthe autumn season.The Netherlands - 27 July 2007

At a morning press conference held inHilversum on 26 July 2007, RTL Nederlandannounced that it would be pulling out all thestops in the new autumn season, intent on tur-ning its recent acquisitions to its full advantagejust as soon as the Dutch competition authori-ty has authorised its transaction with John deMol's Talpa.

The three executives presenting RTLNederland's new plans were CEO Fons vanWesterloo, Programme Director Bart in 't Houtand CCO Frank Eijken. In turn, they walked upto the podium in the centre of the stage toconvey their message to the public: “We look tothe future with confidence”.

The conference was held in one of theNetherlands' biggest studios, Studio 22, bangin the middle of the traditional media park inHilversum, next door to RTL Nederland's head-quarters. Normally, shows like Idols are made inthe studio, which can easily accommodate anaudience of 700.

The choice of such a large venue was justifiedby the intense Dutch media interest in RTLNederland's future plans, following the latestdeal with John de Mol. Indeed, 100 members ofthe press attended the morning conference,and 700 representatives of the advertisingindustry were expected to attend RTLNederland's afternoon presentation.

Fons van Westerloo touched on the new dealwith John de Mol right at the beginning of hisspeech, saying that reaching an arrangementhad taken far longer than expected. He showedrespect for the work done by RTL Nederland'scompetitors at Talpa Media. Some of themhave already become colleagues, one examplebeing the well-known sports presenterHumberto Tan.

In the autumn season, RTL Nederland is deter-mined to be fast out of the blocks, confidentthat it can extend its market leadership. Itsexisting family of channels – RTL 4, RTL 5 andRTL 7 – will be joined by the promising new

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Fons van Westerloo


women's channel RTL 8. Moreover, the Group'sprofile will be further enhanced by the additionof the most popular radio station in the country,Radio 538.

RTL 4 is – and will remain – RTL Nederland'sbiggest channel, offering the greatest variety inthe new-look family. RTL 5 will retain its edge,with an adventurous, sometimes wayward, andoutspoken style that appeals to young viewers.RTL 7 will appeal to modern men with a 'workhard, play hard' attitude, dishing up an irresisti-ble menu of sport, suspense and sensation.RTL 8 will set its sights on today's female vie-wers. So together, RTL Nederland's family ofchannels will offer an unparalleled range of TVcoverage that should prove attractive to eventhe most demanding viewers.

The presentation of the programmes lined upon RTL 4 was particularly impressive. RTL 4 willcontinue to provide the best amusement, sport,series and family dramas. It will be aimed atmodern families, showing established hits, pro-viding a full news round-up and screeningsome surprising new programmes designed toconsolidate its leading position. Fons vanWesterloo summed up the situation when hesaid that “RTL 4 is the channel where every-thing that’s important comes together”.

One programme that will be retur-ning to RTL 4's schedule is theproven hit quiz show formatAchmea Kennis Quiz. The brandnew Spellingstest will test vie-wers' language skills. There willalso be a new coaching show,with the celebrated British 'babywhisperer', Derek Ogilvy, and a

docu-soap centred around Wilma Nanninga,veteran analyst of the Dutch entertainmentindustry, that will enable RTL to offer a sneakpreview of Saturday's showbiz news on theprevious Thursday.

RTL 4 Programme Director Erland Galjaard canhardly wait for the start of the new TV year:“With so many stars and successes, RTL 4 canrightfully lay claim to being Dutch viewers'favourite”, he said.

His counterpart at RTL 7, Boudewijn vanSchaik, was equally upbeat, saying: “RTL 7 haseverything that appeals to men: a strong earlyevening, thrilling films, sensational realityshows, top national and international football,and all the main events in motor sport. Thisprogramme mix gives us every reason to facethe new season with confidence”.

New channel RTL 8 will complement andstrengthen the full service offered by RTLNederland. It will be warm and accessible, andits distinctly female touch and 'feel good factor'should win over female viewers in no time.Here, the programme mix includes talk shows,soaps and docu-soaps, reality shows, castingshows, detective stories, films and a suitableproportion of romance.

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Baby Whisperer hostDerek Ogilvy

Chazia Mourali,presenter of Achmea Kennis Quiz


German RTL family seesrise in audience figuresRTL Television, Vox, RTL II, Super RTL and N-TVtogether in July achieved a market share of33.9 per cent.Germany - 2 August 2007

As compared with the previous month, theGerman RTL family of channels saw an increa-se of 0.3 per cent in young viewers during theholiday month of July. By contrast, ProSieben,Sat.1, Kabel 1 and N24 were down 0.5 points,achieving a market share of 29.3 per centamong 14-49-year-olds.

RTL Television was also the clear leader in the14-49 age range during July with a marketshare of 15.7 per cent and did particularly wellin sport, news and drama.

The boxing clash between Wladimir Klitschkoand Lamon Brewster was the most watchedprogramme of the month. During July, RTL's

news programmes further consolidated theirstrong position.

RTL Aktuell was once again the most success-ful main news bulletin among both 14-49-year-olds and the total audience. The series Houseand Alles was zählt also attracted large num-bers of viewers.

Vox finished July with a market share of 7.8 percent in its target groups and in so doing equal-led its June performance. Compared to July2006, though, the channel was up 8 per cent.

RTL II was ranked fifth with a market share of6.8 per cent, which is an increase of 0.6 percentage points on July last year.

K-Ville comes to Five'sfamily of channelsFive has acquired exclusive rights to the uniquedrama series on the New Orleans hurricane.United Kingdom - 2 August 2007

The cop drama is set in New Orleans duringand after the city was struck by HurricaneKatrina. K-Ville follows two policemen - oneblack, one white - who remained in the cityduring the hurricane and who each have verydifferent views about how the city's problemscan be resolved.

Five acquired rights to the hotly-anticipatedseries from Twentieth Century Fox TVDistribution. K-Ville is currently in production

and will premiere in the States on 17September 2007 on the Fox Network.

Five will begin broadcasting the series fromearly 2008. Negotiations for Five were led byVanessa Brookman, Controller of Acquisitions:“The combination of traditional proceduralcrime drama set against the backdrop of post-Katrina New Orleans makes K-Ville a fascina-ting and engaging show.”

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K-Ville heroes

RTL Aktuell presenter Peter Kloeppel


RTL puts stars in a paternoster liftAmusing sequences and short stories, all in the cramped space of a paternoster lift.The new commercial separators on RTL Television sound rather promising.Germany - 1 August 2007

The new commercial separators will be shownon RTL Television starting this autumn. Over 30famous RTL faces agreed to feature in them,and duly lend the clips their own personaltouch.

Each star uses the few square metres of spacein the lift in their own particular way: presenterSonja Zietlow is working out, actor ErdoganAtalay takes a bold leap and presenter FraukeLudowig glitters in her own major gala perfor-mance. Michael Hajek, Head of RTL Creation,explains: “The clips show relaxed acting and asense of humor. Working with our famous RTLfaces, we continue our strategy to integratepeople in our separators. The paternoster lift

helped as a novel platform. Underlying, we docommunicate our basic color code.” All theclips convey one thing: a great sense of fun, asviewers will clearly see.

Last week, RTL Television subsidiary RTLCreation filmed the commercial separators withthe stars in a Düsseldorf department store. Andmore clips will be shot, too, to present the fullspectrum covered by RTL Television.

The internal shooting team consisted of RalfLobeck, Ulli Schumacher, Annett Krause,Andreas Ortmann, Christina Schrempp, CatrinMackowski, Christian Weckerle, RobertSanders und Patrice Keller.

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Sonja Zietlow Erdogan Atalay Frauke Ludowig


Super RTL websitelaunches its own printedmagazineHot off the press in shops from 1 August will bethe brand new printed version of the successfulwebsite elementgirls.de.Germany - 1 August 2007

Just like on the Web, the new printed magazinewill offer girls aged between 10 and 15 news,fun and tips on growing into adulthood.

The first edition will contain a special large-scale psychological test, beauty tips, flirtingstrategies, celebrity news, posters and prizedraws. Since the new magazine and the websi-te elementgirls.de complement each other per-fectly, it's deemed very important that the prin-ted and online versions should be closely inter-meshed.

As Super RTL Director Sales &Marketing Jin Choi put it: “Wefeel certain that the newmagazine will appeal to thegirls' taste and meet theirneeds. After all, we can fallback on our experience withthe website of the samename, which young femaleusers seem to prefer, by far, toother comparable websites.And whereas our rivals aredeveloping their activities onthe basis of established prin-ted magazines, Super RTL ismoving in the opposite direc-tion with Element Girls”.

The initial print run of Element Girls willbe 180,000 and the sale price will beEUR 2.60.

In the space of just a few months,www.elementgirls.de has becomeone of the favourite websites forGerman girls, having developed astrong community with around 330,000members.

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www.elementgirls.de website

Jim Choi,Super RTL Director Sales & Marketing

check out

www.elementg

irls.de

Magazine cover


Antena 3 Group acquires Spanish radiogroup Unión Ibérica de RadioUniprex, the company that manages Antena 3's radio division, has acquired 100%of the shares in Unión Ibérica de Radio. Spain - 31.07.2007

Uniprex is the radio arm of Antena 3 Group andholds the shares in the radio stations Onda Ceroand Europa FM.

Unión Ibérica de Radio (UIR) currently has 18broadcasters distributed across Spain. It also

has a digital radio station with national coverage.

In 2006, UIR had revenues of more than EUR 4.3million, while its EBITDA was more than EUR 3.1million. The deal is subject to approval by theauthorities.

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RTL Crime, Passion andRTL Living areexpanding their reachFor the first time RTL Television's special-inte-rest channels are going to become available toviewers as part of Premiere's pay-TV package.Germany - 31 July 2007

The contract between Premiere Star and RTLTelevision foresees the two actors' cooperationlasting several years. The channel RTL Livingwill be included in the new Premiere Starpackage in September. The Premiere Themapackage will include RTL Crime in October2007, and the other special-interest channelPassion, run together with UFA, will be featuredfrom January 2008.

“We're very happy that our digital special-inte-rest channels RTL Crime, Passion and RTLLiving will now also be available to Premieresubscribers. Viewers are in for some first-classpremieres on German television, including thecrime series Hustle - Unehrlich währt am längs-ten (Hustle) and the sensuouscookery shows starring Englishcult lady chef Nigella Lawson”,said Klaus Holtmann, head ofRTL's digital special-interestchannels. “The contract with

Premiere Star marks an important step forwardwith respect to extending our reach, because itmakes our channels amongst the most widelydistributed pay-TV channels in Germany. Nowvirtually any household can subscribe to them”.

Dr Friedrich Heise, director of legal and busi-ness affairs at Grundy UFA, and CEO ofPassion, together with Klaus Holtmann, added:“This first-time inclusion in Premiere Themapackage shows that our strategy is on the righttrack and that Passion's programme schedule,including major daily series and high-qualityfirst showings is proving equally popular withprogramme marketers and viewers”.

Nigella Lawson Hustle


M6 mobile by Orangecelebrates its onemillionth customerA lucky, unsuspecting millionth subscriberreceived a Nokia N95 telephone and a scooterin person from France Télécom CEO DidierLombard and M6 CEO Nicolas de Tavernost.France - 30 July 2007

M6 mobile by Orange, the mobile telephonyservice launched by M6 with Orange in June2005, has reached its target of 1 million custo-mers a full year ahead of schedule.

The simple fact that M6 mobile by Orange hasreached its objective a year ahead of schedulespeaks volumes, underlining just how suc-cessful the joint venture has been. In fact, M6mobile has become a real benchmark brandfor 15 to 25-year-olds, for whom it providesan efficient, innovative service gearedtowards youngsters' means, their finan-cial resources being somewhat tighterthan most.

Naturally, the successful MVNO opera-tor, which offers its subscribers a mix oftelecom and media services, isn'tabout to stop now, half way through theproject. Indeed, the two partners nowplan to step up their cooperation to dis-tribute audiovisual content.

Marking the venture's breakthrough in passingthe 1 million barrier, Didier Lombard added:“The venture's success is due to the combinedknow-how of Orange, France's leading mobileoperator, and of M6, which is undeniably anexpert at reaching young people. Togetherwe've managed to put together a service that isvery much in line with what young people wantand establish a strong brand universe builtaround entertainment”.

Orange is France Télécom's cor-porate brand for mobile tele-

phony, the Internet and televi-sion. France Télécom has 161million customers in 5 conti-nents. So M6 can be veryhappy indeed to have foundsuch an excellent partner, andvice versa.

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M6 and PagesJaunesjoin forcesThe two groups announced a strategicpartnership, pushing ahead the developmentof the annoncesjaunes.fr website to becomethe multi-segment leader in small adson the Internet.France - 30 July 2007

M6 is thus teaming up with a very prominentplayer in the directory publishing market toform what looks like a very promising strategicpartnership. PagesJaunes Groupe is the lea-ding European publisher of directories on theInternet and also the leading publisher of prin-ted directories in France. In addition, Pages-Jaunes offers a wide range of complementaryservices such as Mappy (geographical servi-ces), PagesJaunes Marketing Services (directmarketing) and PagesJaunes Petites Annonces(small ads). This is significant, for PagesJaunesGroupe is France's second biggest earner ofadvertising revenues.

Specifically, the M6 Group will acquire a34% holding in the capital ofPagesJaunes Petites Annonces (which iscurrently a 100% subsidiary ofPagesJaunes Groupe), for EUR 16 mil-lion by way of an increase in capital. Theannoncesjaunes.fr site currently carries400,000 ads for property and motorvehicles, but the plan is to develop newsegments (especially job ads), promotethe website and make sure it featuresprominently on all M6 media.

M6 CEO Nicolas de Tavernost said: “By takinga strategic stake, the M6 Group is positioningitself in the buoyant small ads market alongsi-de a recognised player. The outlook for growthin the small ads market is being boosted by therise in the number of advertisers on digitalmedia. The M6 Group will use its media, brandsand content to boost the development ofannoncesjaunes.fr”.

The small ads market is currently burgeoning inFrance, so M6 and Pages Jaunes are collabo-rating to seize any future opportunities thatarise in a bid to become the benchmark opera-tor in this domain.

Nicolas de Tavernost

Pagesjaunes website


Spain - 26 July 2007

Revenues are slightly down, having dipped 0.3per cent to EUR 538.8 million. The Group'sEBITDA for the first half of 2007 totalled EUR184.4 million, as against EUR 212 million duringthe first six months of 2006. Net profits weredown from EUR 133.4 million in 2006 to EUR115.7 million this year.

The reasons cited for the decline in performan-ce include higher programme costs and poorer

progress in ratings and on the advertisingmarket, where growth has been moresluggish than in previous years.

Antena 3 Group's radio shareholdingsimproved their results over H1 of 2007.The revenues generated by its radio busi-ness rose by 6.9 per cent to EUR 56.8 mil-lion, and its EBITDA and net profits went upby 4.6 and 6.8 per cent respectively.

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RTL Televizija issupporting children'scharities in CroatiaThousands of people flocked to NoviVinodolski for the celebrity footballtournament organised by Croatian TVchannel RTL Televizija.Croatia - 27 July 2007

RTL Televizija's Help the Children Foundation,RTL Poma�e Djeci, staged a celebrity footballtournament to raise money for the St. VinkoPaulski Occupational Therapy and Rehabilita-tion Centre. Thousands of football fans and 24national soccer teams took part in the charityevent. Each club team fielded one legendaryCroatian footballer, including Davor Šuker andRobert Prosinecki, who were members of theCroatian team that came third in the 1998World Cup.

One prominent face among the crowd was RTLTelevizija celebrity Sanja Dole�al, who was with

the channel at its launch and helped to set upthe foundation. The football tournament waspart of the Sport and Music Days 2007 held inNovi Vinodolski from 19 to 29 July. RTLTelevizija is one of the event's official partners.

A few days before, another of the foundation'sinitiatives brought joy to 120 Croatian orphans,who were invited as exclusive guests to attendthe premiere of the fifth Harry Potter film at acinema in Zagreb.

RTL Poma�e Djeci was set up in December2006 and is jointly run by RTL Televizija and theCroatian daily Vecernji List.

One of the participanting teams

visit

to download

the results

presentation

Antena 3 Group publishes its half-yearly resultsAntena 3 Group's revenues, EBITDA and net profits have fallen in comparisonwith the equivalent period last year.


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RTL Televizija wins prestigious AwardAnd the award goes to... RTL Televizija. The Croatian channel's Aquavisual identity scheme picked up a golden Promax Award in New York.Croatia - 31 July 2007

M6's prime-time successIn the month of July, M6's series, reality shows and information pro-grammes have attracted 500,000 more prime-time viewers than wasthe case last year.France - 31 July 2007

New fiction highlight on RTL TelevisionShooting has begun on RTL's film version of famous author FrankSchätzing's book Die dunkle Seite (The Dark Side).Germany - 30 July 2007

RTL Radio is leader in Paris areaAttributed a market share of 14.6 per cent (up 2.8 per cent) and 14.7per cent (up 2.1 per cent) of the accumulated audience, compared withthe same period last year, RTL Radio has achieved the highest growthof all French radio stations in the Greater Paris area.France - 27 July 2007

UFA Group supports Fair Company initiativeUFA is taking part in the highly regarded Fair Company ethical businessinitiative run by the student magazine Karriere.Germany - 30 July 2007


People

Sabine Kreft andJan Paulus promotedat Super RTLGermany – 31 July 2007

Sabine Kreft

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Sabine Kreft and Jan Paulus will become divi-sional managers as from 1 August 2007 andthus be joining Super RTL's management.

Kreft, a trained journalist, has been involvedwith the TV channel's communications since1997, and has headed up that departmentsince 2000. Paulus, a lawyer with a PhD inmedia sciences, started out as a managementassistant three years ago, before being appoin-ted secretary-general in mid-2006.

Managing Director Claude Schmit said: “I'mvery happy. This guarantees that we will be ableto meet our company's steadily mountingrequirements even better in future. Sabine Krefthas been with the channel for years, has playeda prominent role in developing its communica-tions, and has an exceptional feel for issuesthat affect us and the market. Jan Paulus hasnot only headed up the Legal Department, butalso helped the management in various areas,as well taking charge of various projects”.

Jan Paulus


People

Markus Föderl is to leavenews channel N-TVGermany - 2 August 2007

Markus Föderl is to leave news channel N-TV.Overall editorial management will, in future, bethe responsibility of Volker Wasmuth alone.

Editor-in-chief Markus Föderl will leave thechannel by mutual agreement on 1 October2007.

Johannes Züll, Managing Director of N-TV said:“Markus Föderl is one of the founding membersof N-TV. He helped build up and shape thechannel, for which I thank him wholeheartedly.His keen political sense and excellent contactsin Berlin circles have helped to make the newschannel the success it is today. I will be sad tosee Markus leave N-TV and I wish him everysuccess in the future.”

From October, overall editorial managementwill be the responsibility of Volker Wasmuthwho has worked alongside Föderl as editor-in-chief of N-TV since July 2006.

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Markus Föderl

Volker Wasmuth


14

The next editi

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4thThe weekly Backstage Newsletter will be onsummer holidays.

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http://backstage.rtlgroup.com

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