SCOUTINGFOR VENTURES How RTL Nederland’s investment arm advances asidethe core business

BelgiumStrategic alliance between IP Belgium and Groupe Rossel

GermanyInterview with Bernd Reichart, the new Managing Director of Vox

United KingdomFremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment and BBC Children’s to co-produce children’ shows

week 7 / 14 February 2013

SCOUTINGFOR VENTURES How RTL Nederland’s investment arm advances asidethe core business

BelgiumStrategic alliance between IP Belgium and Groupe Rossel

GermanyInterview with Bernd Reichart, the new Managing Director of Vox

United kingdomFremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment and BBC Children’s to co-produce children’ shows

week 7 / 14 February 2013

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CoverMontage with Miinto, Pepper, Sizz and Couverts’ logos

Photo: © Masson – Fotolia.com

PublisherRTL Group

45, Bd Pierre FriedenL-1543 Luxembourg

Editor, Design, ProductionRTL Group

Corporate Communications & Marketing

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QUICK VIEW

“We offer hundreds of options”A conversation with Nicolas Eglau, Managing Director of RTL Venturesp. 4–7

Strategic alliance between IP Belgium and

Rossel AdvertisingIP Belgium

p. 11

New partnership to co-produce children’ shows FremantleMediap. 10

Bernd Reichart:“I followed the Vox story

from a close distance”Vox

p. 8–9

Big Picturep.12

SHORTNEWS

p. 13–14

PEOPLE

p.15

4

The website of RTL Ventures

“WE OFFER HUNDREDS

OF OPTIONS”The Netherlands – 14 February 2013

RTL Ventures

Backstage spoke to Nicolas Eglau about

RTL Ventures and how the business unit became

established as a structural part of RTL Nederland

5

RTL Ventures was founded about two years ago, in December 2010. The fi rst big project arose when RTL Nederland teamed up with Vodafone to form Sizz. It was the fi rst step for RTL Nederland to invest in growing consumer markets and as a minority share holder. Sizz is the only Dutch mobile provider with free access to exclusive content of RTL Nederland. “Essentially, the telecom market is quite saturated: so far consumers had made their purchases not based on the provider, but based on a handset offered,” says Nicolas Eglau, Managing Director Ventures of RTL Nederland. “So a provider offering a distinguishing proposition defi nitely has an edge. Sizz does that – and very successfully.”

The Sizz app offers its subscribers previews of popular favourites such as Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden and Moordvrouw – and they watch their favourite RTL programmes without cutting into their data bundle. To date, the Sizz app has been downloaded 170,000 times. In January, Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden was the most popular programme with almost 85,000 video views. Nicolas Eglau: “These fi gures emphasise the user’s wish to be able to view videos even on the smallest screens. In 2013, Sizz will be expanding its unique content proposition by offering even more programme previews suited for its target group, including the new and popular RTL 4 series Divorce.”

The ideaToday, RTL Ventures has established itself as the investment arm of RTL Nederland, an all-round media and entertainment company. Its focus is on exploiting new business opportunities in attractive consumer markets by investing in companies that can grow and develop even faster with the funding, marketing, business support and creativity of RTL.

The scouting team of RTL Ventures is searching for proven and innovative start-ups that have reached a revenue level of around €2 million. “You could describe RTL Ventures as a typical venture capital organisation,” says Eglau. “We invest in a start-up and acquire between 20 and 40 per cent of the shares. Usually it is quite important for the founders to remain in control of their business. But besides investing money in a start-up, we also offer the full power of RTL Nederland’s marketing machine. If they want, they have hundreds of options for promoting their business.” Additionally, RTL Nederland also gives them access to facilities, most start-up entrepreneurs usually did not establish, yet. Among them: legal advice, support by Human Resources and of course, a huge network.

RTL Ventures’ investment objective is not that the companies reach break-even within a year or two, but that they accelerate their growth. “We aim to create value over the long term,” says Eglau. “We also have to consider how we can foster further growth. With RTL Ventures’ investments, we are seeing revenue growth rates of more than 50 per cent year on year.”

He adds: “In the end, you have to think about what to do with your investment. We need a clear exit strategy. A future monetization event is key for any Venture Capital fund, the same applies for us. You can sell the asset, but if you sell too early you’ll miss out on more growth.“ At this point, none of the on-going projects have reached a state where a sale is worth considering. A second option is to buy out the founders and run the business as a fully integrated unit. Whatever long-term strategy is applied: A double-digit growth is a pre-condition for each scenario. And so far, RTL Ventures is on track by exceeding all growth expectations.

One can judge the difference between RTL Ventures and other RTL divisions not only from the fi nancial priorities. RTL Ventures also has its own premises in Hilversum and Amsterdam for the team of 50 employees. And their working space looks a lot like a start-up itself, with the targets and business ideas written all over the walls.

Next >

Nicolas Eglau, Managing Director of RTL Ventures

6

The VenturesBesides Sizz, RTL Ventures has invested in several other start-up companies. One of them is Couverts,an online reservation tool for restaurants. Today, more than 900 restaurants are affi liated with Couverts: 80 per cent more than in 2011. A reservation is placed directly into the affi liated restaurant’s digital reservation book and then confi rmed by text message and email. Couverts is the market leader in terms of the number of affi liated restaurants where consumers can make real-time reservations.

In 2012, Couverts was used to book more than 850,000 restaurant seats: a year-on-year increase of more than 190 per cent. Couvert’s relationship with RTL also led to unique events including a “Meet & Eat” with Robbie Williams. Eglau: “Our focus is increasingly shifting to consumers. People are still using their phones to call restaurants even though online reservations are so much quicker and easier. The loyalty programme and the organisation of events not only serve to familiarise consumers with real-time reservations, but also provide them with added value.”

According to recent research by Com Score, Pepper is now rated the third most popular datingplatform in the Netherlands. Its member baseincreased by 90 per cent in 2012 compared to 2011. In January 2013, the number of registrations per day rose by 30 per cent as compared to the entire year of 2012. The site’s most frequently used feature is Chat Pepper, a tool that facilitated around a million chats in 2012. The dating site, which was created with the help of singles themselves and is distinguished by its visual profi le page, is seeing prompted brand recognition of 53 per cent (January 2013). Nicolas Eglau: “I am proud that Pepper has attained this position in not even two years. A third of the Pepper members are now accessing our site on mobile devices, and the proportion is increasing. That is why we will be launching a mobile app this year, so that our members can use the platform whenever they want and wherever they are.” In 2012, RTL Ventures teamed up with Miinto International and internet entrepreneur Laurens Groenendijk to introduce a fresh new concept to the Dutch market: Miinto.nl. Miinto is a full-service on-line fashion platform for boutiques. It gives small re-tail businesses an opportunity to provide a 24/7 sales outlet that allows them to compete with large online fashion retailers. Eglau: “The fact that 175 stores became affi liated with Miinto within a short time after its launch emphasises the need of many retailers to have their own online sales outlet. In March, we will be launching our fi rst major TV campaign to introduce all fashionistas in the Netherlands to Miinto.nl and its network of boutiques offering a collection of more than 1,000 brands.”

Next >

Pepper and Couverts teamed up to offer a Valentines Day: the big blind date

7

The futureSizz, Couverts and Pepper have become strong brand names, and fi xtures in their respective markets. With the launch of Miinto.nl, RTL Ventures brought a new and internationally successful concept into the Dutch market. Nicolas Eglau: “2013 will be the year for continuing the growth of the past two years by developing our existing ventures and adding new ones to our portfolio.”

He concludes: “This year we want to invest into two or three new companies. These should link verticals in which RTL Nederland excels such as home & garden, travel, food, personal fi nance, fashion and education. Our aim is to co-operate with the best entrepreneurs to develop unique concepts taking full advantage of the founders business spirit and the RTL network’s strengths as a media company. In addition to new investments, we are also looking into ways of expanding our existing growth platforms into other countries.”

...into the computer and on to the website

From Miinto’s photo studio...

8

Bernd Reichart became Managing Director of Vox on 1 February. In a short interview, he discusses his job and his experiences in Spain. Germany – 8 February 2013

Bernd Reichart has been the new Managing Director of Vox since 1 February 2013. He succeeded Frank Hoffmann, who now heads its big sister channel RTL Television. Bernd Reichart has spent the past nine years living in Madrid where he was the Managing Director Multichannel at Grupo Antena 3.

In Spain you managed fi ve channels – what formats do you know from there that are also shown on Vox? Is there much overlap?Bernd Reichart: Absolutely! For example, we show series like the iconic Boston Legal and Rizzoli & Isles on Nova, and Criminal Intent and Law & Order on Nitro. Overall, the content market has become more and more globalised in recent years. Formats that are successfully developed in a major TV market are on the desk of TV producers worldwide within a week of their launch. But when it comes to the subsequent implementation, production and launch marketing, I’ve always watched Germany from Spain with deep respect. And in matters of series and movies, there have been repeated “overlaps” between Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland and Grupo Antena 3 regarding their respective studio deals.

Do you already have favorite formats on Vox?Bernd Reichart: Oh dear, a trick question already! I was especially looking forward to Geschichte des Menschen and am especially pleased by the excellent ratings scored by both parts. But I’m also very excited about the launch of Grimm. Actually, I have been able to watch all German channels on Astra over the years, and Vox was always on my radar, not least because of its high proportion of commissioned productions. My Spanish colleagues were particularly keen on the screening DVDs of Glööckler and Daniela Katzenberger. The Spanish market doesn’t have this kind of personality format so it always caused a stir within the company.

Vox has just turned 20. What do you consider special about the history of the channel?Bernd Reichart: I was lucky to be able to follow Vox’s history from a close distance over the last fi ve years via RTL Group’s ContentSynergy Committees (Sycos). Every three months, RTL Group chan-nel managers retreated to a conference room for two days to share

BERND REICHART: “I FOLLOWED THE VOX STORY FROM A CLOSE DISTANCE”

Vox

Bernd Reichart, the new Managing Director of Vox

Next >

9

ideas and thoughts about format developments and programme strategies of recent months. Whenever Frank and his team reported on Vox, I was struck by its high quality standards, their joy in innovative concept development, but above all our colleagues’ distinct awareness of their channel’s brand identity and positioning. After each of these meetings, I found it easier to understand Vox’s impressively successful development.

The event-scale documentary Die Geschichte des Menschen was broadcast recently. Will there be such exceptional programmes under your leadership as well?Bernd Reichart: If the ideas are right, count me in! What I like about this loosely connected series of very elaborate and lengthy documentaries is that they were not subject to self-imposed restrictions in the past. These beacon documentaries were programmed whenever a certain relevance for a topic emerged, and that’s a good thing. I look forward to further developments in this area and am excited about which topics we will fi nd.

Madrid and Cologne are about 1,500 kilometers apart as the crow fl ies. What are you looking forward to most in Cologne, and what will you miss about Madrid?Bernd Reichart: I’ll certainly miss the sun. Madrid has more than 300 sunny days a year, and I’m in the process of having to tell my wife that she simply can’t expect that in Cologne.

We know you love sports not only because you worked for a sports rights agency, but also because you are a passionate soccer fan and player. What club are you going to be supporting this season, and who is your favorite in the Champions League?Bernd Reichart: My favorite club in Germany is Borussia Mönchengladbach and in Spain, Real Madrid. A strange combination, and I know they don’t go together very well. This year, as I have so often, I’ve already given up on the Bundesliga championship, but I’m still hoping for the Champions League title.

BERND REICHART BIOGRAPHY:

Bernd Reichart was born on 12 March 1974 in Scheidegg (near Lindau on Lake Constance, Bavaria). Before he was appointed Managing Director of Vox, he was Managing Director Multichannel at Grupo Antena 3 in Spain, where was he was responsible for

five free-to-air TV channels, since 2007. Reichart has a degree in Sports and English and spent a long time living in Salamanca, Spain and the US during his studies. Straight after university he began working in the sports marketing industry at UFA Sports in Hamburg. In 2003 he opened a Madrid office for the sports marketing agency Sportfive, where he worked as Marketing Manager. In 2004 he joined RTL Group as Head of Investor Relations at Antena 3 in Spain. He is member of the Board of Trustees of Fundación Bertelsmann in Spain, which is chaired by Liz Mohn, since 2012.

10

FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment is entering into a fi ve-year partnership with BBC Children’s. United Kingdom – 8 February 2013

BBC Children’s, which won the BAFTA Children’s Award for ‘Channel of the Year’ for CBeebies in 2010 and 2011 and for CBBC in 2012, is the UK’s premier broadcaster for kids and family entertainment. FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment division has had continued success since its inception three years ago, bringing original family programming to viewers across multiple genres.

The organisations have a proven track record of working together: the preschool hit Tree Fu Tom was one of the highest rated new series on CBeebies in 2012, and Wizards vs Aliens was CBBC’s number two premiering show of 2012. Furthermore, on 5 February 2013, CBBC ordered a second season of the popular comedy adventure series Strange Hill High, another co-production between FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment and CBBC in association with Factory Transmedia for CBBC (UK).

Under the terms of the partnership, the BBC Children’s in-house production teams will produce the shows in conjunction with the FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment team including Sander Schwartz, President, and Bob Higgins, Executive Vice President.

“When we started FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment division just three years ago, our goal was to join forces with leading broadcasters and producers of kids’ content in order to inspire, transform, challenge and stimulate our young audiences who will grow to be the world’s next generation of leaders,” says Sander Schwartz, president, FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment. “BBC Children’s and FME’s Kids and Family division joining forces in a strategic relationship is truly an example of 1+1 = 3. The combining of strong experience and skills from both companies is sure to amplify the quality of shows that will result from this unique alliance.”

“BBC Children’s is the top echelon in the kids and family genre and we have had phenomenal success in working with them on shows such as Wizards vs Aliens and Tree Fu Tom,” said Bob Higgins. “They are fearless in their dedication to making bold, creatively brilliant programmes and we couldn’t be more excited to have the opportunity to continue working with such an amazing partner.”

NEW PARTNERSHIP TO CO-PRODUCE CHILDREN’ SHOWS

FremantleMedia

Tree Fu Tom, one of the highest rated new series on CBeebies in 2012

11

Through their respective sales houses, RTL Belgium and the Rossel Group, the number one press group in French-speakingBelgium, join together to offer marketing solutions to the advertising market that will maximize the impact of their advertising space on web and mobile sites.Belgium – 9 February 2013

Effective 18 February, this strategic commercial alliance concerns the web and mobile sites of the RTL and Radio Contact brands for one, and Le Soir and Sudpress for the other, and will allow both content publishers to reinforce their already-existing marketing services.

In an interview with the newspaper Le Soir of 7 February 2013, Denis Masquelier, Sales Houses Operations Director of IP Belgium, said: “For the moment, the advertising market is very fragmented, with an enormous number of operators. There was a need for clarifi cation. At the same time, our two groups are very complementary. Rossel is very strong in feature articles, but weaker in video. With RTL, it’s the opposite.”

IP Belgium thus becomes the standard service for the marketing of pre-roll campaigns and all advertising videos on the Le Soir, Sudinfo, Cinenews and Vlan websites. This represents more than 500,000 videos viewed per month, which is added to the 7 million videos viewed on the RTL Belgium websites during the same period. Rossel Advertising becomes the marketing contact point for display campaigns on the RTL.be and Radiocontact.be websites, both of which reach no fewer than 643,000 unique visitors in an average week and to which have just been added 947,000 unique visitors who are reached by the brands in the Rossel Group.

Furthermore, the volume of videos marketed should signifi cantly increase in the coming weeks as a syndication agreement was also concluded. As a result, content videos, news and entertainment from RTL Belgium will enrich the content of articles on websites in the Rossel Group, thanks to the RTL.be syndication player.

STRATEGIC ALLIANCE BETWEENIP BELGIUM AND ROSSEL ADVERTISING

IP Belgium

Denis Masquelier, Sales Houses Operations Director of IP Belgium

Carnival society helps children’s relief projectsOn 7 February 2013, on the occasion of the ‘Lost sisters’ society’s annual carnival event in Cologne, Chairman Boris Becker (right) presented a cheque over €60,000 to RTL Television’sCharity Director Wolfram Kons (left). ‘RTL – Wir helfen Kindern’ will use the money to support socially disadvantages children.

13

Number one radio website in 2012RTL Radio France

In December 2012, RTL.fr was once again number one radio website in France with over 2.2 million Unique Visitors (+4 per cent over the previous month). Ending on a high note, RTL.fr was also the most visited radio website over the whole year. France – 8 February 2013

Clipfi sh adds full-length feature movies to its content range RTL Interactive

Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s video clip portal Clipfi sh has launched a free fi lm-streaming service, kicking off with the movie Columbus Day.Germany – 11 February 2013

Expanding to meet the demandsGroupe M6

MonAlbumPhoto.fr, the photo album specialist and Groupe M6 subsidiary, inaugurates a new production site in Nanteuil-le-Haudouin, in the Oise département.France – 11 February 2013

Gold for Mrs GreenbirdGrundy Light Entertainment / Vox

Sarah Nücken and Steffen Brückner aka Mrs Greenbird, the winning act of Germany’s X Factor in 2012, have every reason to rejoice: with more than 100,000 records sold, their debut album has now shipped gold.Germany – 12 February 2013

SHORT NEWS 1/2

14

To the French Antilles for 100% Mag’s 5th anniversaryM6

M6 aired the fi rst edition of 100% Mag in access prime time on 11 February 2008, and quickly captured the attention of audiences. To reward viewers for their loyalty, 100% Mag celebrated its fi fth anniversary over a whole week in Guadeloupe and Martinique. France – 12 February 2013

‘RTL Gamescout’ now for I-Pad and Android, tooRTL Interactive

The new ‘RTL Gamescout’ apps further expand RTL Interactive’s mobile gaming range. Germany – 13 February 2013

New mobile website for RTL 4’s GTSTRTL Nederland

RTL 4 launched a new mobile website for its hit series Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden. The move reinforces RTL Nederland’s efforts to distribute its video content on every possible platform. The Netherlands – 13 February 2013

FremantleMedia acquires Canadian talent format FremantleMedia

Family Harmony (Un Air de Famille) is an original concept created and produced by Attraction Images in collaboration with Radio-Canada. Bringing teams of families together in a battle to become the most popular singing family in country, it will be FremantleMedia’s fi rst acquisition from Quebec. North America – 14 February 2013

Inside a hospital with M6M6

Starting on 14 February 2013, M6 airs a new prime-time documentary series, presented by Karine Le Marchand: Vocation Médecin (Vocation: Physician). Over a period of several months, she followed and documented the daily lives of eight future doctors. The Netherlands – 14 February 2013

SHORT NEWS 2/2

15

Konstantin Rodeck will take over the management of RTL Radiovermarktung, the sales house of RTL Radiocenter Berlin, with effect from 1 May 2013.

Stephan Schmitter, Managing Director of the RTL Radiocenter Berlin, says: “We are pleased that Konstantin Rodeck will be taking over the management of marketing and sales for our products 104.6 RTL, 105.5 Spreeradio and Jam FM. As a native of Berlin he is deeply familiar with the market’s requirements and has cultivated an excellent network of customers for years.”

Rodeck comes to RTL Group from BZ, Berlin’s biggest newspaper, where he has worked as Director Advertising until now. In addition, Rodeck has developed numerous innovative online and digital marketing concepts over the past few years. At RTL Radiovermarktung, Rodeck will report directly to Stephan Schmitter.

Adrian Santucho has been appointed as Managing Director of FremantleMedia Mexico, responsible for production and format sales activities across the territory.

Adrian Santucho previously worked at Endemol USA Latino for over 13 years, and has built an excellent track record in producing television programmes for Mexico and the US Hispanic market. He has had a long and successful career both in front of and behind the camera, having started out in Argentina as an on-air TV and radio reporter on Channel 9 and Telefe. He then produced several daily magazine shows at Endemol Argentina before moving to the company’s Mexico offi ce, where he served as Executive Producer for several shows including Big Brother and Call TV. After a three-year stint in Mexico, Adrian moved to Endemol Latino in Miami, where he managed projects for networks across both territories, including Set For Life, Deal Or No Deal, Wipe Out and Mira Quien Baila. He will report to Carlos Gonzalez, CEO of FremantleMedia Latin America.

Adrian Santucho, the new Managing Director of FremantleMedia Mexico

Konstantin Rodeck, the new Managing Director of RTL Radiovermarktung

PEOPLE

KONSTANTINRODECK

RTL Radiocenter BerlinGermany – 14 February 2013

ADRIANSANTUCHO

FremantleMedia MexicoMexico – 13 February 2013

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