week 02 - rtl group · week 02 winners of the year ... kinder!, which helped to make an important...

13 January 2011

Luxembourg

Gerhard Zeiler on businessin 2010

Germany

Deutschland sucht den Superstar reports best premiere ever

France

Nicolas de Tavernost looking back on 2010

Netherlands

Strategic partnership withVodafone Nederland

week 02

Winners of the yearMany RTL Group channels reinforced their market positionin 2010

the RTL Group intranetweek 02

13 January 2011

Luxembourg

Gerhard Zeiler on businessin 2010

Germany

Deutschland sucht den Superstar reports best premiere ever

France

Nicolas de Tavernost looking back on 2010

Netherlands

Strategic partnership withVodafone Nederland

week 02

Winners of the yearMany RTL Group channels reinforced their market positionin 2010

Cover: Montage showing ratings increase by several profit centres

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GermanyIn all, the Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland channels grew their 14- to 49-year-old viewer-ship by 0.6 percentage points to 35 per cent, putting them well ahead of the ProSiebenSat1 channels, which attracted 28.5 per cent of that demographic.

With an audience share of 18.1 per cent, RTL Television was again the most popular channel among young viewers – for the 18th year in a row. Compared with 2009, the channel improved its performance by 1.2 percentage points and was able to considerably expand its lead over the com-petition. RTL Television took the lead in total audience ratings as well, coming in ahead of ARD (13.2 per cent) and ZDF (12.7 per cent) by scoring a 13.6 per cent share of the market. This was the channel’s strongest total audience share since 2004.

Its most-watched formats once again included show extravaganzas like Deutschland sucht den Superstar (Idols) and Das Supertalent (Got

Talent). In its fourth season, the latter set new ratings records with up to 8.52 million viewers. The classic quiz show Wer wird Millionär? (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire) with Günther Jauch attracted as many as 8.04 million viewers this year. The channel’s sports broadcasts were likewise in very high demand: the Formula 1 season’s final race in Abu Dhabi alone was watched by 10.24 million viewers. Boxing was also an audience magnet, attracting 13.45 million viewers for the fight between Vitali Klitschko and Shannon Briggs on 16 October. The year in sports was rounded off by the broadcast of nine Fifa Football World Cup matches from South Africa, a feat that won a German TV Award for “Best Sports Broadcast” and generated powerful market shares of up to 54.1 per cent among young audiences. The channel’s main news programme RTL Aktuell scored an average 19.9 per cent of the 14- to 49-year-old market, once again putting it far ahead of competing main news programmes. In terms of total audience, RTL Aktuell attracted 3.91 million viewers and an average market share of 18.2 per cent, ahead of ZDF’s Heute news (3.74 million / 16.6 per cent) and at number two behind ARD’s Tagesschau (5.34 million / 18.9 per cent) for the third consecutive year. RTL Nachtjournal was clearly the country’s number one late-night magazine show, with an 18.0 per cent market share among young viewers and 15.9 per cent of the total audience.

A great performance RTL Group’s flagship channels in Germany and the Netherlands not only increased their audience shares once again, but also set new records. Other profit centres recorded strong performances as well.Luxembourg - 13 January 2011

Freddy Sahin-Scholl won Das Supertalent on 18 December 2010 – more than 8 million viewers tuned in

Since 2010, RTL Aktuell broadcasts from the new studioin Cologne-Deutz


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Vox generated an average market share of 7.7 per cent in 2010, giving it the second-best result in its history (in 2007 the channel had scored 7.9 per cent) despite the Fifa Football World Cup and the Winter Olympics. Its search for talented musicians was very popular with audiences: X Factor attracted as many as 2.91 million viewers and up to 16.9 per cent of 14- to 49-year-olds. Vox also introduced the year’s most popular new US series in Germany in 2010: on 10 March 2010 the first episode of Lie to me was watched by 4.15 million viewers and 17.6 per cent of 14- to 49-year-old viewers. Die große Samstags-Dokumentation (The Big Saturday Documentary) also went down well with viewers, attracting up to 8.5 per cent of the target demographic.

RTL II had an average market share of 6 per cent among 14- to 49-year-old viewers in 2010. The channel established the Scripted Reality trend in its access prime time programming by introducing X-Diaries – Love, Sun & Fun. RTL II also generated a great deal of attention with Tatort Internet – Schützt endlich unsere Kinder!, which helped to make an important topic – the sexual harassment of minors on the internet – the object of discourse and discussion in politics and the media. Earlier, the channel had demonstrated its commitment to social respon-sibility with another innovative action: during Ramadan, RTL II aired alerts about sunrise and sunset for Muslim viewers.

Super RTL, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s children’s channel, reached an average 20.4 per cent of children aged 3 to 13 in 2010, and 2.3 per cent of 14- to 49-year-old viewers.

The news channel N-TV treated viewers to numerous live shows and specials in 2010, and attracted 1.0 per cent of the 14- to 49-year-old viewer market. The channel’s total audience share was 0.9 per cent. During the TV year just past, the channel aired some 900 specials on breaking news of the day. The stock-market show Telebörse scored market shares of up to 5.3 per cent and Märkte am Morgen attracted up to 4.4 per cent of the viewer market.

FranceConsolidated audience share for all Groupe M6 channels (M6, W9, Paris Première, Teva, etc.) has increased by 0.8 percentage points over the past 5 years and came to 14.3 per cent in 2010, whilst the audiences of the other major groups declined overall. Once again, the family of channels concept has proven its worth.

Among the big channels in France, M6 proved best at adapting to increasing digitisation for the third year running, and attracted an average audience share of 16.5 per cent among house-wives under 50 (2009: 17.2 per cent). This is the smallest decrease among its competitors, and M6 remained the second most-watched channel in this demographic.

M6 aired the night’s most-watched show 19 times in 2010, after 13 times the year before. M6’s best audience in 2010 (8.1 million viewers) was reached when it broadcast the Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. France football match during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers. An epi-sode of the US series NCIS came in second with 6.9 million viewers. L’amour est dans le pré (Farmer Wants a Wife) proved its popularity too, with one episode ranked the country’s third most-watched programme in 2010 (5.7 mil-lion viewers). The show, hosted by Karine Le Marchand, was the last summer’s most watched programme.

W9 was the second–ranked channel on DTT with a nationwide audience share of 3.0 per cent. The channel achieved its best audience ever on French DTT with 2 million viewers tuning in for Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith on 23 December 2010. W9 also aired 45 of the 100 most watched programmes on DTT.

Axel and Alizée won Incroyable Talent on 22 December. Almost 4 million viewers tuned in


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The NetherlandsRTL Nederland recorded its best viewer ratings since 1999 in 2010. The four channels in the group attracted an average 33.0 per cent of the 20- to 49-year-old viewer market, a 4 per cent increase over 2009.

With an average audience share of 18.4 per cent in its target demographic of 20 to 49-year-old Shoppers, the family channel RTL 4 had its best ratings since 2003, up by a good 8 per cent year on year. Four of RTL 4’s formats placed in the country’s Top 10 most watched programmes (not including sport broadcasts): The Voice Of Holland, Ik Hou Van Holland, All You Need Is Love and Ushi & Loesie. In October, The Voice Of Holland was watched by 3 million viewers, earning an audience share of 54 per cent in the channel’s target demographic. In access prime time, RTL 4 was able to rely on its established, popular formats like RTL Boulevard, RTL Nieuws and Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden.

RTL 5’s average audience share in 2010 was 8.8 per cent among viewers aged 20 to 34. A particular audience favourite was Oh Oh Cherso, the channel’s most-watched programme of the past five years. In 2010, its ratings peaked at 51.9 per cent of the channel’s target demographic and 1.4 million viewers. Other crowd-pleasers included Expeditie Robinson with a market share of 37.9 per cent and So You Think You Can Dance, which was watched by 24.2 per cent of the country’s 20- to 34-year-old viewers.

The men’s channel RTL 7 had its best year since its launch in 2005, attracting 7.1 per cent of the 20- to 49-year-old male viewer market in 2010.

Its football format Voetbal International had a particularly good year: on 6 December, the show attracted 674,000 viewers, its best ratings ever. In spring, the channel broadcast the two final games of the KNVB Cup, drawing 2 million viewers and earning market shares of over 50 per cent in its target demographic.

The women’s channel RTL 8 closed the year with an audience share of 3.2 per cent among 20- to 49-year-old women. Films were particularly popular, with the channel’s most-watched film Home Alone 4 reaching nearly 850,000 viewers on 28 December.

BelgiumWith a total audience share of 34 per cent in 2010, RTL Belgium remained the leading family of channels in French-speaking Belgium. Its flagship channel RTL-TVI broadcast 21 of the year’s 25 most-watched shows.

In 2010, one in three TV viewers favoured the Belgian family of channels consisting of RTL TVI, Club RTL, Plug RTL. With an annual audience share of 26.8 per cent (2009: 26.9 per cent), RTL TVI once again outperformed its competitors in 2010. It earned its best ratings of the year with the broadcast of Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis (1.4 million TV viewers) on 7 March. That same night, Le phénomène Ch’tis, a documentary focusingon the Ch’tis phenomenon, was the most watched magazine show in 2010. The most popular entertainment show was Panique au Palais which was broadcast on 19 December. In total, the channel’s scorecard reads as follows: in the news category, RTL-TVI broadcast eight of the country’s ten most-watched programmes. In magazine shows and series, the channel dominated the top ten, covering all ten slots. Finally, in movies, RTL-TVI broadcast 18 of the year’s 20 most-watched movies.

The Voice of Holland regularly attracts millions of viewers

Panique au Palais was Belgium’s most watched entertainment programme in 2010


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CroatiaRTL Televizija defended its market leadership for the fifth consecutive year the in all-day category, with an audience share of 24.5 per cent (2009: 26.3 per cent) in the 18 to 49 target group. Despite fragmentation of the market, RTL Televizija increased its prime time viewership (between 20:00 and 23:00) during the autumn. With an average audience share of 32.3 per cent, December 2010 was the strongest month since January 2009, when the channel broadcast the World Men’s Handball Championship.

2010 started with Croatia’s presidential elections and RTL Duel, a TV duel between the candidates Josipović and Bandić. Broadcast live, RTL Duel was the most watched one–off event in 2010. Spring brought second season of Hrvatska traži zvijezdu (Idols). With an average audience share of 36.5 per cent, the show attracted 15 per cent more viewers than the first season in 2009. In autumn, the Turkish series 1001 noc (1001 nights) and Onurmania became regional phenomenon. On average 1001 noc was watched by 38.8 per cent of the 18 to 49 demographic. In the 86 days on which it was broadcast, 1001 noc was the most watched programme in its slot for 76 days, becoming Croatia’s most watched series ever. The main news programme was renamed RTL Danas. With Igor Bobić as its editor and host, and broadcast from a newly constructed studio, its audience shares increased by 50 per cent to an average 35.4 per cent.

HungaryRTL Klub recorded an audience share of 21.9 per cent among viewers aged 18 to 49 (2009: 23.9 per cent). RTL Klub continued to be Hungary’s most watched channel both in its target group and in total audience, where it attracted an average 21.7 per cent (2009: 23.9 per cent). The decreasing audience shares are mainly the result of ongoing fragmentation in the Hungarian TV market.

On 19 December, Csaba Vastag won the first season of X Faktor in Hungary. A total of 2,826,917 viewers tuned in for the grand finale, making it not only the most-watched show of the evening, but also Hungary’s most-watched television programme of the year. The finale of the football World Cup in July came in third among Hungary’s most watched programmes – behind another X Faktor live show. In total, 90 per cent of the Hungarian population, tuned in for a live X Faktor episode at least once. On average, more than 1 million viewers aged 18 to 49 watched the live shows, with audience shares peaking at 53 per cent.

GreeceThough the media landscape in Greece remained very saturated in 2010, Alpha TV managed to increase its average audience share in the key demographic of viewers aged 15 to 44 by 0.1 percentage points or 0.7 per cent to 13.8 per cent.

The channel’s key programmes once again included the satirical show Al Tsantiri News, whose audience share regularly exceeded 50 per cent. The show attracted an average audience share of 50.3 per cent. On weekdays, many viewers start the day with the morning show Kafes me tin Eleni (Coffee with Eleni) – on weekends viewers enjoy Mes’tin Kali Hara (Full of Joy). Other popular programmes in 2010 included successful localisations of internationally successful formats such as

Andja Maric, member of the jury of Hrvatska traži zvijezdu

Csaba Vastag (center) won RTL Klub’s X Faktor


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Greek Idol, Kati Psinetai (Come Dine With Me), Spiti apo tin Arhi (Home Makeover) and Efialtis stin Kouzina (Kitchen Nightmares). In October,Alpha introduced the first scripted reality series in Greek television, Oikogeneiakes Istories (Family Stories), and it was warmly received by viewers.

LuxembourgRTL Lëtzebuerg’s position as a local market leader was once again indisputable in 2010: the RTL Lëtzebuerg family reached 288,000 viewers a day, which corresponds to 82 per cent of Luxembourg’s population tuning in to watch every day.

SpainGrupo Antena 3’s channels ended 2010 with a combined audience share of 16.9 per cent in the advertisers’ preferred 16- to 54-year-old demographic, putting them at number three behind Telecinco and TVE.

Grupo Antena 3’s eponymous flagship channel scored an audience share of 11.8 per cent in the advertisers’ preferred 16- to 54-year-old demographic (2009: 15.4 per cent). Among total audiences, Antena 3 reached 11.8 per cent of Spain’s TV viewers (2009: 14.7 per cent). This put the channel at number three in both groups. Antena 3 was, however, the country’s number one commercial channel for information and news programs: Antena 3 Noticias had an average viewership of 1.8 million across all episodes and days of the week. This corresponds to 13.6 percent of the market.

Neox was the leading Spanish digital channel, with an audience share of 2.9 per cent in the advertisers’ preferred demographic of 16- to 54-year-olds (2009: 1.4 per cent). The channel garnered 2.2 per cent of the total audience market, a year-on-year improvement of one percentage point. Nova more than doubled its market share to 1.7 per cent in the demographics sought after by advertisers: a 130 per cent increase from 0.8 per cent in 2009. Nitro, the group’s third digital channel launched in September, immediately soared past the 1 per cent mark and was watched by an average 1.2 per cent of Spain’s viewers – this translates to 0.4 per cent of the total market for the whole year. Grupo Antena 3’s digital channels collectively scored a cumulative audience share of 5.1 per cent among viewers aged 16 to 54 and a total audience share of 4.1 per cent for the full year 2010.

The concept of establishing families of channels has clearly paid off: it allowed the group to partially compensate for the losses suffered by the flagship channel, so that its share of the 16- to 54-year-old demographic dropped only slightly from 17.6 per cent in 2009 to currently 16.9 per cent.

Lakis Lazopolous regulary attracts more than 50 per cent of the viewers


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Last year, Germans watched TV for an average 223 minutes daily. This reflects a year-on-year increase of 5 per cent or 11 minutes (212 minutes). Overall, this is also the highest daily viewing time since Media Control began its measurements in 1992.

In Germany, the strong increase may be attributed chiefly to the ‘guest use’ (out-of-house TV use). As in all other countries, the Football World Cup contributed significantly to the increases. And since 1 July 2009, catch-up TV use has also been included in the measure-ments, but it plays a minor role to date

French TV viewers watched an average 212 minutes of TV per day, which reflects an increase of 7 minutes or 3 per cent in the Netherlands, viewers watched an average 188 minutes per day – up from 181 minutes in 2009.

In Spain daily TV usage also grew steadily, reaching 234 minutes in 2010 – 24 minutes more than in 2000. Here too, the biggest audience magnets included the Football World Cup broadcasts, which alone accounted for 39 of the year’s 50 most watched programmes.

TV viewers in the UK watched TV for an average 242 minutes per day, which translates to an increase of 17 minutes or 7.6 per cent compared to 2009. Viewing time in the US also increased: in all, Americans watched a major network or cable channel for an average 291 minutes a day, a 1 per cent increase over the previous year.

TV viewing time increases againThe trend continued in 2010: in many European countries, daily TV viewing time increased yet again – in some cases considerably.Luxembourg - 13 January 2011

20092010

205 212

181 188

225242

288 291

212 223

Viewing time in minutes


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Looking at the full year 2010, Zeiler said: “Six months ago, I said that 2010 would be ‘either an okay year or a good year’. Three months ago, it was ‘either a good year or a fantastic year’. And today, I can say that 2010 will be either a fantastic year or an extremely fantastic year!”

He explained that this result is partly due to a recovery of the advertising markets: “In Western Europe, our channels are now performing at the same level as in 2008. That is not yet the case for the central and southern regions of Europe. Other media, such as the publishing sector, have not bounced back anything like as strongly.” Zeiler is convinced that this is proof that adver-tisers believe in the effectiveness of TV: “TV is bigger than ever,” he said, emphasising that viewer figures continue to rise. “Now we have to convince advertisers of the power of online advertising,” he said.

Asked about the situation of RTL Group’s subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Gerhard Zeiler answered: “RTL 4 has had a phenomenally successful year.” When the journalist from NRC Handelsblad picked up the example of RTL Nederland’s latest talent show, Gerhard Zeiler said: “The Voice of Holland is a fantastic format. I have watched a number of episodes, and it is very well made. However, Channels have to master a variety of genres in order to be effective. RTL 4 is strong in all departments: major events, soaps and news.”

For the future, Zeiler sees new developments: “Firstly, I expect more Turkish series, as they have also proved popular in Greece, Croatia and Central Europe. Secondly, there will be new kinds of real-life docusoaps. The Netherlands has always been a leading light in this genre, as have Germany and Britain. Thirdly, you’ll see more local drama series. The ratings show a decline in the popularity of American series.”

“A fantastic year!” at leastOn 17 December, Gerhard Zeiler, CEO of RTL Group was interviewed by the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. He talked about business in the Netherlands and took a first look back at RTL Group’s performance in 2010. Luxembourg - 20 December 2010

Gerhard Zeiler

The article in NRC Handelsblad


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An average 7.47 million viewers watched the kick-off to season eight of Deutschland sucht den Superstar (Idols). This translates toa 36.8 per cent share of the 14- to 49-year-old market, the best ratings to date for the first show of a season. In all, as many as 8.20 million viewers tuned in for the first auditions show, making Deutschlandsucht den Superstar the most-watched programme on Saturday evening.

From August to October 2010, a total of 34,956 candidates – also more than ever before – auditioned for the new season in 35 German cities and also, for the first time, in Switzerland and Austria. The highlights of these auditions form the content of the first episodes of Deutschland sucht den Superstar, which are aired on RTL Television Wednesdays and Saturdays at 20:15.

“Pop titan” Dieter Bohlen will not be mincing his words this season either. He is assisted by two new colleagues on the jury: singer Fernanda Brandao and singer/songwriter Patrick Nuo, who both bring a wealth of experience from the stage and music business.

Alongside many new candidates, the perennial candidate Menderes is back, hoping – yet again – for a bit of luck. Will he finally make it to the next round on his eighth attempt? And who else will make it? Will someone from Austria or Switzerland be the new Superstar for the first time?

Those who survive the auditions have a chance of flying to the Maldives as one of the best 35 candidates. On tropical Sun Island, they then have to prove they have what it takes to be a superstar – because only those who impress the jury in the Maldives can become one of the top 15 and compete for the 10 final slots in the big selection show Jetzt oder Nie (Now or Never). The top 10 singers then battle it out in the motto shows, singing week after week to win over the viewers, because the latter alone will determine – by phoning in their votes – who will become the new Superstar and sign a record deal with Universal Music Group. The series is once again hosted by Marco Schreyl and produced by Grundy Light Entertainment.

Viewers can access the highlight videos from Deutschland sucht den Superstar exclusively on RTL.de and Clipfish.de. The full-length show may now be viewed on RTLnow.de. Compre-hensive information, exclusive background stories and videos about the show, its judges and candidates are posted at RTL.de.

Best season opener of all timeThe talent show Deutschland sucht den Superstar began its eighth season on RTL Television with more viewers than ever before tuning to a season premiere.Germany - 7 January 2011

DSDS jury: Patrick Nuo, Fernanda Brandao and Dieter Bohlen

A candidate in Köln


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Hallaschka himself has a very respectable track record as a journalist. Since 2006, he has served as a regular host of the consumer magazine Markt on the public TV channel NDR, and a substitute presenter of the NDR Talk Show. He has also presented the ARD Ratgeber Technik show since 2010. Hallaschka began his career in radio at the age of 21, joining the youth programme of Hessischer Rundfunk (Radio unfrisiert) in 1993. He took his first steps on TV as early as 1996, when he started hosting 100 Grad on Deutsche Welle and ORB.

“My previous positions have given me strong experience in the area of consumer advocacy, a topic that Stern TV is committed to and in which I have an intense interest,” says Hallaschka . “Moreover I have a passion for culture-related topics. I belong to a generation that has undoubtedly grown up with the new media, so I realise that in the future we will be talking more and more about such things as social networks, data security and online dangers.”

Günther Jauch wholeheartedly approves of Hallaschka as his successor. “I believe that he will do an excellent job. He is proficient in a wide range of topics and is a dedicated journalist with the necessary curiosity. He has his own strong ideas and will have a formative influence on the show.” On 5 January, Günther Jauch’s farewell show was watched by an average 4.42 million viewers, which translates to 19.8 per cent of all German TV audiences. In the 14 to 49 demo-graphic, the show reached an audience share of 25.1 per cent.

Stern TV is assigned to one of the independent broadcasting slots, which are licensed to DCTP (Alexander Kluge and others) as “third-party pro-vider broadcasting rights“ in accordance with the provisions of Germany’s Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Interstate Treaty on Broadcasting) to ensure diversity. The magazine is produced by I&U TV Produktion.

A new faceSince 12 January 2011, Steffen Hallaschka, 38, hosts Stern TV. He succeeds Günter Jauch, who has led the show for 20 years.Germany - 12 January 2011

38-year-old Steffen Hallaschka will start hosting Stern TV on 12 January

Günther Jauch left Stern TV after 20 years


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Martin Krapf

In Germany the target group of 14- to 49-year-olds was the measure of all things when it came to being able to compare media performance. But the fact is that the baby boomers from the 60s will have outgrown the advertising-relevant target group of 14- to 49-year-olds by 2018 at the latest and the sharp drop in birth rates will also mean the loss of numerous wealthy customers for advertisers.

“For me there are no two opinions about this,” says Martin Krapf, Managing Director of IP Deutschland. “The 14- to 49-year-old target group needs to be replaced. A 20- to 59-year-old target group makes sense, because a 20-year-old has more in common with a 50-year-old than a 14-year-old has with a 49-year-old. There are also flaws in the logic of the currency we currently use. The idea of a 14-year-old head of household is nonsense.” For this reason, in order to bring more transparency into the market, IP Deutschland is now surveying the reach of commercial breaks and cost per thousand contacts (CPM) for the 20- to 59-year-old target group in addition to those for 14- to 49-year-olds.

Florian Ruckert, Marketing Director at IP Deutschland, explains: “The 14- to 49-year-old target audience will shrink by 17 percent in the next ten years. It therefore makes sense to shift the focus to 20- to 59-year-olds, because the majority of consumption will take place within this age group.”

Many brands have already been adjusting to this demographic change for some time now and have recognised the attractiveness of 50- to 59-year-olds. Unlike 25 years ago, this target group has experienced a very different kind of media and consumer socialisation. They are fitter and wealthier and see themselves as being “at the best stage of their lives.”

Demographic change affects advertisingGermany is ageing. For this reason IP Deutschland has begun taking into account the 20 to 59 demographic as well as the 14- to 49-year-olds. Germany - 22 December 2010

Florian Ruckert


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In a lengthy interview published in the 8 January edition of Le Figaro, the chairman of the board of Groupe M6 looked back on the success of his channels and outlined what the group had lined up for 2011. Whilst Le Figaroemphasised that in 2010 M6 had wiped out all trace of the crisis, generating advertising revenues in excess of those achieved in 2008, Nicolas de Tavernost said: “Year after year for the past 5 years, M6 has kept its audience share above 10 per cent whilst also being the second most watched French channel among viewers under 50 years of age. That remains our objective in 2011”.

In financial terms, weathering the impact of the crisis in 2009, Groupe M6 had “had an excep-tional year, achieving growth in all its business activities and scoring double-digit growth in its advertising revenue, outperforming the average growth on the market”, the group’s boss went on to underline.

Not only M6’s results were commendable: all the group’s channels performed well: “The consolidated audience for all the group’s channels – M6, W9, Paris Première, Teva and so on – went up by 0.8 percentage points over the last 5 years, totalling 14.3 per cent in 2010, whilst at the same time the audiences of the historical groups who are our competitors went down overall”, de Tavernost said. Meanwhile, Le Figaro reiterated the far lesssatisfactory performances by M6’s rivals, with France Télévisions shedding 5.3 points and TF1 losing 3.4 points.

Nicolas de Tavernost announced that Groupe M6 “will increase its investments in programmes by at least 5 to 10 per cent whilst at the same time keeping an eye out for any opportunities to make acquisitions”. According to him, investing in programmes is the key to a channel’s profitability, and he plans to focus his efforts on evening and lunchtime viewing as well as on French fiction.

The free digital channel W9 will also apply for a high-definition frequency, whereas the “top-end pay-TV channel“ Paris Première has just been authorised to broadcast three hours a day of free-to-air programmes (as opposed to two), the aim being to attract new viewers and encour-age them to subscribe to the channel.

With all indicators looking good, the Groupe M6 CEO has but one regret, namely that Girondins de Bordeaux failed to qualify for European football.

At the same time, Nicolas de Tavernost said he felt “rather optimistic about 2011”.

“An exceptional year”In an interview, Nicolas de Tavernost reiterated that his main channel’s target remains unchanged: to stay the second most popular French channel among viewers under 50 years of age. France - 10 January 2011

Nicolas de Tavernost


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Nancy Sinatra to star on W9Nancy Sinatra, a young moderator well-known in Belgium for her appearances on RTL-TVI and Club RTL, will run the Hit Talent show on W9 starting in early 2011.France - 21 December 2010

She bears the name of American crooner Frank Sinatra’s daughter and is also an accomplished singer. Belgium’s Nancy Sinatra carries on with her amazing destiny in France on Groupe M6’s DTT Channel, W9. TV viewers can enjoy her every Saturday at 17:00 in Hit Talent, a French musical talent show created in 2007.

Sinatra, who turns 28 next Friday, has already proved her professional skills on RTL Group’s Belgian channels. She first auditioned for RTL-TVI in 2002, and went on to become a popular moderator for shows ranging from Fan Club and La fête de la musique to Les 20 ans des Simpson.

Already at the age of 16 was she a finalist of the Pour la gloire singing contest – since then her fame has crossed Belgium’s borders. In France, Louis Chedid hired her to replace Vanessa Paradis, playing the role of “Made in Asia” in the musical Le soldat rose.

Nancy is indeed poised to become the next popular Belgian TV moderator in France, follow-ing in the footsteps of Virginie Efira and Sandrine Corman. She says she is very proud she was asked to host Hit Talent. And it is likely that – between recording sessions – Sinatra will try to trace her ancestry, as she is curious to know whether she has any connection with her name-sake and the latter’s father, Frank Sinatra.

Nancy Sinatra


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After months of intensive market research, the two companies have established a new brand to be launched in early February. They also plan to market further products in the future. This strate-gic partnership spanning several years will see Vodafone cover the cost of offering and distribut-ing the product among other activities, while RTL Nederland will be responsible for tasks including content development and promotion.

RTL Nederland CEO Bert Habets’ comments on the agreement: “RTL Nederland is a rapidly growing all-round media company and we’re always looking for new ways to expand our activities successfully. The mobile phone market is a fine example of one such opportunity. The new brand will make the most of everything streaming media has to offer as well as our knowledge of female target audiences. We are extremely happy to be working with a partner of Vodafone’s calibre in meeting the challenge of introducing a new mobile phone brand to the market. By combining our knowledge and expertise with Vodafone, our company will now be able to establish itself on the Dutch mobile phone market as well.”

Vodafone Nederland CEO Jens Schulte-Bockum adds: “I am very happy to be collaborating with a well-established media company like RTL, which knows more than any other company how to target pictures and audio as appropriately as possible at specific audiences using different media such as radio, TV and the Internet. Mobile phones are playing an even bigger role in people’s day-to-day lives and are increasingly complementing television and PCs, making them an attractive market for both parties. The partnership will enable us to push RTL’s content more successfully and target specific audiences with relevant offers.”

Strategic partnershipRTL Nederland and Vodafone have announced a collaboration to develop the first mobile phone product range targeted at the female market.Netherlands - 4 January 2011

Bert Habets


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It is glossy, it has the size, the format and the design of a magazine, it even has the word magazine in its title, but isn’t a glossy magazine – at least not as such.

The RTL Magazine is RTL Nederland’s new business to business communication tool that targets advertisers.

It features extensive presentations of the company’s portfolio, interviews of executives involved in advertising, statement of channel managers, case studies and interesting facts and figures. The core message conveyed is that RTL Nederland is the best business partner for multimedia communication – anytime, anywhere and for everybody as states the magazine’s slogan.

RTL Nederland’s B2B Communication department opted for a glossy magazine-like information booklet instead of a standard brochure as they wanted something different, unique and inspiring that would distinguish them from competitors.

RTL Magazine was created in cooperation with Redactiepartners and distributed during RTL Nederland’s 2011 advertising strategy presentation event beginning of December and sent to their main business contacts. The reviews have been very positive so far and consequently a new issue should be published next year.

A new tool to reach advertisersRTL Nederland recently published the RTL Magazine, a B2B communication tool especially aimed at advertisers presenting RTL Nederland’s cross-media portfolio.Netherlands - 23 December 2010

Cover of the RTL Magazine


17

On the Facebook and Twitter community net-works, Fun Radio has just crossed the 1 million mark in fans signed up on its official pages: Fun Radio is the number one French-language media brand on Facebook. Its performance is equalled on the I-Phone and I-Pad where the 1 million mark has also just been passed in users who have downloaded the application.

“Fun Radio is enjoying spectacular success on community networks and in digital mobile media, thus meeting the promise to be accessible everywhere, all the time, in all media,” says Fun Radio General Manager Jérôme Fouqueray. At the end of January, the station plans to expand in all digital media by launching applications for the Android, Blackberry, Google, Nokia, Samsung and HP smartphones.

Fun Radio, with general-interest station RTL Radio and other music station RTL 2, make up the trio of French radio stations in RTL Group. Fun Radio is the station whose signature is the “dance floor sound” targeted specifically to listeners under 35. Last year, for the first time in its history, it became the number two music radio station in France and is hovering near the 4 million mark in daily listeners. Counting on a “dance floor” positioning that is powerful, original and positive, its values are associated with partying and having a good time. In the Internet jungle, Fun Radio has become a prescriptive brand for discovering music. Regularly making big news, last November it joined up with the most talented artist of the moment, Lady Gaga, who spoke on the air in perfect French to say: “Lady Gaga’s radio station is Fun Radio, the dance floor sound.”

Excellent audience, reinforced presence on new platforms and exclusive partnerships: all indicators appear to be excellent for Fun Radio’s General Manager.

The radio station made the winning decision of expanding its brand presence by reinforcing its image off the air. With its organisation of the giant Starfloor concert at Paris-Bercy last Octo-ber and 17,000 seats sold in no time, the station has demonstrated its new savoir-faire in organis-ing live concerts. Venturing off the beaten path, Fun Radio also joined up with Crédit Mutuel Arkéa last September to launch the first online bank dedicated entirely to 13 to 25 year olds.

Fun Radio spreads its reach1 million fans on Facebook – 1 million I-Phone and I-Pad applications downloaded.France - 12 January 2011

Listening in new digital media now counts for 13 per cent of Fun Radio’s total daily audience

Detailed data

76,000 fans signed up on the only “Official Fun Radio” Facebook page

more than 500,000 fans signed up on the official Facebook pages for regions, programmes and events

already 9,700 registered on the “Fun Radio Pro” Facebook page reserved for communications and music professionals

60,000 registered on Fun Radio’s official news threads on Twitter


18

Around 200 guests came to the Cinestar in Zagreb on 16 December for the unveiling of the RTL 2 programme line-up, Johannes Züll, CEO of RTL Televizija, said: “RTL 2 has not one but many colours. The same is true for its programming – it is all about entertainment and docutainment.”

On 2 January at 18:00, Ivan Lovreček, a member of the RTL Televizija management board and Martina Vuletin, editor-in-chief of RTL 2, opened a new chapter in the history of Croatian Television with the official launch of the special-interest channel. Viewing figures for the kick-off evening were very satisfying: the channel attracted 5.4 per cent of the 18 to 35 demographic.

The first broadcasts on RTL Televizija’s sister channel RTL 2 were the US comedy Hot Rod, followed by the popular teenage sit-com Malcolm in the Middle. Later in the evening, two documentaries – The Ice Road Truckers and The Axe Men – proved a hit with viewers, as did the US crime series Dexter and the US crime comedy In the Mix starring R&B singer Usher.

Overall, the programme schedule includes Studio 45, a new talk show hosted by RTL Televizija’s renowned journalist Antonija Mandić, as well as the latest popular TV series such as Chuck, Dollhouse, The Big Bang Theory and a number of blockbuster movies and docu-mentaries. RTL 2’s theme tune is a song by the young band Kino Klub, reflecting the channel’s claim “Sada znam gdje pripadam, svaku noć I svaki dan” – “Now i know where i belong, every day and every night”.

A new channel for CroatiaRTL Televizija launched RTL 2, a new channel specialising in movies and documentaries. The new family member has received positive reviews by viewers and critics alike.Croatia - 17 December 2010

Johannes Züll

The band Kino Klub plays RTL 2’s theme song


19

Antonis Stroiter

Over the past two years, the programme quality has increased based on the philosophy and standards of news in RTL Group. The result: higher ratings and significant cost reductions. The process will conclude with a journalist training week in January 2011, in cooperation with Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland.

Christoph Mainusch, CEO of Alpha: “We needed all from our News at the same time – quality, efficiency and good ratings. Therefore I am glad that our journalists fulfilled the mission leading Alpha’s news bulletins to independent, modern and fact based video news with a better quality, but also with higher market shares in the com-mercial target group. Needless to say that all this happened under restrictive financial conditions.”

The new concept focuses on the commercial target group and followed a simple concept: “Being closer to the viewers”. To this end, the news bulletin was grouped in three sections: top news, current affairs and lifestyle including stopping some “traditional” Greek ways of News style as Matthias Settele, former VP Business Affairs of RTL Television in Germany, who has been sent to Athens as flying producer for RTL Group to support the change process, puts it: “It was a shock for some viewers when Alpha cancelled the traditional political studio discus-sions filmed in mutli-split screen with up to seven windows. Now the reporters are the stars of the news with their interviews, live links, investiga-tions and with new elements like tests, competi-tions and hidden camera stories.”

One significant change was moving the news from its traditional timeslot at 20:00 to 19:00. Antonis Sroiter was appointed as new presenter for the weekday news, while Nikos Manesis took over on the weekends. The show was supported

by improved graphics and a strict independent positioning as Vasilis Papadrosos, News Direc-tor of Alpha, points out: “We are glad to have RTL Group as main shareholder, both for the know how transfer from other markets, but also for the respect and consequent support of our local journalistic decisions”.

Due to the economic situation in Greece workflows and production needs have been streamlined dramatically. All in all this led to a cost reduction of over 50 per cent compared to 2008, while audience shares were up nearly 50 per cent, from 8.0 percent in 2008 to 12.1 per cent for the first ten months of 2010 as result of the new time slot and the better quality of reporting.

In January 2011, Alpha will cooperate with Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland to organise a training week with Christian Berger, a Greek- speaking journalist from the RTL Nachtjournal.The main topic will be on improving storytelling, based on the philosophy of “being the eyes and ears of our viewers”.

Closer to the viewerAlpha News has completed the intensive restructuring started in December 2008. The results look very promising.Greece - 21 December 2010

Vasilis Papadrosos

Starting offwith a bang

To mark the New Year, Grupo Antena 3 has

produced a series of musical-like video

clips starring several TV personalities such

as Jorge Fernàndez, presenter of ‘La ruleta

de la suerte’. The spots are an introduction

to Antenna 3’s new corporate identity and

its programmes, and demonstrate that

to attract audiences, “not just anything

goes”. The premiere attracted more

than 3.5 million viewers.


21

An insider’s glimpse of a dozen American citiesFremantleMedia has launched a new travel web series, created for car manufacturer Buick and distributed on the MSN platform.United Kingdom - 17 December 2010

RTL Nederland enters dating marketRTL Ventures is developing a new online initiative for the Dutch dating market. One part of RTL Nederland’s strategy is to seek out opportunities on relevant consumer markets.Netherlands - 17 December 2010

Pepsi signs on as official X Factor sponsorFox Broadcasting Company, Syco Television and FremantleMedia North America have announced Pepsi as an official sponsor of the talent show The X Factor, which makes its US debut in autumn 2011.United Kingdom - 6 January 2011

RTL 2 sponsors evening news show on Canal +The French radio station specialised in pop-rock music will be running an innovative brand communication campaign on the pay-TV channel Canal + in January.France - 6 January 2011


22

Advertising app-ealN-TV published its new N-TV I-Pad app just before Christmas. Now BMW has climbed aboard as the first advertising customer. The app went straight to the number one spot of the most popular free apps in the German app store.Germany - 10 January 2011

Historical two-part miniseries gets good ratingsThe Sinking of the Laconia, a drama jointly produced by Teamworx and Talkback Thames, has won over British audiences as well as critics: Almost 3 million viewers tuned in to BBC 2.Germany / United Kingdom - 11 January 2011

200 criminal cases solved since 2001ZDF is airing a double episode of the crime series to mark the tenth anniversary of Soko Leipzig, a series produced by UFA-Fernsehproduktion.Germany - 7 January 2011

Exclusive interview in new studiosMarking its new set and news production concept, Antena 3 Noticias invited Spain’s President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for a live interview. An interview with the country’s opposition leader is planned for 24 January.Spain - 10 January 2011


23

Haiti: one year after the earthquakeMore than 200,000 dead and the country devasted. One year after the terrible earthquake, Belgian TV channel RTL TVI’s reporters went back to Haiti.Belgium - 11 January 2011

And the winner is…Justine De JonckheereBelgium has crowned its new beauty queen, and RTL Belgium’s channels teamed up to cover the event.Belgium - 12 January 2011

Exclusive interview with Croatia’s PresidentThe President of the Republic of Croatia, Ivo Josipović was a guest of RTL Danas, RTL Televizija main news programme, where he gave an exclusive interview on the first anniversary of his election victory.Croatia - 13 January 2011

Do you really deserve your driver’s license?Zéro de conduite is the first public-spirited “game show” about driving. The first episode was aired on M6 on 11 January and attracted 2.7 million viewers.France - 13 January 2011


24

René Smit

People

René Smit and Frank MeijerNetherands - 7 January 2011

René Smit has been appointed Manager Talent and Music Concepts at RTL Nederland, with effect from 1 February, and Frank Meijer will be managing the newly set up New Initiatives and mobile phone team, which is part of the RTL Ventures division.

Starting 1 February 2011, René Smit will be the new Talent and Music Concepts Manager at RTL Nederland, a new position created with the aim to reinforce the development of the RTL Entertainment department among other tasks. In his new position Smit will be responsible for the active development of concepts related to RTL Nederland presenters. By centrally organis-ing these activities, RTL Nederland will be able to provide better services to its advertisers by offering all-round music concepts based on strong brands. Additionally, Smits will be in charge of creating new music and live-enter-tainment events. For this task, he will work closely with the Licensing and Entertainment department of RTL Nederland.

Says René Smit about his new position: “I’m very enthusiastic about this new job. RTL Nederland’s development strategy so far, with a strong focus on entertainment, has paid off. This is in line with my way of working and I will very gladly contribute my experience and knowledge to further developing the business.”

Smit worked at RTL Nederland as Manager for Licensing and Entertainment from 2003 to 2006. He then left the company to become Managing Director of Studio 100. Since 2008 he has served as Managing Director Benelux at Universal Music Publishing.

On 4 January 2011, Backstage reported on the strategic partnership between RTL Nederland and Vodafone Nederland. A new team has been created to handle the activities related to the launch of this new mobile-phone product. Frank Meijer will head the team, which will also be part of the RTL Ventures division.

Nicolas Eglau, Director RTL Ventures, comments: “Frank is a driven and enthusiastic professional who took charge of the project from day one. So it was completely logical to let him head this new team that will be in charge of developing this new brand.

Meijer has been part of RTL Nederland since 2000. He started as ICT Manager, a position he held until 2005, followed by appointments to various positions within the company, until he became a Project Manager in the Business Development and Strategy department in 2008.

Frank Meijer


25

People

Yaël GooszFrance - 5 January 2011

People

Anne FuldaFrance - 12 January 2011

The number one radio station in France will host new journalist and “grand reporter” Yaël Goosz later this month.

The editorial staff at RTL Radio in France has just hired Yaël Goosz, 30, for its political news team headed by interviewer Jean-Michel Apathie. Goosz joins the rue Bayard team as a new “grand reporter” in the run-up to the 2012 presidential and general elections.

As a journalist, Yaël Goosz is familiar with radio (France Info, Europe 1) as well as with printed press (Ouest-France, 20 Minutes, Le Point). He began to specialise in political matters in 2008, covering the news of the powers that be (in Parlia-ment, at the UMP party, in Hôtel Matignon [Prime Minister’s office], Palais de l’Elysée [President’s office]) on Europe 1. From August 2010 on, he focused his reporting on the left wing and the Socialist party. He is currently writing a political book, scheduled for publication next spring.

Political journalist Anne Fulda joins RTL Radio in France as a member of the team for the station’s weekend programme Face à face.

Every Sunday morning starting 9 January, Anne Fulda and Rokhaya Diallo, the president of the “Les Indivisibles” association (which fights racism), will present a lively debate at 8:50 on the morning news show, discussing and arguing about major issues in French society.

Anne Fulda is a columnist with the French daily Le Figaro, a newspaper she worked for between 1982 and 2005.

The Face à face show is broadcast every Saturday and Sunday morning. In the Saturday morning edition of Face à face, journalists and opinion leaders Géraldine Muhlmann and Franz-Olivier Giesbert (the director of French weekly Le Point) debate in the studio of France’s number-one radio station.


26

People

Konstantin von StechowGermany - 11 Germany 2011

Konstantin von Stechow (35) has taken over RTL Television’s external corporate commu-nications with effect from 1 January 2011. In his capacity as senior editor, he will from now on serve as spokesman both for RTL Television and for Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. He reports to Christian Körner (39), Vice President Communications of RTL Television and Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. Von Stechow succeeds Bettina Klauser (38), who took over as head of the N-TV press office in February 2010. Konstantin von Stechow has been with RTL Television since 2002. A Communications Sciences graduate, he initially worked as a communications trainee in the Programme Press department, where starting in 2004 he served as spokesman for formats like Deutschland sucht den Superstar, Die Super Nanny and Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!. In 2006, he was appointed officer at the communications division. In this capacity, he managed various projects in external and in-house corporate communications and stood in for RTL Interactive issues as well.

In addition to von Stechow, the Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland team of spokespersons still includes Klauser, in addition to her role as N-TV spokesperson, and Thomas Bodemer (41), who as press spokesman of RTL Interactive also issues communications on topics affecting more than one channel in the group.

Konstantin von Stechow


27

People

Robert ZoresGermany - 13 January 2011

From 1 February 2011, Robert Zores (48) will take over as Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Wer-kennt-wen.de.

Alongside Eva-Maria Bauch (40) and Sönke Strahmann (41), Zores, who holds a doctorate in physics, completes the management team of the social network, which now counts more than 9 million registered users. In his new capacity, Zores reports directly to the company’s managing director, Eva-Maria Bauch.

Robert Zores joins Wer-kennt-wen.de from Autoscout24, where he has been in charge of the technology department since 2007 as Vice President and Technical Director. His career has also included stints with AOL Deutschland and as CTO of Sagem Orga.

Eva-Maria Bauch says: “In Robert Zores, we have gained an absolute Internet pro and experienced CTO for Wer-kennt-wen.de. I look forward to an exciting year in 2011 with him, the Wer-kennt-wen.de team, our 9 million members and a profitable company.”

Matthias Büchs, a member of the RTL Interac-tive management board and Head of the Online and Mobile department, comments: “We are delighted to have Robert Zores complete the Wer-kennt-wen.de management team. The network offers users an important and out-standing German alternative. Together with the team, we will tackle the challenges of the Social Community market and continue to expand Wer-kennt-wen.de as one of its leading networks.

Robert Zores

http://backstage.rtlgroup.frhttp://backstage.rtlgroup.comhttp://backstage.rtlgroup.de

PublisherRTL Group

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L-1543 Luxembourg

Editor, Design, Production

RTL Group

Corporate Communications and Marketing

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