week 27 - rtl group

week 27

7 July 2011

The audience comes first How RTL-TVI is maintaining its position as a leaderin the news domain

the RTL Group intranetweek 27

Germany

Super RTL launches Bob hilftKindergärten campaign

France

M6 launches new seriesin access prime time

Croatia

Big Brother ends withdramatic finale

Greece

Panayiotis Tsakalakoswins Greek Idol

week 27

7 July 2011

The audience comes first How RTL-TVI is maintaining its position as a leaderin the news domain

Cover: Laurent Haulotte, News Director at RTL Belgium.

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“Our know-how and journalistic quality enable us to produce the most avidly watched news programmes in French-speaking Belgium”, explains RTL Belgium News Director Laurent Haulotte, “but we also benefit from excellent programming before and after our news, so this impressive acceptance by the audience is the fruit of a joint effort by everyone at the channel.” Throughout the 2010/11 season, RTL-TVI’s 13:00 news bulletin (Le 13 heures) beat its rivals every single day, scoring an average audience share of 45 per cent. The results achieved by the 19:00 news (Le 19 heures), scoring an average audience share of 46.5 per cent, are even more remarkable.

“The editorial line taken by the channel is largely responsible for this popularity”, according to Laurent Haulotte. “If I had to sum up that line in just three characteristics, I would say: all the news, because we make no distinction between major and minor news items; geographical and interest proximity and credibility”, he concludes.

Yet even though RTL-TVI rules the roost in terms of news, by remaining the main provider of news in Belgium and by attracting nearly half of French-speaking Belgian viewers to watch its two news bulletins every day, the channel is certainly not resting on its laurels. Instead, it is constantly striving to extend its lead in the information sector in Belgium.

This past season, for the first time in a very long time, the evening news aired by La Une, the channel’s direct competitor, attracted bigger audiences on three occasions than RTL-TVI’s 19:00 news. “Since we had not noticed any large-scale migration of viewers, we did not make particular changes”, Laurent Haulotte explains. “Our know-how is unique and we do not base our efforts on what our rivals do, but rather on what might meet the viewing public’s expectations. That is why we constantly endeavour to keep up with the very latest technology, modernise our sets and decor, and so on. Lately, too, we have done a lot of thinking about news presenting techniques. Above all, we try to anticipate trends, rather than follow what our competitors do.”

According to Laurent Haulotte, down the years RTL-TVI’s two news bulletins, which are the channel’s most popular programmes, have become its “backbone” and served as a “point of departure for a global strategy”, enabling it to establish other formats. Today, in addition to the two main news bulletins, RTL-TVI airs 11 news magazines, including Images à l’appui, Docs de Choc, Reporters and Investigations. Moreover, it screens special editions to cover exceptional topical issues or major events, such as the death of Bin Laden or the royal wedding at the end of April 2011.

“All the news, proximity and credibility” RTL-TVI rules the roost in terms of news. However, the Belgian channel is constantly striving to extend its lead in the information sector. News Director Laurent Haulotte talks about teamwork and strategy in times of new competition. Belgium - 7 July 2011

Laurent Haulotte


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“Indeed, we offer our viewers a pretty hefty range of news”, Laurent Haulotte confirms, before going on to say that “all the information presented to the channel’s viewers is also reliable and attractive. This is why our viewers are so loyal. They feel we speak their language and we, in turn, always try to identify with them. Likewise, the regularity of our programming, providing general news magazines every day at 19:45, helps to create habits among our viewers.”

This approach, combining a global development strategy with such regular broadcasts, has clearly paid off, because in 2010/11 RTL-TVI’s information magazines occupied all top 10 places among the most watched magazines in French-speaking Belgium according to the audience measures by CIM TV Sud.

The latest addition to the channel’s family of magazines is Investigations, which seems to be following firmly in the footsteps of its elder siblings. Launched at the end of May 2011, this monthly programme which airs during the second part of the evening focuses on non-institutional European and international issues. The two programmes aired so far tackled topical issues head on, covering admittedly divisive issues which nonetheless genuinely affect viewers either directly or indirectly. One programme was entitled L’Europe a-t-elle besoin d’immigration? (Does Europe need immigration?), the other Comment l’Europe dépense-t-elle notre argent? (How is Europe spending our money?). “The

ratings were good in spite of competition from other channels, and I’m satisfied with the magazine’s quality”, Laurent Haulotte says, summing up the new programme’s performance.

Analysing the market share and viewing figures for each edition of Le 13 heures and Le 19 heures news bulletins during the 2010/11 season, the ‘biggest news events’ from Belgian viewers’ point of view included a high proportion of international stories. “In Belgium we are fortunate in having an open-minded audience comprising viewers interested in both national and international news”, Laurent Haulotte continues, pointing out that “RTL-TVI has always sought to be present where events are unfolding and to arm itself with resources that enable it to cover the most relevant news stories.”

So what does the future hold? Laurent Haulotte mentions the possibility of launching a third news bulletin to join Le 13 heures and Le 19 heures. This new programme would air towards the end of the evening, at around 22:00 and would be shorter than the other two news bulletins, summing up the day’s events. Laurent Haulotte explains the reasons behind the idea by saying: “This would enable us to plug a gap in our range of programmes and also boost our reactivity. Having a larger team available, ready to act if anything exceptional happens, would enable us to respond better and process any information obtained.”

News presenters from left to right: Caroline Fontenoy, Michel De Maegd, Hakima Darhmouch and Gregory Willocq


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RTL-TVI news in figures • RTL-TVI’s TV editorial team comprises some 80 journalists (including cameramen),

working either on its news bulletins or its magazines. The news magazines are produced by a team of some 30 journalists (there are no teams assigned to a specific magazine).

• RTL-TVI airs 11 news magazines: Images à l’appui, Investigations, Indices, Tout s’explique, Reporters, I comme, Docs de choc, Coûte que coûte, L’invité, Place Royale and Enquêtes.

• During the 2010/11 season, the 13:00 news was the leader in its category every single day, 305 days out of 305, and the 19:00 news ranked first 302 days out of 305.

• The gap in audience size between Le 13 heures and the news broadcast by La Une during the 2010/11 season was 157,051 viewers, whereas the average gap between Le 19 heures and its direct competitor was 165,417 viewers.

• The two most popular TV programmes in Belgium during the 2010/11 season were two RTL-TVI’s news programmes, which drew 948,847 and 912,732 viewers respectively, giving each programme an audience share in excess of 50 per cent.

Source: CIM TV Sud


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Interested kindergartens have until the end of June to apply, by sending in photographs of their buildings and equipment and describing the defects. A knowledgeable jury will decide shortly who most urgently needs help from Bob der Baumeister (Bob the Builder). First prize is €25,000 and includes a visit from Bob himself, the hero of the eponymous children’s series. Five other kindergartens will each receive €10,000 and healthy breakfast packages from Kamps.

Claude Schmit, Managing Director of Super RTL, says: “We won’t accept that many children in kindergartens and childcare centres have to play in surroundings that are not safe or child-friendly. The little ones should be able to romp around freely and have enough room for making discoveries.“

€75,000 for Bob hilft Kindergärten Super RTL, the Kamps bakery chain and the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk relief agency are together making €75,000 available for renovation measures at kindergartens as part of the Bob hilft Kindergärten (Bob Helps Kindergartens) campaign. Germany - 7 July 2011

Bob Baumeister will visit the selected Kindergarten

Claude Schmit


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The zany comedy follows the daily life of 18 year-old Adam, with his parents, his devilish little sister, his two best mates and his adolescent anxieties and dreams, facing his biggest challenge: the adult world. And then there are women…

A humanities student in the sixth form, the eldest son in the Fontella family and the implicit leader in his gang of mates, Adam is, like so many teenagers, a professional layabout whose main pastime is to take it easy. In any case, some day he’ll be American. A big-mouth and a show-off in front of his friends and family, he is much less so in front of Jenna, the girl at school that he has been dreaming of since he was in the first form.

Soda is sure to charm plenty of viewers with its offbeat humour and ironic but accurate portrait of adolescents today. The role of Adam is played by humorist Kev’ Adams, a rising star on the French comedy scene. He was discovered in 2009 by Anne Roumanoff, who invited him to appear on stage at the Olympia. After that, he became the opening act for Gad Elmaleh’s show. Since 2009 he has been performing his first show, called The Young Man Show, which has been an enormous success.

The first season of Soda consists of 240 3-minute episodes and has been aired on M6 since 4 July, Monday to Friday at 20:05. With 2.5 million viewers tuning into the first episode, Soda had the best start of a series in the 20:00 time slot.

Fresh new series Since 4 July 2011, every night at 20:05, M6 broadcasts a new series called Soda, the first TV series featuring comedian Kev’ Adams. France - 4 July 2011

Kev’ Adams as Adam

Kev’ Adams


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Marijana (right)

Many viewers had watched throughout the season as a love story unfolded between Marijana and a Serbian contestant named Nemeš, which started just ten days after the season had started. Although Marijana is married and the mother of a small child, she fell head over heels in love with Nemeš and decided to end her marriage in Croatia. During the finale, the love story reached its own dramatic climax when Nemeš decided to end the relationship, with viewers in five countries watching. This unexpected turn of events vastly boosted Marijana’s standing with

the viewers. She became the first female winner in the Croatian history of Big Brother and took home €104,700 in prize money.

For 107 days, Big Brother was the talk of town in the whole Balkan region (Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina). 1.1 million viewers tuned in to RTL Televizija on the final evening, according to AGB Nielsen Media Research – this translates to an audience share of 51 per cent among viewers aged 18 to 49.

So much for that happy endingAccording to AGB Nielsen Media Research 51 per cent of the viewers aged 18 to 49 watched the final show of Big Brother. The Croatian participant Marijana Cvrljak emerged as the winner in the viewer voting. Croatia - 4 July 2011

The two finalists, Panayiotis Tsakalakos and Malu Kyriakopoulou, were both extremely popular in Greece, making the finale one of the most interesting and exciting sing-offs of the past years. At the end Panayiotis won with 53.8 per cent of the votes, compared to Malu’s 46.2 per cent.

In terms of audience shares, season two was even stronger than the first: an average 25.8 per cent of viewers aged 15 to 44 tuned in to watch Greek Idol. The finale itself attracted an average of 38.6 per cent in the same demographic and among women aged 15 to 34 the finale even scored an audience share of 49.5 per cent. During the live shows, the hashtags #GreekIdol and #GreekIdol2 were consistently among the top ten trending topics among Greek Twitter users.

A riveting finale The second season of Greek Idol ended on Alpha. Panayiotis Tsakalakos emerged as the winner from the grand finale.Greece - 4 July 2011Panayiotis Tsakalakos


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Intensified collaborationCable operator Kabel BW will broadcast Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s channels in HD (High Definition) from now on. Germany - 1 July 2011

The German TV market in JuneMediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s channels scored a combined audience share of 33.1 per cent among 14 to 49-year-olds in June, putting them well ahead of the ProSiebenSat1 channels, which attracted 30.0 per cent.Germany - 4 July 2011

The only major channel to increase ratings in JuneIn June 2011, M6 was again the only major channel to increase its ratings both year-on-year and compared to May 2011 and thus maintain its position as the number three national channel for the fifth consecutive month this year, reaching a total audience share of 10.5 per cent. France - 5 July 2011

New record ratings for RTL NederlandWith an audience share of 37.7 per cent in the target demographic of 20 to 49-year-olds, RTL Nederland’s channels recorded their best monthly results since December 1997. The Netherlands - 6 July 2011

Alpha’s has best season everWith an all-day season average of 15.3 per cent among viewers 15 to 44 years old, Alpha grew by 0.6 percentage points compared to the previous season and was the country’s fastest-growing station.Greece - 7 July 2011


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The Tour de France with commentary by distinguished guestsFrom 2 to 24 July 2011, RTL Radio listeners are able to follow the Tour de France live, commented by Laurent Jalabert and Laurent Gerra.France - 1 July 2011

A new perfect dinnerVox aired a new version of the popular show Das perfekte Dinner: four Germans enter into culinary competition in a ‘Battle of Regions’, inspired by the M6 show Un dîner presque parfait – Le combat des régions. Germany - 1 July 2011

Launch of season nineTalented singers can now apply for the upcoming season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar (Idols).Germany - 5 July 2011

First Spanish TV channel to offer its content on the Blackberry PlaybookAll Antena3.com content can now be accessed on the Playbook, Blackberry’s new tablet, allowing users to watch movies, news or listen to radio.Spain - 5 July 2011

Are you smarter than a 5th Grader? for mobile and online platformsFremantleMedia’s interactive entertainment company Ludia will publish games based on the multiple-award winning TV game show Are you smarter than a 5th grader?. United Kingdom - 6 July 2011


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A new record for Le 19:45The 4 July 2011 edition of Le 19:45 has beaten its previous record for a total audience score with 3 million viewers tuning in. France - 6 July 2011

The favourite DTT channel of viewers under 50On Sunday 3 July 2011 in prime time, W9 ranked as the number one DTT channel and the number four national channel with viewers under 50 thanks to its magazine show Enquête d’Action presented by Marie-Ange Casalta. France - 6 July 2011

Made for menOn 7 July Radio 538 and Hub Uitgevers published the second issue of their new men’s magazine, Louder, featuring DJ Edwin Evers as guest editor.The Netherlands - 7 July 2011


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Marie Drucker joins the RTL Radio team to direct Journal Inattendu starting 27 August 2011.

As of 27 August 2011, Saturdays from 12:30 to 13:30, Marie Drucker will be the presenter on Journal Inattendu, RTL Radio’s emblematic programme that is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, and on which the guest of the week becomes the show’s Editor-in-chief. Marie Drucker is replacing Harry Roselmack, who wished to focus on other projects.

Marie Drucker says, “I’m very happy to join RTL, because I relate to this radio station, which has always known how to be both popular and of high quality. Journal Inattendu is a mythic programme that will allow me to reconcile my two passions, current events and interviews.”

RTL Radio CEO Christopher Baldelli is pleased with this new arrival: “With Marie Drucker, we reunite two great ambitions – to once again reinforce RTL Radio’s ‘dream team’ and to bring a new, highly talented female voice to our station.”

Marie Drucker started her journalism career in 1994 as a freelancer for a number of different print news publications. In August 1998, she joined the Canal Plus group to help create “i>Télévision”. She presented the news for two seasons on Canal Plus starting in September 2003.

In 2005, she joined France Télévisions where she presented Soir 3 and the history magazine programme Droit d’inventaire. Since August 2008, Marie Drucker serves as Laurent Delahousse’s replacement on France 2. The same year, in parallel to her activities on France 2, she joined the station Europe 1 to co-host the 18:00 to 20:00 news segment, and the following year Le débat des grandes voix.

In parallel to her main activities on France Télévisions, Marie Drucker is also in charge of all special programmes produced by France 2’s editorial department.

People

Marie DruckerFrance - 5 July 2011

Marie Drucker

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week 27 - rtl group

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