week 23 - RTL Group · 2016. 12. 22. · the RTL Group intranet week 23 accounted for 43% of Bertelsmann's operating result. In other words, RTL Group is a very lucrative investment

NewsBelgium

RTL Belgium launches the digitalplatform RTLinfo

Germany

Gerhard Zeiler speaks at the Inter-nationaler Mediendialog in Hamburg

RTL Television provides competent reporting from the G8 summit

Spain

Become a presenter on Antena 3with Tuclip.com

People

United Kingdom

Jay Hunt appointed as Five’s new Director of Programmes

the RTL Group intranetweek 23

Newsletter


“Pulling togetheras a team”

Giving the new Backstage a spectacular start,RTL Group CEO Gerhard Zeiler speaks in theintranet exclusively about the company's pre-sent situation, current developments in mediapolicy and some of his personal opinions.Luxembourg – 01.06.2007

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You've been the CEO of RTL Group since2003, so you've occupied that position forlonger than any of your predecessors atCLT-UFA and RTL Group. What's yourassessment of the Group's position at thistime?Our company has never been in better shape.Never have its revenues, results or profit marginbeen higher.

What achievements are you particularlyproud of?RTL Group is not only Europe's biggest TV,radio and production company, but also histori-cally the most important operator on the OldContinent. Having said that, it took a long timefor a truly cooperative, efficiently functioningentity to take shape following the merger of itsthree constituent companies, CLT, UFA andPearson TV. The company does now operatesmoothly, and this of course is primarily downto the mutual trust underlying the cooperationbetween the Group's managers and staff. Wepractise decentralisation and advocate thedelegation of responsibility, yet at the sametime we thrive on cooperation rooted in partner-ship. As long as this remains the case, our staffand shareholders can be sure of a steady rise inthe value of our company.

How do you see the cooperation betweenthe Group's channels and its production armFremantleMedia?Both parties conduct their business very inde-pendently, which is exactly how things ought tobe. Just occasionally this state of affairs may

give rise to intensive, impassioned negotia-tions. But when the Group's interests are atstake, everyone pulls together as a team. It'simportant for RTL Group to have a strong, crea-tive production company that is active worldwi-de. Some people used to doubt the value ofsuch a production company to RTL Group, buttoday we are envied for having Fremantle-Media.

The Group’s radio business is relativelymodest. How does it fit in your overall stra-tegy?Today, radio is one of our company's activities,part of our identity and invariably a source ofsuccess. Our flagship radio station in France,RTL Radio, is currently riding the crest of awave, attracting more listeners again andcoming top in all the relevant categories. Itsstaff did a great job of covering the presidentialelection in France, and their great skill and pro-fessionalism boosted the brand. In addition,RTL Radio Deutschland has transformed itselffrom a source of concern into a highly profitablebusiness within just a few years.

The company is still listed on the stockexchange. Will that remain so or willBertelsmann increase its shareholding?That's a decision for the shareholders, notsomething for us to comment on. The manage-ment of RTL Group has an obligation to all sha-reholders, including its small shareholders. Butit's good news all round that RTL Group reliablymakes a major, positive contribution towardsBertelsmann's overall value. Last year we

Gerhard Zeiler


accounted for 43% of Bertelsmann's operatingresult. In other words, RTL Group is a verylucrative investment for Bertelsmann!

Last year and this year again, Bertelsmann'spriority has been to reduce its debts.Wouldn't RTL Group be more flexible as anindependent company?Certainly Bertelsmann benefits from RTLGroup, but at the same time RTL Group alsoprospers from belonging to a global media andservices company.

But when will RTL Group start growing againby making some acquisitions? First of all, even in 2006, we boosted our reve-nues by €580 million – more than10% – and managed that withoutmaking any major acquisitions. Bycomparison, before Pearson TV wasintegrated into our Group, its reve-nues totalled €535 million. Today, onits own FremantleMedia, as our pro-duction arm is now called, generatesrevenues in excess of €1 billion. Sowe can draw on considerable poten-tial for organic growth. Our demandsregarding potential acquisitions arenow very high: they have to fit in ourportfolio; the price must be justified;and there must at least be someprospect of RTL Group wieldinginfluence over them.

For many years now you've been a TV mana-ger involved in operational business. How doyou draw on this experience in your capaci-ty as Group CEO?One thing I've learnt from my experience is theneed to show great restraint when issuing goodadvice. In my days as CEO of a TV channel Ivery clearly remember saying a rather tight-lip-ped thank you for any tips I received fromLuxembourg on how I should run my business.

But surely you're still itching to be involvedin the operational side of things? Yes, I love television. I love watching shows livein the studio or discovering new formats atscreenings. Of course, this understanding of theoperational side of things and my passion for TVhelps me in my dealings with our profit centres.But it is the respective managers who remainresponsible for their business – and I have nointention of questioning this arrangement.

What kind of TV do you yourself like wat-ching? Mainly major entertainment formats that bringthe whole family together in front of their TV set;programmes like Pop Idol, Let’s Dance or Werwird Millionär? (Who Wants To Be a Million-aire?) and I'm also a big fan of House.

Does the Internet also mean a lot to you?Being a distribution platform for TV program-mes, the Internet means a tremendous amountto me. Furthermore, for me – like virtually eve-ryone else in the Western world – the Internet isan obvious, everyday tool. Having said that, I'mreally not much of a chatter, preferring to dealwith people personally or over the phone.

One of your previous posts was as CEO ofORF, Austria's public broadcaster. How doyou view the importance of public broadcas-ting in Europe today?In the long run, public broadcasters will findthat trying to combine income from licence feeswith advertising revenues will prove an impossi-ble balancing act. If public broadcasters intendto continue justifying their existence as such, atsome stage their dual obligations need to beredefined. Let me be quite clear on this: in thelong term it makes no sense for public TV chan-nels that are funded via licence fees to focusever more keenly on the target groups covetedby advertisers and screen their more discerningnews and educational programmes shortlybefore midnight or sideline them by shuntingthem onto special-interest channels.

The European Union's culture ministersrecently adopted a new version of theTelevision Without Frontiers Directive thatregulates the basic conditions applicable to

“Pulling together as a team” - continued

2

Gerhard Zeiler in his office


TV advertising in Europe, among otherthings. What's your opinion on this compro-mise?It eases some of the present rules governing TVadvertising, which are very strict. In this res-pect, the new version of the directive repre-sents a step in the right direction from the view-point of RTL Group's channels. At the sametime, we still haven't made as much headwayas we believe needs to be made. In today'sdigital age, channels need more flexible guide-lines when and how they are allowed to broad-cast ads. With such a wide range of channelson offer, viewers will very quickly show whatthey do and do not accept. They are our mosteffective regulators, effectively voting with theirremote control.

At the same time, the highly controversialpractice of product placement is now per-mitted.Some of the arguments in that debate weredownright bizarre. No TV company wanted tointroduce surreptitious advertising in news pro-grammes, magazines or even children's pro-grammes. Their main concern was to reach asensible arrangement for product placement infilms and TV series. What are we actually tal-king about here? About whether or not the fea-turing of Apple's logo on a computer used by aCSI investigator should be permitted. Suchforms of product placement are commonplacein most US series – and these series are provingvery popular in Europe. So people can't com-plain about the superior quality of US series, yetat the same time deny European TV companiesaccess to this source of additional funding fortheir European productions. At least the new

version of the directive will permit product pla-cement in films and TV series, under the provi-so that viewers are alerted to its presence.

You and other TV bosses are usually judgedin terms of revenues, profits and ratings.How about the values that RTL Group'schannels are intent on conveying? We have obligations to our customers. The pro-grammes we offer are geared to the tastes ofour viewers, users and customers, who shouldbe able to watch what they want, when theywant, where they want. The content we produ-ce and broadcast every day is not only entertai-ning. It helps people understand political andsocial issues. Every day, our editorial teamsuncover irregularities and shortcomings andcriticise wrongdoing. Some programmes pro-mote a sense of community, provide support tothose who need it, foster solidarity or simplyappeal for donations to a good cause. Weunderstand the world we live in through televi-sion, radio and the Internet. They encouragecommunication and sometimes even providevery direct help.

But at the same time, major media compa-nies are constantly suspected of trying towield power and influence. We can face up to such criticism because ourposition is clear: RTL Group is a firm advocateof diversity. We want to see a maximum numberof opinions and ideas represented by anyoneproducing or editing our content. At the sametime, I also believe that independence anddiversity are indissociable from economic suc-cess.

Finally, a question aboutBackstage: What's your favou-rite feature of RTL Group'sintranet? The daily newsletter is reallygreat. Even though I don't alwayssurf directly to that page, it givesme a quick overview of all theimportant news.

3

“Pulling together as a team” - continued

Gerhard Zeiler checking out Backstage


RTL Digital, the department of RTL Belgiumdealing with new media, is launching theRTLinfo platform on all digital media (the Web,mobile phones, game consoles). The platform'scontent will consist of articles, photos and allthe audiovisual material produced daily by theradio station Bel RTL and the TV channel RTLTVI.

The channel's news programmes, likeControverse or RTL+, will henceforth be availa-ble free of charge as videos to watch on theInternet.

In addition to the reports and programmesbroadcast on radio and television, RTLinfo.be isoffering exclusive content taken from audio andvideo rushes (full interviews, reports from thesidelines of major events). Some new program-mes not broadcast by RTL TVI will also appear,including four news flashes and the show-biz news programme RTL Stars.

During the Belgian election campaign,RTL Digital successfully experimented byproducing exclusive programmes using

the daily RTL Campagne (RTL campaign)sequence designed for the election website(rtl.be/federales). Interactivity also takes prideof place, with Internet users given the possibili-ty of sending in content of their own to theRTLinfo website.

Following the creation of a WAP website,RTLinfo is also available on mobile phones,complemented by a range of video material(news flashes, the Journal news bulletin, theMétéo weather forecast, RTL Stars, and so on)available on the Vodafone Live platform run byBelgian mobile phone operator Proximus.

Finally, the RTLinfo brand is present on the digi-tal TV platforms Belgacom TV and Telenet.Customers of both operators who have deco-ders will have access all RTL TVI news pro-grammes via video-on-demand (VOD).

RTL Belgium launchesthe digital platformRTLinfoOn the Internet, RTLinfo.be will take over fromRTL.be and be fully dedicated to news.Belgium – 06.06.2007

4

check out

www.rtlinfo.be

Screenshot from RTLinfo.be

In seven episodes of the programme, foodexpert Alexa Iwan shows how a bad diet andunhealthy lifestyle from childhood on canprompt serious disorders, and provides sometips on how kids can change their lifestyles.

For example, Alexa Iwan shows 12-year-oldYvonne how she became overweight byeating fatty foods and not gettingenough exercise. A computer highlightsthe consequences of her bad eatinghabits. Medical tests performed in a cli-nic immediately show that Yvonneneeds to change her lifestyle. Luckily

help is at hand, not only in the form of RTL II,but also from the famous boy band US5.

Liebling, wir bringen die Kinder um! was alrea-dy broadcast in August and September 2006.The six episodes shown then scored a highlysatisfactory market share of 8.9 per centamongst 14 to 49-year-olds.


RTL II takes on kids' badeating habitsIn the successful docu-soap Liebling, wir brin-gen die Kinder um! (Honey, we're killing thekids), an expert nutritionist shows what kidsought to be eating.Germany – 06.06.2007

5

Yvonne and US5

Yvonne

Alexa Iwan


RTL Television providescompetent reportingfrom the G8 summitThe G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany,poses a tremendous journalistic and logisticalchallenge to the media. Like all major TV chan-nels, RTL will report in depth on newsworthyevents from the summit location both beforeand during the talks.Germany – 05.06.2007

At the conference venue itself, in the press cen-tre and at the airport, where the planes contai-ning the participating heads of state will landand take off again, RTL has relay stations fromwhich its six correspondents covering the eventcan file live reports at any time. RTL also hasthree mobile satellite broadcasting facilities andtwo mobile cutting rooms available round theclock.

All in all, some 45 staff will ensure smooth pro-duction and up-to-the-minute reporting fromthe summit's venue. Amongst them is ChiefNews Editor Peter Kloeppel, who will be areporter himself on Tuesday before presentingthe channel's main news bulletin RTL Aktuell asanchorman on location.

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Spain - 05.06.2007

The deadline for entries is 25 June 2007, and allparticipants have to do is send in their castingvideo by mobile phone or directly over theInternet. All videos sent in by participants canbe viewed directly in a special section of thewebsite called "Casting".

Of all the videos sent in, 12 candidates will beselected for an official trial as a presenter onAntena 3. Six will be selected directly by visitors

to Tuclip.com, voting by text message, andanother six will be chosen by a jury com-prising Antena 3 staff.

The video platform Tuclip.com is nowroughly four months old. Since its launchAntena 3 has received more than 10,000videos and already published over 1,000.Just recently, the website also becameaccessible to mobile phone users.

check out

www.tuclip.com

Become a presenter onAntena 3 with Tuclip.comThe Spanish commercial TV channel Antena 3 islaunching a very special casting competition onits video and community website Tuclip.com.The winner of the competition could end uplaunching a successful career as a TV presenter.

Screenshot from Tuclip.com

Peter Kloeppel


“Television will remainthe number one mediumin the digital future”On 4 June, Gerhard Zeiler spoke about the TVbusiness in the digital age at the InternationalerMediendialog in Hamburg. Faced with theincreased availability of ever more TV channelsover the Internet, in his speech he appealed formore effective protection of copyright.Germany – 05.06.2007

Zeiler told the 600 or so participants at theevent, he was convinced that conventional TVwould remain the number one medium in thedigital future. In future, digitisation would giveviewers "new freedoms and choices", he said,effectively enabling them to decide "what towatch when and where".

However, for Zeiler the protection of copyrightremains a core problem. In connection with thegrowing number of Internet TV channels, hesaid: "We will not hand over our content,content in which we invested a great deal ofmoney, to third parties for free and either letthem do business with it or see that nobodyends up doing any business with it – as hashappened in the music industry – simplybecause our formats are available to anyone onpirate platforms on the Internet".

His speech highlighted the main principlesunderlying RTL Group's response to digitisation:

And yet, notwithstanding all thechanges currently afoot, Zeilerstill sees some constant ele-ments that he believes to beclear pointers that conventionalTV will remain successful in thefuture: "The best content andstrong brands are – and willremain – the main basis for suc-cessful television, irrespective ofhow it is broadcast", he said.Consequently he ended hisspeech by saying: "Despite allrapidly evolving media landsca-pe and any current and futuretechnological developments, thefundamental human need to sitback, relax and be entertainedwill remain unaltered. And that'sexactly where TV comes in!“

In a podium discussion followingGerhard Zeiler's presentation, heand other major media figures,including Vice President YahooCentral Europe and YahooDeutschland CEO Terry von Bibra, Wall to WallCEO Alex Graham, SES Astra CEO FerdinandKayser, ProSiebenSat.1 CEO Guillaume dePosch discussed the issues. Both Zeilerand de Posch stressed the opportunitiesthat digitisation would bring.

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1. Fragment yourself, before someone does it for you!

2. Don't shrink back from new technologies!

3. Be courageous enough to occupy niche markets!

4. Diversify your sources of revenue!

visit

<backstage>

and listen to

the podium

discussion

Gerhard Zeiler at the event*

*Photos: Faktor3

Podium discussion*

Ole van Beust, Mayor of Hamburg (left),Gerhard Zeiler (middle), Gunnar Uldall,

Senator of Economy and Works ofHamburg (right)*


M6 Mobile by Orangelaunches a new adverti-sing campaign: verbalbattles with no holdsbarred!M6 Mobile by Orange new advertising campaignputs contestants in an American-style boxingarena where they have to fight each other bytalking on the phone until one of them is'knocked out'.France – 01.06.2007

The campaign started with a 15-second teaseron 24 May announcing the two first 'verbal bat-tles' in which heavyweight chat specialists andtext message fans may resort to any kind ofprovocation to try to knock out their opponentby making them hang up. The clash was shownin two 40-second films featuring the contes-tants set in a real boxing ring using their mobi-le phones to lay into each other verbally.

The TV commercials are broadcast onM6 and W9 and will be backed up by aradio campaign and an Internet promo-tion in early June.

The campaign has been produced by BDDP &Fils.

Since its launch in June 2006, M6 Mobile byOrange has succeeded in making a profit onthis competitive market, attracting more than750,000 subscribers by the end of December2006.

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Screenshot from one of the TV commercials

Screenshot from one of the TV commercials


Together, RTL Television, Vox, RTL II, Super RTLand N-TV command a market share of 33.8 percent, an improvement of 1.1 percentage pointson May 2006. By contrast, the results achievedby ProSieben, Sat.1, Kabel 1 and N24 are0.7 points down on May 2006, repre-senting a total market share of 29.5 percent among 14 to 49-year-olds.

During May, RTL was the clear favouri-te among 14 to 49-year-old viewers,managing a market share of 16.2 percent. The Cologne-based channel isnow, once again, more than 4 percen-tage points ahead of ProSieben.

RTL's highlights in May included theshows Deutschland sucht den Super-star and Let’s Dance, the coaching for-mats Super Nanny and Raus aus denSchulden and the US series CSI Miamiand Dr House.

With a market share of 19.4 per cent,the overall ratings of the news pro-gramme RTL Aktuell also beat those ofall its rival news broadcasts on GermanTV by other major channels.

Vox achieved a market share of 7.6 percent in May among the 14 to 49-year-old target group, an improvement of0.6 percentage points on the samemonth the previous year.

RTL II ended the month of May 2007 with amarket share of 6.4 per cent among 14 to 49-year-olds and 7.6 per cent among 14 to 29-year-old viewers.

RTL's family of channelsextends its leadIn May 2007, the market share of RTL's familyof German channels rose by 1.1 percentagepoints to 33.8 per cent, well ahead of its mainrival, the ProSiebenSat.1 Group.

Germany – 04.06.2007

9

Raus aus den Schulden

Let’s Dance

CSI Miami

RTL Aktuell


Super RTL launches acampaign promotingeveryday safetyFireman Sam, hero of the animated seriesFeuerwehrmann Sam, one of Super RTL'sToggolino programmes for pre-school kids, isthe focus of a safety campaign that Super RTLhas launched together with Galeria Kaufhof andthe German Fire Service Association.Germany – 01.06.2007

In the joint campaign, Fireman Sam givesvaluable everyday safety tips. The aim of thecampaign is to make both adults and childrenmaximally aware of safety issues. To this end,Super RTL has put together a whole packageof measures, including TV advertisements, aprize draw and the action entitled Aufgepasst!Sicherheitstipps mit Sam (Pay close attention

to Sam' s safety tips!) together withKaufhof.

As part of the action, children visitingselected branches of Kaufhof will betaught by a real, live fire fighter aboutsafety-enhancing measures they can takeat home and in their free time.

A world first for UFA'smobile trading card gameThe world's first ever mobile multiplayer tradingcard game, UFA's Master of Maya, is being laun-ched in Malaysia.Germany - 01.06.2007

This first ever mobile multiplayer virtual tradingcard game was rolled out by UFA in 2006. NowMaster of Maya is making its world debut inMalaysia, one of the world's leading markets formobile entertainment. The game has been snap-ped up by Malaysian mobile operator Maxis.

Master of Maya combines game play and thedesign of a traditional trading card game withthe interactive possibilities offered by a mobilephone. The characters and Master of Mayaworld were designed by UFA; the multiplayergame's technological implementation was left inthe capable hands of Siemens, the multiplayerplatform of Exit Games.

"Our strength lies in creating entertainment thatappeals to the masses. Master of Maya is theinnovative application of our know-how in thegrowth segment of mobile games“, said UFACEO Wolf Bauer. "We're happy to have found, inSiemens, a partner capable of distributing thegame worldwide".

Master of Maya is set in a mythical Mayan world.Players assume the role of a Master of Maya,who takes on other players via his mobile phone.Players purchase cards by mobile phone andcan then immediately plunge headlong into theaction.

10

visit

<backstage>

to watch the

videos of the

campaign

Feuerwehrmann Sam


RTL's first radio star isthe band InBlaSchRTL's first radio star has been chosen! As partof a so far unique casting process, the Berlin-based radio station 104.6 RTL asked its liste-ners to create their own song based on a pre-produced demo.Germany – 31.05.2007

The winner was promised a record deal withstar producer Jack White. To take part in thecompetition, listeners could listen to the demorecording on the website www.104.6rtl.comand download the corresponding track and textto use when creating their own version of thesong.

More than 1,000 entries, displaying great crea-tivity and talent, were received by the editorialteam at Arno und die Morgencrew (Arno andthe morning crew)! Between them, they cove-red a very broad spectrum, ranging fromGerman text versions to bands' owncompositions and fully personalised inter-pretations.

Winner chosen by telephone votes

The jury comprised the ProgrammeDirector and presenter of 104.6 RTL ArnoMüller, the presenter Gerlinde Jaenickeand the music producer Jack White. Tobegin with they picked out 25 candidates,who were subsequently invited to comeinto the 104.6 RTL studio to introducethemselves and try and qualify for thefinal with their version of the song.

"It was tremendous fun getting to knowso many talented young people“, saidArno Müller, visibly delighted with howthe radio casting went.

Three finalists were then chosen from the25 candidates, but the final decision onwho would become 104.6 RTL's firstradio star was made by the radio station'slisteners, with telephone votes counted

over a two-week period. In the end the Berlin-based band InBlaSch ran out the winnerwith the most votes.

The four members of the band fromTreptow said: "We were really excited,but always believed we could win“. Nowthey're in the studio with Jack White,having their first own single, Verrückt nachdir (Crazy about you) professionally produ-ced. The record's planned release date is theend of June.

11

visit

<backstage>

to listen to

an interview

with InBlaSch

Band InBlaSch

Band InBlaSch


12

RTL Radio in France is also a success on the InternetRTL Radio has the most popular Internet page of any radio station in France. InApril 2007, an impressive 986,000 visitors surfed to rtl.fr, the highest numberof hits registered by any French radio station.France - 01.06.2007

FremantleMedia seals DVD deal with ChinaFremantleMedia Enterprises has clinched a deal for the TV series PrehistoricPark in China, in a joint venture between Warner Home Video and China Audio& Video Publishing House called CAV Warner.United Kingdom - 04.06.2007

Surprise, Surprise! with Oliver GeissenIn his new show Surprise, Surprise! - Die Überraschungsshow on RTLTelevision, Oliver Geissen sets clueless viewers in astonishment.

RTL Interactive sets up RTL Games subsidiary for PCand video gamesRTL Interactive is expanding its merchandising activities by setting up a subsi-diary named RTL Games that will specialise solely in the booming PC and videogames market. Holger Strecker will take over management of RTL's new com-pany in Germany from August.

Germany - 06.06.2007

Germany - 07.06.2007

Vox report wins Bavarian TV AwardRichard Gress, the man behind the travel magazine Voxtours, has won a spe-cial Bavarian TV Award worth EUR 15,000 for his film Unterwegs zu denGladiatoren (Off to see the gladiators).Germany - 01.06.2007


Jay Hunt has beenappointed as Five's newDirector of Programmes.United Kingdom – 31.05.2007

Jay Hunt, currently the BBC’s Controller ofDaytime and Early Peak, will take up her newpost overseeing programming for the broad-caster’s core channel later this year.

Five’s Managing Director, Content, Lisa Opie,said: “I am thrilled we have been able toappoint an executive as creative, dynamic andenergetic as Jay.”

“Her record of success at the BBC speaks foritself and I’m excited that one of the most astu-te operators in the business is becoming part ofthe Five team.”

Jay Hunt said: “I’m delighted to have beengiven this tremendous opportunity. The pros-pect of building on Five’s existing successfulprogramming and taking the channel to thenext phase of its development is irresistible.”

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

RTL GroupCorporate Communications

45, boulevard Pierre Frieden

L-1543 Luxembourg

Jay Hunt

Documents

week 23 - RTL Group · 2016. 12. 22. · the RTL Group intranet week 23 accounted for 43% of Bertelsmann's operating result. In other words, RTL Group is a very lucrative investment