week 23 - RTL Group

week 23
the RTL Group intranet
Newsletter
News
Belgium
RTL Belgium launches the digital
platform RTLinfo
Germany
Gerhard Zeiler speaks at the Internationaler Mediendialog in Hamburg
RTL Television provides competent
reporting from the G8 summit
Spain
Become a presenter on Antena 3
with Tuclip.com
People
United Kingdom
Jay Hunt appointed as Five’s new
Director of Programmes
the RTL Group intranet
week 23
“Pulling together
as a team”
Gerhard Zeiler
Giving the new Backstage a spectacular start,
RTL Group CEO Gerhard Zeiler speaks in the
intranet exclusively about the company's present situation, current developments in media
policy and some of his personal opinions.
Luxembourg – 01.06.2007
You've been the CEO of RTL Group since
2003, so you've occupied that position for
longer than any of your predecessors at
CLT-UFA and RTL Group. What's your
assessment of the Group's position at this
time?
Our company has never been in better shape.
Never have its revenues, results or profit margin
been higher.
give rise to intensive, impassioned negotiations. But when the Group's interests are at
stake, everyone pulls together as a team. It's
important for RTL Group to have a strong, creative production company that is active worldwide. Some people used to doubt the value of
such a production company to RTL Group, but
today we are envied for having FremantleMedia.
What achievements are you particularly
proud of?
RTL Group is not only Europe's biggest TV,
radio and production company, but also historically the most important operator on the Old
Continent. Having said that, it took a long time
for a truly cooperative, efficiently functioning
entity to take shape following the merger of its
three constituent companies, CLT, UFA and
Pearson TV. The company does now operate
smoothly, and this of course is primarily down
to the mutual trust underlying the cooperation
between the Group's managers and staff. We
practise decentralisation and advocate the
delegation of responsibility, yet at the same
time we thrive on cooperation rooted in partnership. As long as this remains the case, our staff
and shareholders can be sure of a steady rise in
the value of our company.
The Group’s radio business is relatively
modest. How does it fit in your overall strategy?
Today, radio is one of our company's activities,
part of our identity and invariably a source of
success. Our flagship radio station in France,
RTL Radio, is currently riding the crest of a
wave, attracting more listeners again and
coming top in all the relevant categories. Its
staff did a great job of covering the presidential
election in France, and their great skill and professionalism boosted the brand. In addition,
RTL Radio Deutschland has transformed itself
from a source of concern into a highly profitable
business within just a few years.
How do you see the cooperation between
the Group's channels and its production arm
FremantleMedia?
Both parties conduct their business very independently, which is exactly how things ought to
be. Just occasionally this state of affairs may
The company is still listed on the stock
exchange. Will that remain so or will
Bertelsmann increase its shareholding?
That's a decision for the shareholders, not
something for us to comment on. The management of RTL Group has an obligation to all shareholders, including its small shareholders. But
it's good news all round that RTL Group reliably
makes a major, positive contribution towards
Bertelsmann's overall value. Last year we
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week 23
“Pulling together as a team” - continued
accounted for 43% of Bertelsmann's operating
result. In other words, RTL Group is a very
lucrative investment for Bertelsmann!
Last year and this year again, Bertelsmann's
priority has been to reduce its debts.
Wouldn't RTL Group be more flexible as an
independent company?
Certainly Bertelsmann benefits from RTL
Group, but at the same time RTL Group also
prospers from belonging to a global media and
services company.
But when will RTL Group start growing again
by making some acquisitions?
First of all, even in 2006, we boosted our revenues by €580 million – more than
10% – and managed that without
making any major acquisitions. By
comparison, before Pearson TV was
integrated into our Group, its revenues totalled €535 million. Today, on
its own FremantleMedia, as our production arm is now called, generates
revenues in excess of €1 billion. So
we can draw on considerable potential for organic growth. Our demands
regarding potential acquisitions are
now very high: they have to fit in our
portfolio; the price must be justified;
and there must at least be some
prospect of RTL Group wielding
influence over them.
For many years now you've been a TV manager involved in operational business. How do
you draw on this experience in your capacity as Group CEO?
One thing I've learnt from my experience is the
need to show great restraint when issuing good
advice. In my days as CEO of a TV channel I
very clearly remember saying a rather tight-lipped thank you for any tips I received from
Luxembourg on how I should run my business.
But surely you're still itching to be involved
in the operational side of things?
Yes, I love television. I love watching shows live
in the studio or discovering new formats at
screenings. Of course, this understanding of the
operational side of things and my passion for TV
helps me in my dealings with our profit centres.
But it is the respective managers who remain
responsible for their business – and I have no
intention of questioning this arrangement.
What kind of TV do you yourself like watching?
Mainly major entertainment formats that bring
the whole family together in front of their TV set;
programmes like Pop Idol, Let’s Dance or Wer
wird Millionär? (Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?) and I'm also a big fan of House.
Does the Internet also mean a lot to you?
Being a distribution platform for TV programmes, the Internet means a tremendous amount
to me. Furthermore, for me – like virtually everyone else in the Western world – the Internet is
an obvious, everyday tool. Having said that, I'm
really not much of a chatter, preferring to deal
with people personally or over the phone.
Gerhard Zeiler in his office
One of your previous posts was as CEO of
ORF, Austria's public broadcaster. How do
you view the importance of public broadcasting in Europe today?
In the long run, public broadcasters will find
that trying to combine income from licence fees
with advertising revenues will prove an impossible balancing act. If public broadcasters intend
to continue justifying their existence as such, at
some stage their dual obligations need to be
redefined. Let me be quite clear on this: in the
long term it makes no sense for public TV channels that are funded via licence fees to focus
ever more keenly on the target groups coveted
by advertisers and screen their more discerning
news and educational programmes shortly
before midnight or sideline them by shunting
them onto special-interest channels.
The European Union's culture ministers
recently adopted a new version of the
Television Without Frontiers Directive that
regulates the basic conditions applicable to
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week 23
“Pulling together as a team” - continued
TV advertising in Europe, among other
things. What's your opinion on this compromise?
It eases some of the present rules governing TV
advertising, which are very strict. In this respect, the new version of the directive represents a step in the right direction from the viewpoint of RTL Group's channels. At the same
time, we still haven't made as much headway
as we believe needs to be made. In today's
digital age, channels need more flexible guidelines when and how they are allowed to broadcast ads. With such a wide range of channels
on offer, viewers will very quickly show what
they do and do not accept. They are our most
effective regulators, effectively voting with their
remote control.
At the same time, the highly controversial
practice of product placement is now permitted.
Some of the arguments in that debate were
downright bizarre. No TV company wanted to
introduce surreptitious advertising in news programmes, magazines or even children's programmes. Their main concern was to reach a
sensible arrangement for product placement in
films and TV series. What are we actually talking about here? About whether or not the featuring of Apple's logo on a computer used by a
CSI investigator should be permitted. Such
forms of product placement are commonplace
in most US series – and these series are proving
very popular in Europe. So people can't complain about the superior quality of US series, yet
at the same time deny European TV companies
access to this source of additional funding for
their European productions. At least the new
version of the directive will permit product placement in films and TV series, under the proviso that viewers are alerted to its presence.
You and other TV bosses are usually judged
in terms of revenues, profits and ratings.
How about the values that RTL Group's
channels are intent on conveying?
We have obligations to our customers. The programmes we offer are geared to the tastes of
our viewers, users and customers, who should
be able to watch what they want, when they
want, where they want. The content we produce and broadcast every day is not only entertaining. It helps people understand political and
social issues. Every day, our editorial teams
uncover irregularities and shortcomings and
criticise wrongdoing. Some programmes promote a sense of community, provide support to
those who need it, foster solidarity or simply
appeal for donations to a good cause. We
understand the world we live in through television, radio and the Internet. They encourage
communication and sometimes even provide
very direct help.
But at the same time, major media companies are constantly suspected of trying to
wield power and influence.
We can face up to such criticism because our
position is clear: RTL Group is a firm advocate
of diversity. We want to see a maximum number
of opinions and ideas represented by anyone
producing or editing our content. At the same
time, I also believe that independence and
diversity are indissociable from economic success.
Finally, a question about
Backstage: What's your favourite feature of RTL Group's
intranet?
The daily newsletter is really
great. Even though I don't always
surf directly to that page, it gives
me a quick overview of all the
important news.
Gerhard Zeiler checking out Backstage
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the RTL Group intranet
week 23
RTL Belgium launches
the digital platform
RTLinfo
On the Internet, RTLinfo.be will take over from
RTL.be and be fully dedicated to news.
Screenshot from RTLinfo.be
RTL Digital, the department of RTL Belgium
dealing with new media, is launching the
RTLinfo platform on all digital media (the Web,
mobile phones, game consoles). The platform's
content will consist of articles, photos and all
the audiovisual material produced daily by the
radio station Bel RTL and the TV channel RTL
TVI.
The channel's news programmes, like
Controverse or RTL+, will henceforth be available free of charge as videos to watch on the
Internet.
In addition to the reports and programmes
broadcast on radio and television, RTLinfo.be is
offering exclusive content taken from audio and
video rushes (full interviews, reports from the
sidelines of major events). Some new programmes not broadcast by RTL TVI will also appear,
including four news flashes and the showbiz news programme RTL Stars.
During the Belgian election campaign,
RTL Digital successfully experimented by
producing exclusive programmes using
Belgium – 06.06.2007
the daily RTL Campagne (RTL campaign)
sequence designed for the election website
(rtl.be/federales). Interactivity also takes pride
of place, with Internet users given the possibility of sending in content of their own to the
RTLinfo 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, the
Météo weather forecast, RTL Stars, and so on)
available on the Vodafone Live platform run by
Belgian mobile phone operator Proximus.
Finally, the RTLinfo brand is present on the digital TV platforms Belgacom TV and Telenet.
Customers of both operators who have decoders will have access all RTL TVI news programmes via video-on-demand (VOD).
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week 23
the RTL Group intranet
RTL II takes on kids' bad
eating habits
Alexa Iwan
In the successful docu-soap Liebling, wir bringen die Kinder um! (Honey, we're killing the
kids), an expert nutritionist shows what kids
ought to be eating.
Germany – 06.06.2007
In seven episodes of the programme, food
expert Alexa Iwan shows how a bad diet and
unhealthy lifestyle from childhood on can
prompt serious disorders, and provides some
tips on how kids can change their lifestyles.
For example, Alexa Iwan shows 12-year-old
Yvonne how she became overweight by
eating fatty foods and not getting
enough exercise. A computer highlights
the consequences of her bad eating
habits. Medical tests performed in a clinic immediately show that Yvonne
needs 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 already broadcast in August and September 2006.
The six episodes shown then scored a highly
satisfactory market share of 8.9 per cent
amongst 14 to 49-year-olds.
Yvonne and US5
Yvonne
5
the RTL Group intranet
week 23
RTL Television provides
competent reporting
from the G8 summit
Peter Kloeppel
The G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany,
poses a tremendous journalistic and logistical
challenge to the media. Like all major TV channels, RTL will report in depth on newsworthy
events from the summit location both before
and during the talks.
Germany – 05.06.2007
At the conference venue itself, in the press centre and at the airport, where the planes containing the participating heads of state will land
and take off again, RTL has relay stations from
which its six correspondents covering the event
can file live reports at any time. RTL also has
three mobile satellite broadcasting facilities and
two mobile cutting rooms available round the
clock.
All in all, some 45 staff will ensure smooth production and up-to-the-minute reporting from
the summit's venue. Amongst them is Chief
News Editor Peter Kloeppel, who will be a
reporter himself on Tuesday before presenting
the channel's main news bulletin RTL Aktuell as
anchorman on location.
Become a presenter on
Antena 3 with Tuclip.com
Screenshot from Tuclip.com
The deadline for entries is 25 June 2007, and all
participants have to do is send in their casting
video by mobile phone or directly over the
Internet. All videos sent in by participants can
be viewed directly in a special section of the
website called "Casting".
Of all the videos sent in, 12 candidates will be
selected for an official trial as a presenter on
Antena 3. Six will be selected directly by visitors
The Spanish commercial TV channel Antena 3 is
launching a very special casting competition on
its video and community website Tuclip.com.
The winner of the competition could end up
launching a successful career as a TV presenter.
Spain - 05.06.2007
to Tuclip.com, voting by text message, and
another six will be chosen by a jury comprising Antena 3 staff.
The video platform Tuclip.com is now
roughly four months old. Since its launch
Antena 3 has received more than 10,000
videos and already published over 1,000.
Just recently, the website also became
accessible to mobile phone users.
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the RTL Group intranet
week 23
“Television will remain
the number one medium
in the digital future”
On 4 June, Gerhard Zeiler spoke about the TV
business in the digital age at the Internationaler
Mediendialog in Hamburg. Faced with the
increased availability of ever more TV channels
over the Internet, in his speech he appealed for
more effective protection of copyright.
Germany – 05.06.2007
Zeiler told the 600 or so participants at the
event, he was convinced that conventional TV
would remain the number one medium in the
digital future. In future, digitisation would give
viewers "new freedoms and choices", he said,
effectively enabling them to decide "what to
watch when and where".
However, for Zeiler the protection of copyright
remains a core problem. In connection with the
growing number of Internet TV channels, he
said: "We will not hand over our content,
content in which we invested a great deal of
money, to third parties for free and either let
them do business with it or see that nobody
ends up doing any business with it – as has
happened in the music industry – simply
because our formats are available to anyone on
pirate platforms on the Internet".
His speech highlighted the main principles
underlying RTL Group's response to digitisation:
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!
And yet, notwithstanding all the
changes currently afoot, Zeiler
still sees some constant elements that he believes to be
clear pointers that conventional
TV will remain successful in the
future: "The best content and
strong brands are – and will
remain – the main basis for successful television, irrespective of
how it is broadcast", he said.
Consequently he ended his
speech by saying: "Despite all
rapidly evolving media landscape and any current and future
technological developments, the
fundamental human need to sit
back, relax and be entertained
will remain unaltered. And that's
exactly where TV comes in!“
Gerhard Zeiler at the event*
Podium discussion*
In a podium discussion following
Gerhard Zeiler's presentation, he
Ole van Beust, Mayor of Hamburg (left),
and other major media figures,
Gerhard Zeiler (middle), Gunnar Uldall,
Senator of Economy and Works of
including Vice President Yahoo
Hamburg (right)*
Central Europe and Yahoo
Deutschland CEO Terry von Bibra, Wall to Wall
CEO Alex Graham, SES Astra CEO Ferdinand
Kayser, ProSiebenSat.1 CEO Guillaume de
Posch discussed the issues. Both Zeiler
visit
and de Posch stressed the opportunities
that digitisation would bring.
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week 23
M6 Mobile by Orange
launches a new advertising campaign: verbal
battles with no holds
barred!
Screenshot from one of the TV commercials
The campaign started with a 15-second teaser
on 24 May announcing the two first 'verbal battles' in which heavyweight chat specialists and
text message fans may resort to any kind of
provocation to try to knock out their opponent
by making them hang up. The clash was shown
in two 40-second films featuring the contestants set in a real boxing ring using their mobile phones to lay into each other verbally.
M6 Mobile by Orange new advertising campaign
puts contestants in an American-style boxing
arena where they have to fight each other by
talking on the phone until one of them is
'knocked out'.
France – 01.06.2007
The campaign has been produced by BDDP &
Fils.
Since its launch in June 2006, M6 Mobile by
Orange has succeeded in making a profit on
this competitive market, attracting more than
750,000 subscribers by the end of December
2006.
The TV commercials are broadcast on
M6 and W9 and will be backed up by a
radio campaign and an Internet promotion in early June.
Screenshot from one of the TV commercials
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RTL's family of channels
extends its lead
Let’s Dance
In May 2007, the market share of RTL's family
of German channels rose by 1.1 percentage
points to 33.8 per cent, well ahead of its main
rival, the ProSiebenSat.1 Group.
Germany – 04.06.2007
Together, RTL Television, Vox, RTL II, Super RTL
and N-TV command a market share of 33.8 per
cent, an improvement of 1.1 percentage points
on May 2006. By contrast, the results achieved
by ProSieben, Sat.1, Kabel 1 and N24 are
0.7 points down on May 2006, representing a total market share of 29.5 per
cent among 14 to 49-year-olds.
During May, RTL was the clear favourite among 14 to 49-year-old viewers,
managing a market share of 16.2 per
cent. The Cologne-based channel is
now, once again, more than 4 percentage points ahead of ProSieben.
RTL II ended the month of May 2007 with a
market share of 6.4 per cent among 14 to 49year-olds and 7.6 per cent among 14 to 29year-old viewers.
Raus aus den Schulden
RTL's highlights in May included the
shows Deutschland sucht den Superstar and Let’s Dance, the coaching formats Super Nanny and Raus aus den
Schulden and the US series CSI Miami
and Dr House.
With a market share of 19.4 per cent,
the overall ratings of the news programme RTL Aktuell also beat those of
all its rival news broadcasts on German
TV by other major channels.
CSI Miami
Vox achieved a market share of 7.6 per
cent in May among the 14 to 49-yearold target group, an improvement of
0.6 percentage points on the same
month the previous year.
RTL Aktuell
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week 23
Super RTL launches a
campaign promoting
everyday safety
Feuerwehrmann Sam
Fireman Sam, hero of the animated series
Feuerwehrmann Sam, one of Super RTL's
Toggolino programmes for pre-school kids, is
the focus of a safety campaign that Super RTL
has launched together with Galeria Kaufhof and
the German Fire Service Association.
Germany – 01.06.2007
In the joint campaign, Fireman Sam gives
valuable everyday safety tips. The aim of the
campaign is to make both adults and children
maximally aware of safety issues. To this end,
Super RTL has put together a whole package
of measures, including TV advertisements, a
prize draw and the action entitled Aufgepasst!
Sicherheitstipps mit Sam (Pay close attention
to Sam' s safety tips!) together with
Kaufhof.
As part of the action, children visiting
selected branches of Kaufhof will be
taught by a real, live fire fighter about
safety-enhancing measures they can take
at home and in their free time.
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A world first for UFA's
mobile trading card game
The world's first ever mobile multiplayer trading
card game, UFA's Master of Maya, is being launched in Malaysia.
Germany - 01.06.2007
This first ever mobile multiplayer virtual trading
card game was rolled out by UFA in 2006. Now
Master of Maya is making its world debut in
Malaysia, one of the world's leading markets for
mobile entertainment. The game has been snapped up by Malaysian mobile operator Maxis.
Master of Maya combines game play and the
design of a traditional trading card game with
the interactive possibilities offered by a mobile
phone. The characters and Master of Maya
world were designed by UFA; the multiplayer
game's technological implementation was left in
the capable hands of Siemens, the multiplayer
platform of Exit Games.
"Our strength lies in creating entertainment that
appeals to the masses. Master of Maya is the
innovative application of our know-how in the
growth segment of mobile games“, said UFA
CEO Wolf Bauer. "We're happy to have found, in
Siemens, a partner capable of distributing the
game 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 and
can then immediately plunge headlong into the
action.
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week 23
RTL's first radio star is
the band InBlaSch
Band InBlaSch
The winner was promised a record deal with
star producer Jack White. To take part in the
competition, listeners could listen to the demo
recording on the website www.104.6rtl.com
and download the corresponding track and text
to use when creating their own version of the
song.
More than 1,000 entries, displaying great creativity and talent, were received by the editorial
team at Arno und die Morgencrew (Arno and
the morning crew)! Between them, they covered a very broad spectrum, ranging from
German text versions to bands' own
compositions and fully personalised interpretations.
RTL's first radio star has been chosen! As part
of a so far unique casting process, the Berlinbased radio station 104.6 RTL asked its listeners to create their own song based on a preproduced demo.
Germany – 31.05.2007
over a two-week period. In the end the Berlinbased band InBlaSch ran out the winner
with the most votes.
The four members of the band from
Treptow said: "We were really excited,
but always believed we could win“. Now
they're in the studio with Jack White,
having their first own single, Verrückt nach
dir (Crazy about you) professionally produced. The record's planned release date is the
end of June.
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Winner chosen by telephone votes
The jury comprised the Programme
Director and presenter of 104.6 RTL Arno
Müller, the presenter Gerlinde Jaenicke
and the music producer Jack White. To
begin with they picked out 25 candidates,
who were subsequently invited to come
into the 104.6 RTL studio to introduce
themselves and try and qualify for the
final with their version of the song.
"It was tremendous fun getting to know
so many talented young people“, said
Arno Müller, visibly delighted with how
the radio casting went.
Three finalists were then chosen from the
25 candidates, but the final decision on
who would become 104.6 RTL's first
radio star was made by the radio station's
listeners, with telephone votes counted
Band InBlaSch
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week 23
RTL Interactive sets up RTL Games subsidiary for PC
and video games
RTL Interactive is expanding its merchandising activities by setting up a subsidiary named RTL Games that will specialise solely in the booming PC and video
games market. Holger Strecker will take over management of RTL's new company in Germany from August.
Germany - 07.06.2007
Surprise, Surprise! with Oliver Geissen
In his new show Surprise, Surprise! - Die Überraschungsshow on RTL
Television, Oliver Geissen sets clueless viewers in astonishment.
Germany - 06.06.2007
FremantleMedia seals DVD deal with China
FremantleMedia Enterprises has clinched a deal for the TV series Prehistoric
Park in China, in a joint venture between Warner Home Video and China Audio
& Video Publishing House called CAV Warner.
United Kingdom - 04.06.2007
Vox report wins Bavarian TV Award
Richard Gress, the man behind the travel magazine Voxtours, has won a special Bavarian TV Award worth EUR 15,000 for his film Unterwegs zu den
Gladiatoren (Off to see the gladiators).
Germany - 01.06.2007
RTL Radio in France is also a success on the Internet
RTL Radio has the most popular Internet page of any radio station in France. In
April 2007, an impressive 986,000 visitors surfed to rtl.fr, the highest number
of hits registered by any French radio station.
France - 01.06.2007
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the RTL Group intranet
Jay Hunt
week 23
Jay Hunt has been
appointed as Five's new
Director of Programmes.
United Kingdom – 31.05.2007
Jay Hunt, currently the BBC’s Controller of
Daytime and Early Peak, will take up her new
post overseeing programming for the broadcaster’s core channel later this year.
Five’s Managing Director, Content, Lisa Opie,
said: “I am thrilled we have been able to
appoint an executive as creative, dynamic and
energetic as Jay.”
“Her record of success at the BBC speaks for
itself and I’m excited that one of the most astute operators in the business is becoming part of
the Five team.”
Jay Hunt said: “I’m delighted to have been
given this tremendous opportunity. The prospect of building on Five’s existing successful
programming and taking the channel to the
next phase of its development is irresistible.”
http://backstage.rtlgroup.fr
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orporate Com
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