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Newsletter Happy Birthday Vox! Frank Hoffmann talks about the channel’s 15 years journey
Germany German politicians impressed by Die Gustloff New evening schedule on N-TV Spain Exclusive mobile phone services Belgium Two new radio channels
People Laurent Soumier, M6 Publicité COVER: Vox’s programmes: Das perfekte Dinner, Shark, Spiegel TV, Kocharena, Wolkenlos, BBC Exklusiv, Boston Legal, CSI, Vox CEO Frank Hoffmann. week 5 the RTL Group intranet
The right mix To mark its 15th anniversary last Friday, Backstage spoke to Frank Hoffmann about the eventful history of the channel. Frank Hoffmann, CEO of Vox Germany - 25 January 2008
On 25 January 1993, the German channel Vox Which achievements would you list as parti- went on air for the first time. It started out as an cular highlights of your time at Vox? intellectual and educational channel – and failed. The impressive success of the Das perfekte Now it has become a classy entertainment chan- Dinner format. Not only does this cooking docu- nel that is captivating a growing audience. In mentary get exceptional market share, but it also 2007, Vox attained record market shares, avera- became the first ever Vox programme to win a ging 7.9 percent in the 14 to 49 target group. German TV Award. Kocharena, our first major evening food show, is also going down a treat Backstage interviewed CEO Frank Hoffmann on with viewers and will be aired on a monthly basis Vox's 15th birthday. this year.
What do 15 years of Vox mean to you? Last year, Vox attained a tremendous market A wonderful success story! For 15 years now, share of 7.9% in the 14-49 target group. What staff at Vox have really put their hearts and souls is Vox's recipe for success? into creating special programme content. That's The key to our success is finding the right mix of something we're extremely proud of. The chan- top series and feature films combined with intel- nel’s steady growth couldn’t have been predicted ligent, innovative formats of our own. when Vox was launched. In the meantime, though, it has found exactly the right mix of What does Vox have lined up for viewers in series, reportage, movies, documentaries and the future? entertainment formats. In 2008 we launched two new series that are absolutely perfect for our target group: Men in Vox was launched 15 years ago as an inde- Trees and Shark. This year we’ll also be scree- pendent channel. What does the channel gain ning a game show called Power of 10, which has from being incorporated into Mediengruppe not been shown on German TV before. On top of RTL Deutschland? all that, we'll concentrate on developing new, ori- Being part of a media group brings many practi- ginal formats of our own. cal benefits. For example, we pool the marketing of some of our advertising time, join forces to conduct media research, combine our Internet activities, and form a united front when buying in Frank Hoffmann films and series. Individual staff members also benefit from our involvement with the media Frank Hoffmann, 42, has served as CEO group, not only by falling back on the know-how of Vox since April 2005. Prior to this, he of our partners, but also by making use of the was head of the magazine division at media group's social facilities. RTL Television, where he supervised the Explosiv, Exclusiv, Extra and Life formats, among others.
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15 Years of Vox – A Retrospective The channel’s story begins slightly earlier than among 14 to 49-year-olds. In September of that 1993. In 1990, the “Westschienen-Staatsvertrag” year, Vox launched its Internet homepage. Soon broadcasting treaty between the German federal afterwards, the first episode of Wolkenlos went states went into effect, which stipulated the intro- on air. duction of an additional commercial TV channel in Germany. The German states wanted a high- In 1997, the channel set out to change substan- brow alternative to “Tutti Frutti & Co,” i.e. the pro- tially its image. In addition to magazine and fea- grammes being broadcast on other commercial ture formats, Vox began to broadcast films and channels. A flawed idea as it turned out soon. US series. In July, a lightning strike caused a massive power outage and Vox was off the air for Vox’s predecessor, the “Westschienenkanal,” 36 minutes. In September, it introduced the first was established in 1991. Bertelsmann AG held daily cooking show on German television – 24.9% of shares via UFA. The other shareholders Kochduell, which became the basis of the chan- were the Westdeutsche Medienbeteiligungs- nel’s reputation for food programmes in access gesellschaft (25.1%), Holtzbrinck-Verlag (14.5%), primetime. DCTP (11.0%), the Mittelständische Unter- nehmensbeteiligungsgesellschaft (10%) and In spring 1998, Vox began broadcasting Ally Warner Music Germany (14.5%). On 20 McBeal, but discontinued the series after eight December 1991, the “Westschienenkanal” and episodes due to poor ratings. DCTP were jointly granted a broadcasting licen- ce for full-fledged TV programming. On 1 January 1999, Anke Schäferkordt took over as the channel’s CEO from Markus Tellenbach, In 1992, the “Westschienenkanal” was given a and reintroduced Ally McBeal – and this time the new name: Vox, Latin for “voice.” Dietz & Partner eccentric lawyer went on to become an audien- was the agency commissioned to design the ce favourite. Towards the end of the year, RTL channel’s first logo – a red dot. Before long, the Television acquired Murdoch's stake. Shortly channel’s staff moved to its new broadcasting afterwards, RTL Group bought up the shares building in Cologne-Ossendorf. held by Canal+. From this point on, RTL Group owned 99.7% of Vox. DCTP continues to own At 5.00 pm on 25 January 1993, Vox took to the 0.3%. airwaves with its “Event TV” concept and a speech by the then-minister president of North In 2000, IP Germany took on the channel's airti- Rhine Westphalia, Johannes Rau. At the time, me sales, while RTL Enterprises was put in char- more than 60% of households in Germany were ge of its merchandising and licensing business. capable of receiving its programming. Soon afterwards, the first episode of Voxtours was In September 2001, Vox introduced CSI – Crime broadcast. Today, the show is the longest-run- Scene Investigation to German television, initially ning travel magazine on German television. without much success. The big breakthrough didn’t happen until the third season three years One year after its launch, “Event TV” looked like later. a flop. Its market share in the target demogra- phics most coveted by advertisers was a meagre 1.5% – far too low for a successful commercial channel. Vox was incurring losses in the millions. At the beginning of 1994, all of its shareholders divested, except the Bertelsmann subsidiary UFA and DCTP. At the end of the year, two new sha- reholders joined them: Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation (49.9%) and Canal+ (24.9%). UFA still owned 24.9%, but DCTP had reduced its stake to just 0.3% of shares. In February 1996, Vox sco- red its highest market share to date with the movie Highlander: 20.9%
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On Vox’s tenth anniversary, Der Spiegel magazi- A celebrity spin-off of the popular cooking show ne wrote: “Ten years of Vox represent ten years of followed in August 2006: Das perfekte Promi passion for a different kind of television. From the Dinner. In September, Vox added yet another woolly-headed idealists of the early stages quirky, groundbreaking US series to its program- through the valley of tears, the channel has now ming, Boston Legal, staying true to its strategy of emerged as a trademark in its own right under swimming against the mainstream. the leadership of Ally McSchäferkordt.” In late 2003, TV chef Tim Mälzer’s programme In early 2007, DCTP and Vox agreed to renew Schmeckt nicht, gibt’s nicht first went on air. their joint broadcasting licence. DCTP supplies 19 hours of programming per week, including In early 2004, Vox added several new US series Spiegel TV, BBC Exklusiv, Süddeutsche Zeitung to its programming. CSI: Miami and Gilmore Girls TV and NZZ Format. Das perfekte Dinner won the quickly attained cult status. In November, Vox German TV Prize for Best Cooking Show. The hosted its first own telethon: Gib mir fünf! channel has further underscored its cooking cre- (Gimme Five!) dentials with Unter Volldampf! In November, Vox aired Kocharena, giving Germany its first major In April 2005, Frank Hoffmann succeeded Anke primetime cooking show. Schäferkordt, who left to become CEO of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. Hoffmann sys- Finally, in January 2008 Vox launched two other tematically built up the channel's roster of its new and unusual US series, Men in Trees and own, original formats. In November, Das perfekte Shark. Fifteen years after its launch, the intellec- Dinner made its debut and became a huge suc- tual “Event TV” broadcaster has evolved into a cess, with market shares exceeding 20% of the sophisticated entertainment channel. lucrative target age group.
Johann Lafer at Die Kocharena Shark
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German politicians impressed by Die Gustloff The TV movie Die Gustloff, produced by UFA, went down very well indeed with leading politicians and other VIP guests at a sneak preview held in Berlin on Tuesday evening. Die Gustloff Germany - 25 January 2008
Invitations by Executive Producer Norbert The film describes the fate of roughly 9,500 Sauer to the exclusive advance showing of a refugees and 1,000 submariners on board the 120-minute version of the film were taken up by former Nazi vessel Wilhelm Gustloff, a cruise German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Minister of ship that was the pride of the regime. On 30 State for Culture and the Media Bernd January 1945 the ship laid up in Gotenhafen, Neumann, President of the Central Council of today the Polish port of Gdynia, heading West. Jews in Germany Charlotte Knobloch, and a That same evening the overpopulated vessel numerous German MPs from all political par- was hit by a torpedo fired by a Russian subma- ties. rine. A mere 1,000 people or thereabouts survi- ved the catastrophe. Most of those on board The film’s director, Joseph Vilsmaier died in the icy Baltic Sea. (Stalingrad, Comedian Harmonists) was very happy after the screening because both Merkel Vilsmaier’s emotion-packed drama painstakin- and Knobloch had assured him they were real- gly reconstructed the events based on known ly impressed. Knobloch had even placed the facts and eyewitness statements, though the film on a par with his Holocaust drama Der letz- characters in the film are fictional. Heinz Schön, te Zug (The Last Train). Vilsmaier had been so who survived the episode at the tender age of deeply touched, he could have cried. On stage 18, advised the filmmakers during the film’s at the showing of the film, the director once production. again reiterated who had inspired him to undertake the project, namely the Christian Democratic Union’s (CDU) General Secretary Volker Kauder, who had “put the idea of Die Gustloff” in his head many years ago.
Neumann said that the film direc- ted by Joseph Vilsmaier was an excellent example of how to deal with topics that hit home with audiences. The film told authentic stories in their own right and pre- sented a historical topic in an audience-friendly way, without getting in the way of the storyline. UFA Executive Director Norbert Sauer, ZDF Chairman Markus Schächter, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Film Director Joseph Vilsmaier 5 week 5 the RTL Group intranet
New evening schedule N-TV has completely overhauled its prime time schedule and is now even more compelling and dependable than ever. Hans Demmel, CEO of N-TV Germany - 29 January 2008
Monday on N-TV is now also ‘Spiegel day’, for The magazine N-TV Wissen, which will hence- the news channel will air Spiegel TV Magazin forth be broadcast three times a week, is being and Spiegel TV Zeitreise every Monday eve- given a human face in the form of new presen- ning. Spiegel TV Magazin takes topical events ter Annett Möller, whom viewers will recognise and deals with them in a trustworthy, informati- from the channel’s news format N-TV ve manner. The range of topics covered Nachrichten. Möller will guide viewers through extends from current German and internal poli- the world of knowledge in a clearly understan- tics to economics, business and social issues, dable, informative way. sport, culture and entertainment, not forgetting historical documentaries. Spiegel TV Zeitreise Business also has a dedicated slot in the new- takes viewers on a journey back through time, look N-TV prime time, in N-TV Telebörse. And looking in retrospect at historic events and sto- to make sure that N-TV can provide a full ana- ries that marked the 20th century. lysis and summary of the day’s trading on Wall Street, the channel’s evening business round- N-TV CEO Hans Demmel said: “Our new prime up, Telebörse, will only be aired at 22.45. time is geared even more closely to what vie- wers want, guaranteeing them an even more CEO Hans Demmel is content: “I’m convinced compelling, dependable programmes than this reshuffle will turn out to be a major step in before. Spiegel TV Magazin and Spiegel TV the right direction for us.” Zeitreise are two top-notch additions to our schedule. Both formats suit N-TV down to the ground.”
Experts glean their information from N-TV
Germany’s financial sector can’t do without the news channel N-TV. That’s the conclu- sion reached by the media marketing agen- cy IP Deutschland based on the latest media and brand survey carried out by HBS International.
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Two new radio channels Last Friday, the RTL Belgiumfamily welcomed two new arrivals: the Web radio channels Mint Rock and Mint Nouvelle Scène. Belgium - 28 January 2008
On 25 January 2008, Mint (whose slogan trans- Tuning in to these two new Web radio stations lates as “the radio station with the better couldn’t be easier: just go to Mint’s website. taste”), celebrated one year on the air. To mark its first birthday, Mint gave its listeners a won- derful present, namely two new Web radio sta- tions: Mint Rock, which will play rock classics from the past 40 years, and Mint Nouvelle Scène, which will focus on up-and-coming new talent in the French-language music scene.
Mint radio player visit www.mint.be and click on “Ecoutez nos radios”
www.mint.be
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Exclusive mobile phone services RTL Group’s Spanish channel Antena 3 is taking another step forward in the multimedia promo- tion of new series. Los hombres de Paco Spain - 30 January 2008
Thirty-six hours before being broadcast on conventional television in prime time on 4 February, the first episode of the series Física o química will be available to Vodafone custo- mers with 3G mobile phones. The same episo- de will also be made available to Internet vie- wers the day before it airs on television, and will also remain at viewers’ disposal on both plat- forms until the next episode.
“We mustn’t close our minds to the convergen- ce of new technologies,” said Francisco Sierra, Head of Antena 3 Multimedia, explaining that for this first trial, the series selected was one whose “profile and content was matched to the kind of audience that consumes television mainly on their mobile telephones.
The start of 2008 has been marked by a new multimedia launch strategy. On the day that Antena 3 put the first episode of Los hombres de Paco online, the network counted 1,300,000 downloads of the police comedy, whereby each episode is divided into six separate videos.
Before launching the initiative, Antena 3’s management questioned whether any potential viewers for conventional television would remain, such TV being the reference platform for most advertising investment. “We’ve demonstrated that it results in loyalty,” said Sierra.
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Twenty exciting years 20 ans d’émotions (20 Exciting Year) is the title of a new book that retraces the magnifi- cent adventure of RTL-TVI, from its modest but promising beginnings to its current posi- tion as a powerful leader. The book illustrates the close relationship between RTL-TVI and its French-speaking audience in Belgium. Belgium - 25 January 2008
Grimme Award nominations for RTL Group’s companies Two RTL Television series and two Teamworx productions have been entered for the 44th Adolf Grimme Awards. Germany - 25 January 2008
A clear success for RTL Television On Saturday evening for the first time ever RTL’s shows Deutschland sucht den Superstar with a 33.2 per cent market share and Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! with a 36.0 per cent market share clearly outperformed ZDF’s Wetten, dass..? (24.4 per cent) among young viewers aged 14 to 49. Germany - 28 January 2008
Election in Spain on Youtube Antena 3 has created a channel on Youtube for members of the public to put questions to candidates standing in the general election and find out more about it. Spain - 28 January 2008
Teamworx brings history to life The Teamworx production Das Wunder von Berlin (The Miracle of Berlin), shown on Sunday evening, told the story of the fall of the Berlin Wall, taking over 8 million viewers back to 1989. Germany - 28 January 2008
A new hotel inspector checks in to Five Five has secured the services of renowned hotelier Alex Polizzi to front the new-look series Hotel Inspector when it returns later this year. United Kingdom - 29 January 2008 9 week 5 the RTL Group intranet
RTL II airs its first long-term documentary series Over a three-year period RTL II’s cameras followed children and parents for whom adop- tion is a key issue. The channel started screening the resulting documentary, entitled Adoption – Unsere letzte Hoffnung (Adoption – Our Last Hope) on 29 January. Germany - 29 January 2008
The future of radio On 28 January RTL Radio Deutschland launched its second training programme in which 10 talented young managers will be given support in specific domains over the next 12 months and thus groomed for wider-ranging duties within their company. Germany - 30 January 2008
A comprehensive advertising campaign for Neighbours Five has launched a huge national and regional press campaign which is heavily supported by T-sides on buses and glossy magazine ads. United Kingdom - 30 January 2008
300 hours of TV programming for Latin America FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) has sold formats of all genres to various channels in Central and South America. United Kingdom - 30 January 2008
RTL.de teams up with Microsoft to provide instant messaging With immediate effect, the website RTL.de is placing “Windows Live Messenger powered by RTL.de” at the disposal of its users. Germany - 30 January 2008
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People Laurent Soumier joins M6 Publicité France - 31 January 2008
Laurent Soumier is joining the Groupe M6 in the Soumier previously worked in various positions position of director at its advertising sales unit for France Télévision Publicité, the advertising M6 Publicité. sales arm of the public TV channels. Among others he was head of customer relations and head of advertising.
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