week 23 the RTL Group intranet
Newsletter
News Belgium RTL Belgium launches the digital platform RTLinfo People Germany Gerhard Zeiler speaks at the Inter- United Kingdom nationaler Mediendialog in Hamburg Jay Hunt appointed as Five’s new Director of Programmes RTL Television provides competent reporting from the G8 summit
Spain Become a presenter on Antena 3 with Tuclip.com week 23 the RTL Group intranet
“Pulling together as a team” Giving the new Backstage a spectacular start, RTL Group CEO Gerhard Zeiler speaks in the intranet exclusively about the company's pre- sent situation, current developments in media policy and some of his personal opinions. Gerhard Zeiler Luxembourg – 01.06.2007
You've been the CEO of RTL Group since give rise to intensive, impassioned negotia- 2003, so you've occupied that position for tions. But when the Group's interests are at longer than any of your predecessors at stake, everyone pulls together as a team. It's CLT-UFA and RTL Group. What's your important for RTL Group to have a strong, crea- assessment of the Group's position at this tive production company that is active worldwi- time? de. Some people used to doubt the value of Our company has never been in better shape. such a production company to RTL Group, but Never have its revenues, results or profit margin today we are envied for having Fremantle- been higher. Media.
What achievements are you particularly The Group’s radio business is relatively proud of? modest. How does it fit in your overall stra- RTL Group is not only Europe's biggest TV, tegy? radio and production company, but also histori- Today, radio is one of our company's activities, cally the most important operator on the Old part of our identity and invariably a source of Continent. Having said that, it took a long time success. Our flagship radio station in France, for a truly cooperative, efficiently functioning RTL Radio, is currently riding the crest of a entity to take shape following the merger of its wave, attracting more listeners again and three constituent companies, CLT, UFA and coming top in all the relevant categories. Its Pearson TV. The company does now operate staff did a great job of covering the presidential smoothly, and this of course is primarily down election in France, and their great skill and pro- to the mutual trust underlying the cooperation fessionalism boosted the brand. In addition, between the Group's managers and staff. We RTL Radio Deutschland has transformed itself practise decentralisation and advocate the from a source of concern into a highly profitable delegation of responsibility, yet at the same business within just a few years. time we thrive on cooperation rooted in partner- ship. As long as this remains the case, our staff The company is still listed on the stock and shareholders can be sure of a steady rise in exchange. Will that remain so or will the value of our company. Bertelsmann increase its shareholding? That's a decision for the shareholders, not How do you see the cooperation between something for us to comment on. The manage- the Group's channels and its production arm ment of RTL Group has an obligation to all sha- FremantleMedia? reholders, including its small shareholders. But Both parties conduct their business very inde- it's good news all round that RTL Group reliably pendently, which is exactly how things ought to makes a major, positive contribution towards be. Just occasionally this state of affairs may Bertelsmann's overall value. Last year we
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“Pulling together as a team” - continued
accounted for 43% of Bertelsmann's operating What kind of TV do you yourself like wat- result. In other words, RTL Group is a very ching? lucrative investment for Bertelsmann! Mainly major entertainment formats that bring the whole family together in front of their TV set; Last year and this year again, Bertelsmann's programmes like Pop Idol, Let’s Dance or Wer priority has been to reduce its debts. wird Millionär? (Who Wants To Be a Million- Wouldn't RTL Group be more flexible as an aire?) and I'm also a big fan of House. independent company? Certainly Bertelsmann benefits from RTL Does the Internet also mean a lot to you? Group, but at the same time RTL Group also Being a distribution platform for TV program- prospers from belonging to a global media and mes, the Internet means a tremendous amount services company. to me. Furthermore, for me – like virtually eve- ryone else in the Western world – the Internet is But when will RTL Group start growing again an obvious, everyday tool. Having said that, I'm by making some acquisitions? really not much of a chatter, preferring to deal First of all, even in 2006, we boosted our reve- with people personally or over the phone. nues 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 reve- nues totalled €535 million. Today, on its own FremantleMedia, as our pro- duction arm is now called, generates revenues in excess of €1 billion. So we can draw on considerable poten- tial 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 Gerhard Zeiler in his office prospect of RTL Group wielding influence over them. One of your previous posts was as CEO of ORF, Austria's public broadcaster. How do For many years now you've been a TV mana- you view the importance of public broadcas- ger involved in operational business. How do ting in Europe today? you draw on this experience in your capaci- In the long run, public broadcasters will find ty as Group CEO? that trying to combine income from licence fees One thing I've learnt from my experience is the with advertising revenues will prove an impossi- need to show great restraint when issuing good ble balancing act. If public broadcasters intend advice. In my days as CEO of a TV channel I to continue justifying their existence as such, at very clearly remember saying a rather tight-lip- some stage their dual obligations need to be ped thank you for any tips I received from redefined. Let me be quite clear on this: in the Luxembourg on how I should run my business. long term it makes no sense for public TV chan- nels that are funded via licence fees to focus But surely you're still itching to be involved ever more keenly on the target groups coveted in the operational side of things? by advertisers and screen their more discerning Yes, I love television. I love watching shows live news and educational programmes shortly in the studio or discovering new formats at before midnight or sideline them by shunting screenings. Of course, this understanding of the them onto special-interest channels. operational side of things and my passion for TV helps me in my dealings with our profit centres. The European Union's culture ministers But it is the respective managers who remain recently adopted a new version of the responsible for their business – and I have no Television Without Frontiers Directive that intention of questioning this arrangement. regulates the basic conditions applicable to
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“Pulling together as a team” - continued
TV advertising in Europe, among other version of the directive will permit product pla- things. What's your opinion on this compro- cement in films and TV series, under the provi- mise? so that viewers are alerted to its presence. It eases some of the present rules governing TV advertising, which are very strict. In this res- You and other TV bosses are usually judged pect, the new version of the directive repre- in terms of revenues, profits and ratings. sents a step in the right direction from the view- How about the values that RTL Group's point of RTL Group's channels. At the same channels are intent on conveying? time, we still haven't made as much headway We have obligations to our customers. The pro- as we believe needs to be made. In today's grammes we offer are geared to the tastes of digital age, channels need more flexible guide- our viewers, users and customers, who should lines when and how they are allowed to broad- be able to watch what they want, when they cast ads. With such a wide range of channels want, where they want. The content we produ- on offer, viewers will very quickly show what ce and broadcast every day is not only entertai- they do and do not accept. They are our most ning. It helps people understand political and effective regulators, effectively voting with their social issues. Every day, our editorial teams remote control. uncover irregularities and shortcomings and criticise wrongdoing. Some programmes pro- At the same time, the highly controversial mote a sense of community, provide support to practice of product placement is now per- those who need it, foster solidarity or simply mitted. appeal for donations to a good cause. We Some of the arguments in that debate were understand the world we live in through televi- downright bizarre. No TV company wanted to sion, radio and the Internet. They encourage introduce surreptitious advertising in news pro- communication and sometimes even provide grammes, magazines or even children's pro- very direct help. grammes. Their main concern was to reach a sensible arrangement for product placement in But at the same time, major media compa- films and TV series. What are we actually tal- nies are constantly suspected of trying to king about here? About whether or not the fea- wield power and influence. turing of Apple's logo on a computer used by a We can face up to such criticism because our CSI investigator should be permitted. Such position is clear: RTL Group is a firm advocate forms of product placement are commonplace of diversity. We want to see a maximum number in most US series – and these series are proving of opinions and ideas represented by anyone very popular in Europe. So people can't com- producing or editing our content. At the same plain about the superior quality of US series, yet time, I also believe that independence and at the same time deny European TV companies diversity are indissociable from economic suc- access to this source of additional funding for cess. their European productions. At least the new
Finally, a question about Backstage: What's your favou- rite 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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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 Belgium – 06.06.2007
RTL Digital, the department of RTL Belgium the daily RTL Campagne (RTL campaign) dealing with new media, is launching the sequence designed for the election website RTLinfo platform on all digital media (the Web, (rtl.be/federales). Interactivity also takes pride mobile phones, game consoles). The platform's of place, with Internet users given the possibili- content will consist of articles, photos and all ty of sending in content of their own to the the audiovisual material produced daily by the RTLinfo website. radio station Bel RTL and the TV channel RTL TVI. Following the creation of a WAP website, RTLinfo is also available on mobile phones, The channel's news programmes, like complemented by a range of video material Controverse or RTL+, will henceforth be availa- (news flashes, the Journal news bulletin, the ble free of charge as videos to watch on the Météo weather forecast, RTL Stars, and so on) Internet. available on the Vodafone Live platform run by Belgian mobile phone operator Proximus. In addition to the reports and programmes broadcast on radio and television, RTLinfo.be is Finally, the RTLinfo brand is present on the digi- offering exclusive content taken from audio and tal TV platforms Belgacom TV and Telenet. video rushes (full interviews, reports from the Customers of both operators who have deco- sidelines of major events). Some new program- ders will have access all RTL TVI news pro- mes not broadcast by RTL TVI will also appear, grammes via video-on-demand (VOD). including four news flashes and the show- biz news programme RTL Stars.
During the Belgian election campaign, RTL Digital successfully experimented by producing exclusive programmes using check out www.rtlinfo.be
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RTL II takes on kids' bad eating habits In the successful docu-soap Liebling, wir brin- gen die Kinder um! (Honey, we're killing the kids), an expert nutritionist shows what kids ought to be eating. Alexa Iwan Germany – 06.06.2007
In seven episodes of the programme, food help is at hand, not only in the form of RTL II, expert Alexa Iwan shows how a bad diet and but also from the famous boy band US5. unhealthy lifestyle from childhood on can prompt serious disorders, and provides some Liebling, wir bringen die Kinder um! was alrea- tips on how kids can change their lifestyles. dy broadcast in August and September 2006. The six episodes shown then scored a highly For example, Alexa Iwan shows 12-year-old satisfactory market share of 8.9 per cent Yvonne how she became overweight by amongst 14 to 49-year-olds. eating fatty foods and not getting enough exercise. A computer highlights the consequences of her bad eating habits. Medical tests performed in a cli- nic immediately show that Yvonne needs to change her lifestyle. Luckily
Yvonne and US5
Yvonne
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RTL Television provides competent reporting from the G8 summit The G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, poses a tremendous journalistic and logistical challenge to the media. Like all major TV chan- nels, RTL will report in depth on newsworthy events from the summit location both before and during the talks. Peter Kloeppel Germany – 05.06.2007
At the conference venue itself, in the press cen- All in all, some 45 staff will ensure smooth pro- tre and at the airport, where the planes contai- duction and up-to-the-minute reporting from ning the participating heads of state will land the summit's venue. Amongst them is Chief and take off again, RTL has relay stations from News Editor Peter Kloeppel, who will be a which its six correspondents covering the event reporter himself on Tuesday before presenting can file live reports at any time. RTL also has the channel's main news bulletin RTL Aktuell as three mobile satellite broadcasting facilities and anchorman on location. two mobile cutting rooms available round the clock.
Become a presenter on Antena 3 with Tuclip.com 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. Screenshot from Tuclip.com Spain - 05.06.2007
The deadline for entries is 25 June 2007, and all to Tuclip.com, voting by text message, and participants have to do is send in their casting another six will be chosen by a jury com- video by mobile phone or directly over the prising Antena 3 staff. Internet. All videos sent in by participants can check out be viewed directly in a special section of the The video platform Tuclip.com is now website called "Casting". roughly four months old. Since its launch www.tuclip.com Antena 3 has received more than 10,000 Of all the videos sent in, 12 candidates will be videos and already published over 1,000. selected for an official trial as a presenter on Just recently, the website also became Antena 3. Six will be selected directly by visitors accessible to mobile phone users.
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“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 And yet, notwithstanding all the event, he was convinced that conventional TV changes currently afoot, Zeiler would remain the number one medium in the still sees some constant ele- digital future. In future, digitisation would give ments that he believes to be viewers "new freedoms and choices", he said, clear pointers that conventional effectively enabling them to decide "what to TV will remain successful in the Gerhard Zeiler at the event* watch when and where". future: "The best content and strong brands are – and will However, for Zeiler the protection of copyright remain – the main basis for suc- remains a core problem. In connection with the cessful television, irrespective of growing number of Internet TV channels, he how it is broadcast", he said. said: "We will not hand over our content, Consequently he ended his content in which we invested a great deal of speech by saying: "Despite all money, to third parties for free and either let rapidly evolving media landsca- them do business with it or see that nobody pe and any current and future Podium discussion* ends up doing any business with it – as has technological developments, the happened in the music industry – simply fundamental human need to sit because our formats are available to anyone on back, relax and be entertained pirate platforms on the Internet". will remain unaltered. And that's exactly where TV comes in!“ His speech highlighted the main principles underlying RTL Group's response to digitisation: In a podium discussion following Gerhard Zeiler's presentation, he Ole van Beust, Mayor of Hamburg (left), 1. Fragment yourself, before and other major media figures, Gerhard Zeiler (middle), Gunnar Uldall, someone does it for you! including Vice President Yahoo Senator of Economy and Works of Central Europe and Yahoo Hamburg (right)* 2. Don't shrink back from new Deutschland CEO Terry von Bibra, Wall to Wall technologies! CEO Alex Graham, SES Astra CEO Ferdinand 3. Be courageous enough to Kayser, ProSiebenSat.1 CEO Guillaume de occupy niche markets! Posch discussed the issues. Both Zeiler visit and de Posch stressed the opportunities 4. Diversify your sources of revenue! that digitisation would bring.
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M6 Mobile by Orange launches a new adverti- sing campaign: verbal battles with no holds barred! 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'. Screenshot from one of the TV commercials France – 01.06.2007
The campaign started with a 15-second teaser The campaign has been produced by BDDP & on 24 May announcing the two first 'verbal bat- Fils. tles' in which heavyweight chat specialists and text message fans may resort to any kind of Since its launch in June 2006, M6 Mobile by provocation to try to knock out their opponent Orange has succeeded in making a profit on by making them hang up. The clash was shown this competitive market, attracting more than in two 40-second films featuring the contes- 750,000 subscribers by the end of December tants set in a real boxing ring using their mobi- 2006. le phones to lay into each other verbally.
The TV commercials are broadcast on M6 and W9 and will be backed up by a radio campaign and an Internet promo- tion in early June.
Screenshot from one of the TV commercials
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RTL's family of channels extends its lead 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. Let’s Dance Germany – 04.06.2007
Together, RTL Television, Vox, RTL II, Super RTL RTL II ended the month of May 2007 with a and N-TV command a market share of 33.8 per market share of 6.4 per cent among 14 to 49- cent, an improvement of 1.1 percentage points year-olds and 7.6 per cent among 14 to 29- on May 2006. By contrast, the results achieved year-old viewers. by ProSieben, Sat.1, Kabel 1 and N24 are 0.7 points down on May 2006, repre- senting a total market share of 29.5 per cent 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 per cent. The Cologne-based channel is now, once again, more than 4 percen- tage points ahead of ProSieben. Raus aus den Schulden
RTL's highlights in May included the shows Deutschland sucht den Super- star and Let’s Dance, the coaching for- mats 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 pro- gramme RTL Aktuell also beat those of CSI Miami all its rival news broadcasts on German TV by other major channels.
Vox achieved a market share of 7.6 per cent in May among the 14 to 49-year- old target group, an improvement of 0.6 percentage points on the same month the previous year.
RTL Aktuell
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Super RTL launches a campaign promoting everyday safety 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. Feuerwehrmann Sam Germany – 01.06.2007
In the joint campaign, Fireman Sam gives to Sam' s safety tips!) together with valuable everyday safety tips. The aim of the Kaufhof. campaign is to make both adults and children visit maximally aware of safety issues. To this end, As part of the action, children visiting
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 laun- ched in Malaysia.
Germany - 01.06.2007
This first ever mobile multiplayer virtual trading "Our strength lies in creating entertainment that card game was rolled out by UFA in 2006. Now appeals to the masses. Master of Maya is the Master of Maya is making its world debut in innovative application of our know-how in the Malaysia, one of the world's leading markets for growth segment of mobile games“, said UFA mobile entertainment. The game has been snap- CEO Wolf Bauer. "We're happy to have found, in ped up by Malaysian mobile operator Maxis. Siemens, a partner capable of distributing the game worldwide". Master of Maya combines game play and the design of a traditional trading card game with Master of Maya is set in a mythical Mayan world. the interactive possibilities offered by a mobile Players assume the role of a Master of Maya, phone. The characters and Master of Maya who takes on other players via his mobile phone. world were designed by UFA; the multiplayer Players purchase cards by mobile phone and game's technological implementation was left in can then immediately plunge headlong into the the capable hands of Siemens, the multiplayer action. platform of Exit Games. 10 week 23 the RTL Group intranet
RTL's first radio star is the band InBlaSch RTL's first radio star has been chosen! As part of 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. Band InBlaSch Germany – 31.05.2007
The winner was promised a record deal with over a two-week period. In the end the Berlin- star producer Jack White. To take part in the based band InBlaSch ran out the winner competition, listeners could listen to the demo with the most votes. recording on the website www.104.6rtl.com visit and download the corresponding track and text The four members of the band from to use when creating their own version of the Treptow said: "We were really excited,
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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RTL Interactive sets up RTL Games subsidiary for PC and video games RTL Interactive is expanding its merchandising activities by setting up a subsi- diary 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 com- pany 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 spe- cial 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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Jay Hunt has been appointed as Five's new Director of Programmes. Jay Hunt 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 broad- caster’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 astu- te 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 pros- pect of building on Five’s existing successful programming and taking the channel to the next phase of its development is irresistible.”
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