23 SeptemberSeptember 20102010 week 38 Rounding out the brand Frank Hoffman on broadcasting four-hour documentaries on Saturday evening Germany United States N-TV produces documentaries American Idol with Turkish broadcaster TRT5 with new jury France Netherlands Paris Première and Téva The voice of Holland makes present new season programme clever use of new technologies week 38 the RTL Group intranet 23 SeptemberSeptember 20102010 week 38 Cover: Frank Hoffmann, Managing Director of Vox Rounding out the brand Frank Hoffman on broadcasting four-hour documentaries 2 on Saturday evening Germany United States N-TV produces documentaries American Idol with Turkish broadcaster TRT5 with new jury France Netherlands Paris Première and Téva The voice of Holland makes present new season programme clever use of new technologies week 38 the RTL Group intranet Giving orientation Frank Hoffmann uses the Vox Saturday documentaries as an example for why reach isn’t always the be-all and end-all. Frank Hoffmann, Managing Director of Vox Germany - 23 September 2010 On 25 September 2010, Vox is hosting its TV’s The Wonderful World of the Wiesn – third big four-hour Saturday documentaries. Munich’s Oktoberfest Turns 200 will get things How did you first hit upon the idea of running off to a good start. documentaries on Saturday evening rather than films or shows? We want to give viewers orientation on Vox – both strategically speaking and in terms of content. The long programmes are ideal for collecting viewers who either stay with us right away while zapping through the channels, or return to us over the course of the evening. The documentaries are also, however, meant to help provide orientation about our content. The long programme sessions allow us to explore topics from new and different angles. Add to that the fact that our Saturday evening programmes The documentaries cover topics from Amok... provide a very obvious alternative. The documentaries are four hours long on What is so special about this programming? average. How do you ensure that viewers We’re probably the only channel that has ever don’t lose interest over this long stretch of dared to run this kind of programming during time? prime time. The 240-minute documentaries There is no general answer to that particular allow us to add weight to ‘light’ topics because question. There are topics that allow for a we can treat them in depth. And in the case of dramatic storyline spanning several hours. serious, ‘heavy’ topics such as the ‘Nuremberg In other cases, it’s more of a collage. For the Trials’ we have the chance to explore details in a authors, it’s always a big challenge as we are on way that is rarely possible in TV programmes. As completely uncharted territory. a result the programmes are unique. The documentaries explore topics ranging Where do you find these documentaries? from history to reportage features through Who are the main producers? to science. How do you choose the topics? Most of the ideas for the topics are gener- Which are the most popular topics? ated during brainstorming sessions – often in Almost always they are topics that create a conversations with Alexander Kluge. Many are vacuum, trigger curiosity, possess fascination. then realised by Spiegel TV. However, we also For instance, our documentary The King of realise programmes with other DCTP partners. Loneliness about Michael Jackson’s life worked For instance over the course of the season especially well, scoring 8.5 per cent of the 14- to we will air the BBC documentary The Seven 49-year-old viewer market. Other documentaries Wonders of the Solar System and Agenda including Fast Food Or Delicatessen, Hitler Up Media’s The Porsche Saga, which was Close & Personal or The Evil Next Door were produced by Stefan Aust, the former editor-in- also well received by viewers. chief of Spiegel. Next Saturday Süddeutsche 3 week 38 the RTL Group intranet Will you expand further on the ‘documentary’ With a market share of 7.4 per cent in 14- to section of your programming in future? 49 target group, that particular Saturday was We’ve just done so with Vox Planet Blue, which above our channel’s Saturday average, which is looked into a wide range of issues related to currently 7.2 per cent. In other words, it was a the overarching theme of ‘Water’ in high-quality, successful programme. Frankly, we had expect- elaborately researched reports and documen- ed lower ratings. In programmes like this, we’re taries that ran from 12 noon until well after not interested solely in reach anyway – they are midnight: water as habitat, as a source of life, but about rounding out our brand image. also as a threat to life. ... to portraying successful German companies ... or Porsche – in this case with the German rallye legend such as Glashütte... Walter Röhrl driving Topics of upcoming Saturday evening documentaries: 25 September – 20:15 The Wonderful World Of The Wiesn Munich’s Oktoberfest Turns 200 (Süddeutsche Zeitung TV) 2 October – 20:15 Made in Germany A Business Fairytale! (Spiegel TV) 9 October – 20:15 The Porsche Saga History of a High-Octane Dynasty (Agenda Media) 16. October – 20:15 Amok Anatomy Of The Unthinkable (Spiegel TV) 4 week 38 the RTL Group intranet “Bridging the gap between the cultures” The news channel N-TV and the Turkish TV broadcaster TRT 5 have signed an agreement to partner on a 4-part feature on lifestyle, luxury, beauty and sports. Germany - 23 September 2010 This marks the first-ever joint programme production between a German commercial chan- nel and the Ankara-based public-service broad- caster. The producers of the report series are Ziver Aksungur and Nadir Serin in cooperation with Spin TV. Both have built an extensive media network in Germany and Turkey and are already planning further German-Turkish projects. They were able to recruit Fatih Cevikkollu, a Turkish- German national who lives in Germany, for their reportage project. Audiences are familiar with Cevikkollu as Murat from the RTL Television series Alles Atze. Hans Demmel, Managing Director of N-TV, says: “We very much look forward to the joint project. Especially given the recent discussion concerning the integration of German citizens with a Turkish background, it is especially impor- tant to bridge the gap between the cultures with projects like this.” Hans Demmel “With this joint project we wish to further strengthen international cooperation and help advance Turkish Integration by exploring Turkish topics on German television,” says Sadik Ikinci, Chief Coordinator at TRT 5. “The project even has the support of the Turkish Ministry of Culture in Ankara.“ 5 week 38 the RTL Group intranet Committed to excellence in journalism By establishing the ‘International Academy Of Journalism’, Bertelsmann reiterates its commitment to press freedom and quality journalism. Germany - 17 September 2010 On 16 September evening, Bertelsmann founded The ‘International Academy of Journalism’ will be a virtual academy of journalism that will work built up in the months ahead and officially take to disseminate the ideals of press freedom and up its teaching activity at the end of 2011. It will promote the skills and networking of young be established in close cooperation between journalists around the world. Bertelsmann and the Group’s two acclaimed schools of journalism: the Henri Nannen School By establishing the new academy, the company in Hamburg and the RTL School of Journalism reiterates its commitment to press freedom, in Cologne. Headquartered in Hamburg, the quality journalism and social responsibil- Academy will also pursue partnership with ity as it celebrates its 175th anniversary. The organizations and institutions that advocate official founding took place under the patron- freedom of the press and of opinion. age of José Manuel Barroso, President of the EU Commission, at Bertelsmann’s 175th Authors, as well as noted representatives of anniversary ceremony at the Konzerthaus outside media, will select scholarship recipients am Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin. Barroso gave who have made a name for themselves as a speech on the importance of freedom of the dedicated journalists in their home countries. press and of opinion for the European unification The Academy seeks to support them, primarily process. by promoting their professional skills. On the one hand they will be mentored by experienced Each year, the academy will convey the tools journalists and authors at Gruner + Jahr, needed for the digital future of journalism to a RTL Group and Random House, including select group of journalists worldwide, through Nathalie Renoux (M6), Jacques Esnous (RTL on-site workshops and e-learning modules. It is Radio France), Rick Nieman (RTL Nederland), targeted primarily at promising journalists, mainly Antonia Rados (RTL Television), Johanna from countries where press freedom is nonexist- Wieland (Geo) and Hans Hermann Klare (Stern). ent or at risk. They should have advocated press Other supporters of the project include Andreas freedom in their previous work, make imagina- Wolfers and Leonhard Ottinger, the respective tive use of the opportunities of the new media, deans of the Henri Nannen School and the and be talented, courageous writers. RTL School of Journalism. “This project is among the most innovative The academy will also develop a special of its kind anywhere in the world and picks up one-year e-learning curriculum that will provide on an important trend in the development of virtual training to the fellows in various areas. journalism,” said Bertelsmann Chairman & Their knowledge will be further deepened during CEO Hartmut Ostrowski. “We don’t just want to on-site workshops in Germany, led by experi- show how elemental important press freedom enced journalism coaches from Germany and is, but also that we feel the future belongs to abroad.