Sophisticated and Intelligent Christof Lang on the Upward Ratings Trend of RTL Nachtjournal
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
11 February 2010 week 06 Sophisticated and intelligent Christof Lang on the upward ratings trend of RTL Nachtjournal Germany Netherlands Increased TV viewing time X Factor is off in 2009 to a new season France United States Valéry Gerfaud on the success Original Productions partners of M6 Replay with Spike TV week 06 the RTL Group intranet 11 February 2010 week 06 Montage with Christof Lang, Ilka Essmüller and Isabelle Körner (from left to right) Sophisticated and intelligent Christof Lang on the upward ratings trend of RTL Nachtjournal 2 Germany Netherlands Increased TV viewing time X Factor is off in 2009 to a new season France United States Valéry Gerfaud on the success Original Productions partners of M6 Replay with Spike TV week 06 the RTL Group intranet “Those who watch us get more” RTL Nachtjournal has for several years led the market in German late-night news, and has started the year 2010 with the best monthly audience share in its history. Backstage spoke with Christof Lang, the programme’s Managing Editor and moderator, about the show’s recipe for success. Christof Lang Germany - 11 February 2010 By the time Christof Lang, Managing Editor just 4.5 per cent and 5.5 per cent of young of RTL Nachtjournal, arrives at his office on a audiences respectively. RTL Nachtjournal regular workday, the day shift has been hard has even drawn level with Heute Journal or at work for hours: he usually gets here around surpassed Tagesthemen, the ZDF and ARD 15:00. Since the show’s main moderator Ilka main news shows that air earlier in the evening. Essmüller is on maternity leave, Lang now usually moderates the show in addition to In January 2010, RTL Nachtjournal once again his tasks as Managing Editor, with his N-TV significantly improved its ratings, when an colleague Isabelle Körner covering for him one average 19.9 per cent of 14- to 49-year-olds week per month. “It’s more work, but it’s fun, tuned in to watch. “Of course we are very too,” says Lang. The preparations for the daily pleased with this development,” says Christof late-night show begin in the morning. Around Lang. When RTL Nachtjournal first went on air 11:00, the Managing Editor, the day’s modera- a good 16 years ago, many critics felt that a tor and the editor in charge have a call with the late-night news show based on concepts RTL Nachtjournal day planners – from home – to from the US wouldn’t work in Germany. The discuss the topics for the upcoming programme. consensus was that late-night news would put But the workday doesn’t really enter its hot phase too much of a strain on viewers. The reality is a until the news conference at 15:30: topics are different story: with a share of 15.2 per cent, coordinated, the footage prepared and edited, RTL Nachtjournal is well ahead of the competi- and the moderator’s comments written. tion even in terms of total audience. By presenting plenty of facts, backgrounders, “I believe our success is based on the fact that we and editorials, the late-night magazine has systematically not only sum up the day’s news, established itself as a hallmark of German TV but also focus on aspects that we feel would be news journalism: in 2008, RTL Nachtjournal especially interesting for our viewers,” explains attracted an average audience share of 16.5 Christof Lang. “We examine the background and per cent share among viewers aged 14 to 49. try to give viewers added value. In times of Apps In 2009, the figure increased again consider- and the Internet, those who watch us as the ably, by 1.1 percentage points to 17.6 per cent. last news programme of the day already have This puts RTL Nachtjournal well ahead of an overview of the general news situation.” The corresponding formats by the public-serv- approach obviously works. Lang explains: ice broadcasters, whose Nachtmagazin “Everyday, we try anew to manage a certain (ARD) and Heute Nacht (ZDF) attracted balancing act. RTL Nachtjournal should be 3 week 06 the RTL Group intranet RTL Nachtjournal: clear market leader for late-night news 18 Audience Shares 17.6 in 2009 16 14 to 49 15.2 4+ 14 12 10 9.3 8.6 8 8.2 7.1 6 5.5 4.5 4 2 0 RTL Nachtjournal Vox Nachrichten Heute Nacht (ZDF) Nachtmagazin (ARD) sophisticated and intelligent, but at the same “News programming is very important for a time simple in the positive sense of the word. Our broadcaster like RTL Television,” explains advantage vis-à-vis the traditional evening news Lang. “Primarily because of our responsibility to shows is that, thanks to the later broadcasting society, but also of course to keep viewers slot, we can not only sum up the facts, but can coming back to our channel.” evaluate and question them and put them in context. We explain complicated contexts with Starting in summer, when the editorial team will the necessary care and with a view to ensuring have moved to its new premises in Cologne- that everyone can understand them.“ The aim of Deutz, the show will be broadcast from a new RTL Nachtjournal is to present reports which studio. “Of course the new studio opens up a are easy to understand and presented from the lot of new possibilities for us – if for no other viewers’ perspective whenever possible, says reason than that the technology has progressed Lang. by leaps and bounds over the past five years,” says Lang. However, he says, nothing will For example, RTL Nachtjournal systematically change about the show’s basic concept. “Clearly avoids presenting reports about federal politics the format doesn’t need to be reinvented, but we in the capital of Berlin in conjunction with the can add to its visual appeal and modernise it – usual footage from the government district – adjust the little details, as it were.” limousines pulling up outside buildings, external long shots, or endless hallways in the parliamen- Once RTL Nachtjournal has aired live at tary buildings. After all, political decisions affect midnight, Christof Lang’s day ends at 1:00, and people and businesses in Germany. So RTL the lights go out in the editorial offices. Most of Nachtjournal often reports on politics against the staff are already asleep in bed at that point – the backdrop of living rooms, doctors’ offices or resting up for a new day. manufacturing halls – the places specifically affected by the politicians’ decisions. This is preferably done in a reportage format as specific examples are the best way to illustrate the implications of a decision. 4 week 06 the RTL Group intranet Germans are watching more and more television Television continues to be the most-used media and once again saw considerable gains in viewing time in 2009 – even without a major sports event like the Olympics. Germany - 8 February 2010 On average, Germans over the age of 14 watched 5 minutes more TV per day than they did the previous year: 266 minutes. In the target 14- to 49-year-old audience, viewing time increased by 4 minutes per day to 182 minutes. Heads of household aged 14 to 49 led the pack, growing their TV habit by a full 6 minutes per day to 237 minutes. Children, too, increased their viewing time by 2 minutes. Only among young adults aged 14 to 29 there was no increase: at 136 minutes a day, the figure was on par with that of the previous year. If you only look at the three major German commercial channels RTL Television, Sat 1 and ProSieben, it is striking that these are responsible for a good 65 per cent of the increase in viewing time among adults over the age of 14. In the 14 to 49 target group, the increase was due almost exclusively to the major commercial channels. RTL Television in particular contributed a major proportion – nearly 3 minutes more year on year, totalling 70 per cent of the growth. This overall positive upward trend in average viewing time has continued in the New Year: compared with the previous year, in January 2010 it increased considerably again in all surveyed target groups. 5 week 06 the RTL Group intranet “M6 Replay, the group’s anti-piracy arm” As a guest of Buzz Média Orange – Le Figaro, M6 Web’s Managing Director Valéry Gerfaud spoke primarily about the success story of the Group’s catch-up TV platform and new TV viewing habits. Valéry Gerfaud France - 5 February 2010 Last week, RTL Group CEO Gerhard Zeiler hit M6 Replay would cannibalise M6’s audience, but out forcefully against piracy. At a colloquium in very comprehensive studies show that the more Berlin, he pointed to “the piracy of content that people watch M6 Replay, the more they watch is also taking place in the audiovisual sector“. M6. It’s a slightly younger audience, especially Valéry Gerfaud took this up by portraying M6 on PCs, but from a socio-demographic point of Replay, one of the two catch-up TV platforms view one that is nonetheless pretty close to the (alongside W9 Replay) of Groupe M6, as an channel’s audience”. anti-piracy arm and duly pointing out that “youngsters are turning from pirating to watching So how can this service be converted into M6 Replay”. money? When this question was put to him, Valéry Gerfaud explained that while M6 Web’s The success of the catch-up TV platform business model is based on advertising, the launched less than two years ago has company also has other sources of revenue: certainly met expectations.