1 July 2010

week 26

News to use Michael Wulf on Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s news service provider Info Network

Germany RTL Television presents L’Expédition RTL heading the Com.mit award for Bhutan

United Kingdom FremantleMedia Enterprises Bel RTL and Radio Contact represents Dance Academy present summer schedule week 26 the RTL Group intranet

1 July 2010

week 26

Cover: Michael Wulf, Managing Director of Info Network © RTL/Stefan Menne

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News to use Michael Wulf on Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s news service provider Info Network

Germany France RTL Television presents L’Expédition RTL heading the Com.mit award for Bhutan

United Kingdom Belgium FremantleMedia Enterprises Bel RTL and Radio Contact represents Dance Academy present summer schedule week 26 the RTL Group intranet

“News have always been important to us” Every month, Info Network produces more than 170 hours of broadcasts for Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. Backstage spoke with its Managing Director Michael Wulf about news and the technology behind it. Michael Wulf Germany - 1 July 2010

Info Network was founded in February 2008, and is one of Mediengruppe RTL Deutsch- land’s biggest subsidiaries. Created from the news and magazine teams of the individual channels, Info Network bundles their collec- tive experience, expertise and infrastructure to be able to produce news more effectively. “We deliberately chose a construct that didn’t yet exist in this form in the market,” explains Michael Wulf, Managing Director of Info Network. “We’ve learned from problems encountered in the past and therefore attach great importance to leveraging synergies without watering down the individual channels and programmes so that we don’t forfeit the brands’ identity and creativity.” One of the biggest Info Network projects so far was the coverage Overarching activities that are equally needed of the US Elections with Peter Kloeppel and Christoph Teuner (right) in 2008 by all editorial teams include planning, schedul- ing as well as rights and license trading. These At this point, Info Network supplies footage for are centrally managed by Info Network for a Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s daily and more efficient use of resources. A central news weekly news and magazine formats. They desk assesses the news situation and decides include the regular news shows RTL Aktuell, where outside broadcasting vans will be needed. RTL Nachtjournal, the various Punkt news In this way, topics that are important for all edito- programmes – Punkt 6, Punkt 9, Punkt 12 – and rial teams can be examined by one team on the the magazines Explosiv, Explosiv – Weekend, ground. The respective editorial teams are then Exclusiv – Das Starmagazin, Exclusiv – Week- responsible for the editing and use of the foot- end, Extra – Das RTL-Magazin, as well as Vox age, ensuring that each programme retains its News, Prominent! and Prominent! täglich. distinctive style and identity. Info Network also operates a picture agency The shared news pool also lets the edito- called Content First, which sells video materials, rial teams centrally access existing material at as fully edited features or raw material, to which Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland – for example at the company owns the rights of use for resel- N-TV – or from agencies, so that they don’t have ling to third parties. The Content First portfolio to produce it themselves or acquire the rights usually contains all image material either separately. “Our goal is one-stop-production for produced or commissioned by Info Network. all news and magazine editorial teams wherever Content First serves Germany’s public-service the topic is interesting for all of them,” says Wulf. and commercial TV channels as well as German “Some of the teams end up needing just a few production firms and the global TV market. original commentaries of their own, which are then planned independently.” 3 week 26 the RTL Group intranet

Nicole Macheroux-Denault is Info Network’s correspondent The German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave an exclusive interview for the Football World Cup in to Peter Kloeppel in the run-up to the German elections in 2009

With national studios such as the Hauptstadt- done properly.” In the Frankfurter Allgemeine studio in Berlin and the Landesstudio Süd in Sonntagszeitung of 20 June, Stefan Niggemeier Munich, five international studios in London, writes: “While a programme like RTL Aktuell may Paris, Moscow, New York and Jerusalem, and be expensive, it pays off for the channel in that it correspondents on the ground in South Africa, is perceived as a fully-fledged, important channel , Thailand, China, Turkey, , , – to a much greater degree than its commercial Belgium, the and at several loca- competitors. Peter Kloeppel’s reputable image tions in the US, Info Network has the necessary reflects onto the rest of the programming.” And resources for comprehensive, competent world- Norbert Schneider, Director of the North Rhine- wide reporting. Westphalian State Media Authority, told Focus magazine: “RTL realises how important the news The RTL Group channels also present oppor- are. RTL Aktuell anchorman Peter Kloeppel is a tunities for collaboration. “We regularly have first-rate figurehead for the whole channel.” Synergy Committee meetings, where we talk about different programmes. In Croatia, for In 2009, RTL Aktuell averaged 3.79 million example, we were able to help build the news viewers, putting it behind the Tagesschau infrastructure – and of course we also talk about news on its public-service rival Das Erste the content of certain formats,” says Wulf. (5.26 million viewers), but ahead of Heute on ZDF (3.77 million viewers). If one looks only Asked about the ongoing discussion in the at the market shares from Monday to Friday, German media concerning a possible tighten- RTL Aktuell was in fact well ahead of both ing of the laws governing news programmes public-service formats, averaging 18.9 per cent on commercial television in the wake of of the total viewer market, as compared to the ProSiebenSat.1’s sale of the news channel N24, 17.7 per cent attracted by both Das Erste and Wulf replies: “We have a completely different ZDF. history from many of our competitors: news have always been important to us, and RTL Aktuell “We’ve done very well. In Peter Kloeppel, we was a fixture in our programming from the begin- have one of the leading anchormen on German ning. For us, news are part of the package. Our television,” says Michael Wulf, commenting on good ratings speak for themselves.” developments over the past few years. “The RTL Nachtjournal has also earned itself an In this point, the press agrees: On 17 June, outstanding reputation. We often hear from Süddeutsche Zeitung ran a comprehensive politicians that they like to tune in to it at the end report on the sale of N24. Editor Caspar Busse of the day for a final news briefing.” noted: “News programmes are important for a channel’s quality, customer loyalty, and identity Wulf says the small but crucial difference to – especially for a family channel like Sat.1, but other channels’ programmes lies in the selec- also for channels like Kabel 1 or ProSieben. tion and presentation of the topics. “Unlike our Their commercial rival RTL shows how it’s competitors, we select our news according to

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Several politicians like Sigmar Gabriel (SPD / right)... what is important for the viewer,” he explains. “The news should have something to do with people’s lives. We like to call this: ‘news to use’.“ …Cem Özdemir (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)… We make a point not only of selecting the right topics, but also the right presentation. “Viewers have to be able to understand our news. There’s no point in reporting about something that goes right over the viewer’s head,” so Wulf. “So we use an easy language as well as on-screen diagrams or explanatory graphics.”

The move to Cologne-Deutz and the new studios opens up further opportunities for this in the future. The moderation will be produced entirely in HD. “You can really see the difference,” beams Wulf. “And viewers will notice the difference from the new design and the new sets as well – after all, we’ve been …and even chancellor Angela Merkel visited Info Network’s offices broadcasting our magazines from Deutz since in Cologne recently the beginning of June.” New technology and new editing systems have also changed the workflow in the editorial teams, making a complete inte- gration appear difficult at first. “But once the integration has been accomplished, we will benefit from the considerable added value delivered by the new system,” explains On 1 July, RTL Television Wulf. Info Network’s move is scheduled starts broadcasting its to be completed by the end of Septem- summer interviews – ber – at which point the programmes, produced by Info Network. too, will go out on the air from the new First guest will be Sigmar Gabriel (SPD), followed by studios in Cologne-Deutz. Angela Merkel on 2 July

The new studio in Cologne-Deutz 5 week 26 the RTL Group intranet

Com.mit Award goes to student in Mannheim Farhana Islam at the Integrated Comprehensive School in Mannheim-Herzogenried prevailed over six other shortlisted contestants with her film Farhana. Nina Moghaddam, Farhana Islam and Peter Kloeppel Germany - 29 June 2010 (from left to right)

In her ten-minute report, the 19-year-old In addition to valuable prizes, the winners of the German-Bengali girl describes a typical day in Com.mit Award will now have the opportunity her life, which is shaped both by her parents’ to expand on their newly acquired skills during Bengali roots and the German environment she internships at Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland was raised in. “I’m between two worlds but still companies. manage to combine the two,” says the award winner, who has a deep understanding of what it “The Com.mit Awards give young people a means to be an immigrant: “Integration is when chance to make films about migration- and you attempt to fit in, when you go somewhere integration-related topics with professionals,” else without losing or forgetting about your says Peter Kloeppel. “This year, we again had inner self.” Farhana Islam accepted the award about 100 submissions reflecting a wide range and the laptop that came with it on 26 June at the of different formats: screenplays for films, Medienfest NRW in Cologne, from the hands of portraits or short news features. This shows us RTL Television’s Chief Editor Peter Kloeppel and that integration still plays a big and important jury member Nina Moghaddam (Super RTL), role in our society and will continue to do so. So and with Cologne’s mayor Elif Scho-Antwerpes we will continue to support young people who in attendance. grapple with this topic with the means at our disposal in television.” Second prize went to Maziyar Bazi (19) at the Matthias Claudius Gymnasium in Hamburg. His State minister Maria Böhmer, the German film Wenn Träume laufen lernen (When Dreams government’s Integration Delegate, is the Learn To Walk) is about the doubts and insecuri- patron of the media award administered by ties faced by a German-Iranian youth who falls in RTL Television, which is now in its third year. love with a German girl, applying for a job and, The award seeks to encourage high-school after having a vivid dream, tries to prevent a students throughout Germany to produce fellow teen from mugging someone. migration- and integration-related films.

A group of teens from various schools in Leipzig came in third. Bleib nicht, wo Du bist (Don’t Stay Where You Are) by Paul Pjanow, Felix Kuhn, Yasmin Tronczik, and Felix Günther tells about how a teenager falls in love with a girl of Russian origins despite his penchant for hostile, anti-foreigner slogans.

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Expanding the portfolio At the Licensing International Expo, FremantleMedia Enterprises announced a new third party brand licensing deal with ZDF Enterprises. Dance Academy United Kingdom - 1 July 2010

FremantleMedia Enterprises is to represent Dance Academy is a 26 x 52 minute new Dance Academy, a teen and tween property Australian drama series about dancers with by ZDF Enterprises and will be managing the passion, ambition and drive. Filled with licensing programme in Central, Eastern & great music, great dance and packed with Southern Europe, as well as Benelux and the emotion, Dance Academy is an uplifting Nordics, across key categories including programme aimed at teens and tweens and publishing, retail, apparel, beauty, confection- those simply with a passion for dance. ary, accessories, and interactive. The deal concluded between both companies highlights Diana M. Dieckmann, Vice President Licensing, FremantleMedia Enterprises’ position as one Central, Eastern & Southern Europe, of the leading third party brand representa- Fremantle Licensing Germany, who brokered tives. It also underscores an already successful the deal commented, “I’m really looking forward relationship between the companies as to taking our work with ZDF Enterprises to FremantleMedia Enterprises represents and another level and to expanding our has secured licensing deals in publishing, portfolio of teen and tween titles following apparel and beauty for both H2O: Just Add our recent successes in this genre with Water and The Elephant Princess on behalf of H2O: Just Add Water and The Elephant ZDF Enterprises. Princess. Dance Academy is a fantastic show with many licensing opportunities.”

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An environmental model For the last edition this season, l’Expédition RTL headed to Bhutan. In Bhutan, the government is doing everything to avoid the devastating effects of mass tourism France - 28 June 2010

For five days, Frédérique Parbonnaud and her team visited nature parks, Bhutanese fortresses, called dzongs, and monasteries. Together, they observed the way in which this play out in the field. They also gathered the opinions of inhabitants and Buddhist monks with the objective of identifying the challenges confront- ing the country: the consequences of global warming, opening up to the world, development and modernisation.

Nestled in the Himalayas and squeezed More than 72 percent of Bhutan are covered with forests, between China to the north and to the south, hosting a wide range of biodiversity Bhutan is a country with a wide variety of climates, landscapes and an extraordinary efforts made in environmental matters, the biodiversity. In the 1970s, Bhutan first opened Bhutanese look at global warming with a itself up to the outside world and saw the jaundiced eye. Responsible for the melting of the consequences of economic development in Hamalayan glaciers, global warming is causing certain countries. Thus, the fourth King of flooding, which is a threat to hydroelectric power. Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, invented the concept of “gross national happiness” or The government is also doing everything GNH, as a model for development. This model possible to avoid the devastating effects of mass rests on four pillars: economic development, tourism and to protect the country’s identity. good governance, the promotion of traditions Interviewed by Frédérique Parbonnaud, Robert and the preservation of the environment and Dompnier, a tour operator, explains that Bhutan biodiversity. is biased in favour of protecting itself from mass tourism by voluntarily charging extremely high By setting conditions that at least 60 per cent prices. Even though the number of tourists has of the land be covered in forests and in focuss- multiplied by 10 in the last 20 years, it did not ing on green energy and hydroelectric power, exceed 30,000 last year. Bhutan is a model environmental figure. A mountainous country whose rivers tumble down from the Himalayas, Bhutan has in fact made hydroelectric power one of the mainstays of its development, partly to supply electricity to the country and partly for export to India. It is a choice that is in line with the principles of GNH and with the pledge Bhutan has made never to become a net carbon emitter. Despite all these Citizens of Bhutan are urged to sort their waste and use biodegradable bags, for example at a market in Thimphu, 8 the capital of Bhutan week 26 the RTL Group intranet

It’s summertime The summer season is in full swing at Bel RTL and Radio Contact. Both stations have busy schedules in store for listeners, with news, music, entertainment and getaways. Philippe Manoeuvre Belgium - 29 June 2010

On Bel RTL, news comes first. Among Bel RTL’s essential programmes, listen- Weekdays as well as weekends, the ers will find a show dedicated entirely to holidays editorial department’s journalists will to bring called Last Minute, Mondays to Fridays from listeners a steady stream of news 13:10 to 16:00, with trips to be won, La route des programmes, the Journal des sports, vacances, Mondays to Fridays from 8:30 to holiday weather forecasts and, throughout the 11:00, and Les terrasses de l’été, Mondays to month of July, L’invité politique. Several new Fridays from 19:00 to 23:00 and Saturdays from columns add a touch of lightness to the summer 21:00 to 23:00. The shows Radio Manoeuvre – programme schedule, including Les portrai- Absolutely Live with Philippe Manœuvre and Les tistes, where Christophe Giltay and Frédéric Grosses Têtes, with the year’s best moments by Bastien present the portrait of a personal- Philippe Bouvard and friends, will air respectively ity, and in La gazette de l’été, Sylvie Degrelle, on Saturdays from 19:00 to 20:00 and daily from Olivia François or Camie Thys, will discuss 16:00 to 18:00. ideas for outings, internships for students and summertime reading as well as topics on the It also promises to be a very musical summer quality of life, health, culture and the out of the on Radio Contact. On the schedule this season: ordinary. On Les jeunes ont la parole, young games, prize raffles and ideas and tips for sum- people will present their view of the world mer destinations. From 5 to 9 July, listeners will around them in a sequence produced in have a chance to dive into the summer’s top hits collaboration with Belgium’s Delegate and leave with tickets for the TW Classic, where General for Children’s Rights. As well, the fans can applaud Mika, the Black Eyed Peas, entire RTL Trafic team will be on hand to keep Scissor Sisters and Amy Macdonald. listeners informed on road traffic conditions and to help them plan their trips accordingly. This year is Radio Contact’s 30th anniversary. To celebrate the occasion, the Radio Contact team Bel RTL will also celebrate summer in music, with will be visiting different parts of Belgium and new shows like Les petites histoires des grandes inviting listeners to help assemble the play list chansons on Saturdays from 18:15 to 19:00 and for the next “30 years of Radio Contact” Magnéto Serge, Mondays to Fridays from 23:00 compilation. to midnight. Listeners can participate in music quizzes and win plenty of prizes on shows like Le Challenger, Mondays to Fridays from 18:15 to 19:00, Le Super Challenger, Saturdays from 13:10 to 16:00 and Tout le monde il est beau, tout le monde il est gentil, weekends between 9:10 and 12:00.

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A joint venture Editus and RTL Lëtzebuerg have announced a partnership agreement for the distribution of car and property classified ads on RTL.lu starting at the end of August. Luxembourg - 30 June 2010

Habiter.lu and Driving.lu check out

Habiter.luand For Editus, a publisher of directories (print, Habiter.lu collects almost internet and mobile), and RTL Lëtzebuerg, 15,000 ads for proper- Driving.lu the number one news source for the citizens ties for sale or for rent in of Luxembourg, it is an exclusive, strategic Luxembourg and the Greater and innovative service agreement. Together, Region, and exists also as month- they intend to offer users the first diversified ly magazine distributed in strategic and high-quality service on the market using a locations with a print run of 290,000 copies common Web space for classified ads in per year. Driving.lu, a listing of car and the property and automotive category. The motorbike ads, helps internet users find a classified advertising sites by Editus, Habiter.lu used vehicle or an automotive dealer and and Driving.lu will be accessible via guides them in their efforts to acquire a RTL.lu as of 30 August. vehicle. Also available in print form, Driving.lu is distributed in a print run of 140,000 copies per year for the Autofestival.

All the ads on the Habiter.lu and Driving.lu sites are updated daily by individuals and professionals.

10 Oil inferno in the Gulf of The National Geographic feature presents a gripping reconstruction of the first 36 hours following the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. The fireball was visible from 14 kilometres away, and since the disaster, the oil has been gushing into the ocean unimpeded from three boreholes at a depth of 1,500 metres. N-TV shows the German premiere of the breathtaking report on 1 July at 22:03. week 26 the RTL Group intranet

A new name for Blu On 22 June 2010, the Swedish TV production company Blu was formally renamed to FremantleMedia Sweden AB. Sweden - 28 June 2010

Good results in May With 2.41 million Unique Visitors in May, RTL.fr continues to be the leader among radio websites in France and is ahead of the number two radio site by almost 100,000 visitors, while Fun Radio’s website achieved its best performance ever – with 934,000 Unique Visitors. France - 25 June 2010

ENTERTAINMENT Singing seniors And now for a completely different music show: UFA Entertainment produces Rock statt Rente for Sat.1. 25 rustic rentirees are raring to make a comeback as they rehearse for the performance of their life. Germany - 25 June 2010

Calling all contestants FremantleMedia’s cult programme Le Juste Prix is coming soon to RTL-TVI. Anyone who wants to spin ‘the big wheel’ can sign up on RTL-TVI.be/justeprix. Belgium - 28 June 2010

Chartshow – Your Countdown continues In the past one and a half years, Alpha’s Chartshow – Your Countdown has attracted a regular viewership of more than 18 per cent of Greek viewers. Thus, the show will continue during the new season. Greece - 29 June 2010 12 week 26 the RTL Group intranet

Toy Story on Radio For the French release of the animated film Toy Story 3, which is sponsored by RTL Radio. Characters from the motion picture will appear in a television and press campaign for RTL Radio. France - 29 June 2010

The Famous Five make their debut on DVD and Blu-ray A good 30 years after it first appeared on TV, the popular British series The Famous Five will finally be available on DVD and Blu-ray in German stores, distributed by Universum Film. Germany - 30 June 2010

The Netherlands choose Radio 538 Radio 538 was able to grow its market share in the months of April and May 2010, making it the most-listened to radio station in the Netherlands. Netherlands - 30 June 2010

RTL-TVI takes the serve From 3 to 8 July, all eyes are on the little yellow ball as RTL-TVI broadcasts the women’s and men’s finals at Wimbledon as well as the exhibition match between the two stars of Belgian tennis, Justine Hénin and Kim Clijsters. Belgium - 30 June 2010

June ratings In June, M6 achieved an average audience share of 10.0 per cent throughout the day and 10.9 per cent for the strategic noon-to-midnight time slot. France - 1 July 2010

Growing online, too In the May survey of traffic to websites in the Netherlands, RTL Nederland improved its scores by 8.6 per cent compared with the previous year, crossing the 5 million visi- tors mark for the first time. France - 1 July 2010 13 week 26 the RTL Group intranet

People Reorganisation at Groupe M6 France - 28 June 2010

While Marie Grau-Chevallereau joins Groupe M6 as Director of Regulatory Studies, Perrine Zecri has been appointed Commercial Director in charge of Sponsorships at M6 Publicité.

Marie Grau-Chevallereau has been working with Secretary General Karine Blouët since 21 June. She is responsible for preparing and handling legislative and regulatory cases, in relation with regulatory authorities and all public authorities. She also coordinates the Group’s relations with professional organisations and labour in the audiovisual sector.

A graduate of IEP Paris, Marie Grau-Chevaller- eau previously worked in programming at the France 2 and Canal+ channels and in various capacities monitoring free television at the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel [France’s audiovisual authority]. There she was responsi- ble for coordinating all cases relating to public television since 2008.

Former Assistant Director Perrine Zecri has been appointed Commercial Director in charge of Sponsorship at M6 Publicité. Since the departure of Annick Dezile, Stéphanie Malandra and Frédéric Lapierre have been appointed, respectively, Director of Scheduling for M6 and Director of Scheduling for W9 and Digital Channels.

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