24 May 2012

week 21

“Keep trying new things” For 20 years, the Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten cast have served as an extended on-screen family for viewers

The Netherlands France See Goede Tijden, slechte M6 Replay leads Tijden live the catch-up TV market

United States Croatia Phillip Phillips wins RTL 2 is the most popular American Idol second generation channel week 21 the RTL Group intranet

Cover: The cast of Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten celebrating 5,000 episodes

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The housemates on TV For its average daily viewership of four million people, Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten (Good Times, Bad Times) has become an integral fi xture of the early evening. Backstage takes a look back at 5,000 episodes spanning 20 years. Germany - 24 May 2012

Members of the current cast: Jörn Schlönvoigt, Sila Sahin, Raul Richter, Anne Menden, Janina Uhse, Felix von Jascheroff and Isabell Horn (from left to right)

When Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten launched and Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten became on 11 May 1992, German audiences had only an access prime-time TV institution, and has really known daily soaps from America and remained so to this day for almost four million Australia, while ‘telenovelas’ came from Mexico people. Guido Reinhardt, Chief Creative Offi cer or Brazil. RTL Television was the fi rst German and Producer at Grundy UFA, says: “The series channel to venture into producing its own daily has undergone an indescribable development: series. In fact, the original format and production at this point, every evening viewers get a highly methodology for Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten polished series that entertains an audience of was based on Australia’s The Restless Years millions, draws them in and gives them food for from Grundy, now FremantleMedia Australia. thought.” The critics didn’t pull their punches with Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten at fi rst, but the ‘new TV The series was initially produced at housemates’ gradually won over their audience. the Oberlandstudios in Berlin-Tempelhof, but later moved to the Potsdam-Babelsberg studio “No one would have expected at the complex, where a team of six writers develop beginning that this series would be such stories for each new block of fi ve 24-minute along-lived success,” says Tom Sänger, episodes. A team of about 150 work to produce Head of Entertainment, Show & Daytime at each episode. They tell captivating stories that RTL Television. “Neither the channel nor the are up-to-the-minute, tackle socially relevant production company. And certainly not the issues, make you think, make you smile – and critics.” But after a short time, its ratings soared keep entertaining viewers. 3 week 21 the RTL Group intranet

The stories are set in a fi ctional Berlin neighbourhood, which wasn’t named at the The star machine beginning of the series. “Among ourselves, we always called it Entenhausen (Duckville),” Yvonne Catterfeld’s television exposure on recalls producer Guido Reinhardt. “The more we the show launched her music career, and looked for ways to make the series truly unique, helped to make her single Für dich number the more we concluded that a specifi c location one on the German, Austrian and Swiss was required. After the Wall came down, a charts. Her fi rst album went Platinum, and wave of euphoria swept through Germany and she repeated this success with a subsequent Past and... Berlin, and the divided humdrum city turned into a single and album, while still appearing in metropolis to match the likes of London, Paris, movies and television. In 2004 she won an New York and Sydney.” As a result, the city ‘Echo Award’ for Best Female Artist National increasingly came to the fore of the popular Rock/Pop. She has played in movies and TV series. productions such as Keinohrhasen, Vulkan and Zweiohrküken. In an interview, Catterfeld Tom Sänger: “As a daily series, Gute Zeiten, ...present told the German tabloid Bild: “The media don’t schlechte Zeiten is not only an important pillar really associate soaps with real performance, of RTL Television’s access prime time, but also an and many members of the audience also tend important model for the soap opera genre to think that anyone can do a soap. But the across the entire Group, underlining the truth is: you need enormous discipline. The channel’s programme continuity and quality.” time pressure is much greater than in fi lms, Its recipe for success? The series constantly because everything always has to be fi nished reinvents itself, with the producers and channel right away.” continually reviewing and questioning the format, to make it even better in the next step. Jeanette Biedermann played the role of Marie Balzer in Gute Zeiten, schlechte Christiane Ghosh, Head of Daily Series at Zeiten from 1999 to 2005. Music became RTL Television: “Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten Biedermann’s top priority after the show. She is courageous, always daring to try new things released an album and single which sold more both in terms of the issues it tackles as well as than 10 million copies, putting her among Past and... the way it is made. It refl ects modern life in big the highest-selling German singers of today. German cities.” Sänger adds: “The content of the She has won two ‘Echo Awards’, a ‘Golden series will also deal with various socially relevant Camera’ and a ‘Top of the Pops Award’. She issues in the next few years, forming the basis of has also since served as a judge on Stars auf the story development alongside the themes of Eis (Stars on Ice, in 2003 and 2006) and has love and friendship.” starred in various fi lms and dramas including ...present Anna und die Liebe in which she has played Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten has thrilled the main role of Anna Polauke since 2008. viewers for the past 20 years, and its 5,000 episodes have written German television history Alexandra Neldel’s acting career began with more than 2,000 hours of programming. No when she was discovered by a German series is so close to the viewer or has its fi nger casting agent at a polo event. She had been more on the pulse of the times. No series has working as a dental assistant, and went more daily viewers. In the week of 21 May to on to successfully audition for a role on 25 May, RTL Television is showing anniversary Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten in 1996. After Past and... episodes of Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten. leaving the series in 1999, Neldel appeared Several storylines approach their climax and in various German fi lms and TV movies a number of well-known bands at a festival including Lammbock, Samba in Mettmann organised in Berlin’s Kiez neighbourhood ensure and ‘Emmy’-winning Berlin, Berlin. Neldel a high celebrity factor. For instance, the German took on the leading role of Lisa Plenske in the band Silbermond will be unveiling its new single multi-award-winning Grundy UFA telenovela at the event. ...present Verliebt in Berlin, which aired on Sat 1. a role for which she won the ‘Rose d’Or’ for Best Actress in a Soap in 2006. She remains one of Germany’s favourite actresses.

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Members of the cast celebrating the 5,000 episode

Music events are a fi xture in the series’ Sänger, “In contrast to the more traditional history: noted bands regularly perform at the daily series in the US and Australia Gute Zeiten, ‘Mauerwerk’. “A vibrant nightlife and concerts schlechte Zeiten is made in a way that gives it are part of Berlin’s culture,” says Producer Marie a much more cinematic look. Our international Hölker. “If we want to tell a story about this colleagues are amazed at the high production city’s life, that is an essential part of it.” values of our access-primetime TV series, which The Mauerwerk stage has already seen are on a par with prime-time productions.” performances by such great stars as Nena und Unheilig – and the series itself has created stars as well: Yvonne Catterfeld and Alexandra Neldel took their fi rst steps as actresses on this daily series.

Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten has set new standards and now serves an international model as well. The companies that make up FremantleMedia, RTL Group’s international production arm, are constantly exchanging ideas about successful strategies. For instance, the colleagues at FremantleMedia Australia consulted with the production company Grundy UFA for the production of Neighbours. They organised a benchmarking exercise of Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten against Neighbours – which was on air for more than 25 years at that time – in order to understand whether the production methodology could be improved. Both teams looked at the entire production process line by line, considering key factors such as budget, scheduling and the facilities being used. Stefanie Kloß (Silbermond) performing at the “Mauer Flower” festival in the 5,000th episode 5 week 21 the RTL Group intranet

Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten: Facts & Figures

In 2011 an average 3.79 million viewers a day watched the goings-on at Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten. The series achieved a strong market share of 22.8 per cent among younger viewers (14 to 49 age group), and 19.9 per cent in the 20 to 59 age group.

The GZSZ costume collection is comprised of 30,000 items, including 500 pairs of shoes alone, 400 of which are women’s. 120 pairs of jeans, 400 belts, 140 coats and 780 T-shirts are also available for the actors. The series character Jo Gerner currently has 35 different suits hanging in the wardrobe. In total there are 650 pieces of jewellery: earrings, necklaces, bracelets and watches. Three costume attendants and a costume designer with two assistants make sure the cast can perform in style.

There are always at least two cameras in operation on the studio set, which is lit by 450 lights. In the 2 studios measuring just under 2,000 m2 there are no fewer than 30 permanent and 13 temporary items of scenery – including 71 doors, 98 chairs, 68 windows, 12 sofas, 12 beds, 17 bar stools, 7 kitchens, 16 desks, and more than 500 fake and custom-made products in use. Each day, the production manager makes more than 50 announcements and calls on the intercom loudspeakers that are scattered throughout the studio complex, to make-up, wardrobe and costume. On top of this 150 times a day you hear: “Action! Quiet please!” At concerts on the ‘Mauerwerk’ set there is always an “audience” of 120 or more extras.

In 5,000 episodes there were 2,500 outside shooting days at 2,000 locations. On average 40 people are on the set at any given time. The most distant location to date was Cape Town. Another elaborate outdoor shoot took place on an ICE train that travelled round and round Berlin for hours with the crew onboard. The clapperboard fi rst fell at the original Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten outdoor set at Filmpark Babelsberg on 18 August 2006 at 12:05, with lots of participation from an audience of political and business fi gures, and in the presence of Anke Schäferkordt, CEO of RTL Television. The Prime Minister of Brandenburg Matthias Platzeck made a guest appearance in one scene and said: “And action!” The sets for Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten are individually 500,000 visitors have visited the outdoor set to date, travelling from as built by props department craftsmen like Oliver Rolfes far away as Brisbane, Australia. Along the street on the outdoor set are 13 houses, seven street lights, various road signs, 6 house entrances (connected to the studio set), and lots of real trees.

Each year the make-up department uses an average 15,000 cotton swabs, 250 hair bands, 25 kg of fl our for use as dust, 250 packs Kleenex, 1 litre of fake blood, 1,650 hairpins, 12,000 baby wipes, 150 tubes of lip balm, 6 litres of nail polish, 10 litres of nail polish remover, and 1,200 continuity photos for later scenes.

The receptionist wakes the actors a total of 100 times a year – one of her jobs is not to let anyone oversleep. More than 25,000 fan letters are received per year, of which 87 per cent are now emails (in the year 2000: 11 per cent). In 2011 45,000 autograph cards were sent out.

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See Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden live Due to huge demand from fans, RTL 4 and Endemol have decided to continue the GTST Live event this year. Tickets for the event in August are on sale now. The Netherlands - 23 May 2012

The cast of Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden

On Saturday 25 August, the Vredenburg Theatre in Utrecht opens its doors once again to give thousands of fans the ultimate Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden (Good Times, Bad Times – GTST) experience – with the entire cast of the popular daily series appearing live.

The show begins with a review of the last episode before the summer break. Fans then get an exclusive preview of the very fi rst episode Get your ticket at of the new season, which will be broadcast on RTLTickets.nl RTL 4 on 3 September. Afterwards, fans have an opportunity to meet the cast from GTST in the fl esh. The event’s host Peter van der Vorst welcomes the cast on stage and discusses the series with them and the fans for two hours.

Tickets for the show are on sale now at RTLTickets.nl and GTST.nl. 7 week 21 the RTL Group intranet

Phillip Phillips is the new American Idol The 11th season of American Idol came to a sensational conclusion as Phillip Phillips was crowned the winner during the live two-hour season fi nale on Fox. Phillips from Leesburg, GA received the majority of the 132 million votes – the highest number in the show’s history. North America - 24 May 2012

Phillip Phillips, 11th winner of American Idol

Phillips capped his coronation on Phillips is the eleventh fi nalist to win the Wednesday’s fi nale by singing Home, which coveted American Idol title and a record is available for download exclusively on contract with 19 Recordings. He joins past AmericanIdol.com and I-Tunes. The broadcast winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, from the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Angeles featured performances by the Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, reunited Top 12 fi nalists, as well as music Lee DeWyze and Scotty McCreery. superstars Aerosmith, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Neil Diamond and Chaka Khan. Also, in a American Idol is produced by FremantleMedia series of special duets, John Fogerty joined North America and 19 Entertainment, Phillip Phillips; Jennifer Holliday sang with a division of CKX. The series is created Jessica Sanchez; Season Three winner and executive-produced by Simon Fuller, CEO, Fantasia performed with Joshua Ledet; Season XIX Entertainment, and executive-produced by Six winner Jordin Sparks accompanied Hollie Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO FremantleMedia North Cavanagh; and Reba McEntire paired up with America. For more information on the show and Skylar Laine. auditions for Season 12, see AmericanIdol.com

On Tuesday night’s fi nal performance show, Phillips and Sanchez each sang three songs. Phillips performed Stand By Me, Movin’ Out and Home; and Sanchez sang I Have Nothing, The Prayer and Change Nothing. Also, Jason Derulo performed Undefeated and Season 10 winner Scotty McCreery returned to Idol to sing Please Remember Me.

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The Physician moves to production stage Shooting will soon begin on the screen adaptation of Noah Gordon’s bestseller The Physician, directed by Philipp Stölzl. Oscar winner Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler’s List) has been recruited to play Ibn Sina, the ‘greatest physician of all time’. Germany - 22 May 2012

In Germany alone, Der Medicus, the German edition of the international bestseller The Physician, sold more than six million copies. The book, a highly up-to-date plea for peaceful coexistence and religious tolerance, will serve as the template for an emotional and visually stunning movie. Jan Berger, a screenwriter for top-quality cinema, has taken on the adaptation of the novel; Hagen Bogdanski (The Lives Of Others) will be in charge of the camerawork.

UFA Cinema Managing Director Wolf Bauer, Producer of the fi lm, says: “The Physician is one of the last as yet un-fi lmed mega-sellers of our time. I am delighted about this strong international cast and am convinced that Philipp Stölzl and his wonderful team will create a fi lm that is in no way inferior to the gripping and monumental novel.”

The Physician tells the story of Rob Cole, an orphan who leaves 11th-century England to travel to Isfahan, Persia, to study medicine with Ibn Sina, “the greatest physician of them all.” Along the way, Rob encounters countless dangers and challenges, is forced to make sacrifi ces and advance unconditionally on his chosen path. In the end, his tireless quest for knowledge is rewarded with friendship and true love. Cover of Noah Gordon’s novel The Pysician

English actor Tom Payne plays the young and Nico Hofmann are the fi lm’s Producers, physician Rob Cole, while Ben Kingsley is with Sebastian Werninger acting as Executive cast as the great physician Ibn Sina. Stellan Producer, and Ulrich Schwarz as Creative Skarsgård (Marvel’s The Avengers, The Girl With Producer. The movie is supported by Filmstiftung The Dragon Tattoo) plays the barber, Rob’s fi rst NRW, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, mentor, and Olivier Martinez (Untreu, SWAT) Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the plays Shah Ala ad-Daula. Elyas M’Barek Filmförderungsanstalt and Deutscher (Türkisch für Anfänger) joins the cast as Karim. Filmförderfonds. Shooting begins in mid-June The Physician is a UFA Cinema co-production 2012 and will take place in Morocco and with ARD Degeto and Beta Cinema. Wolf Bauer Germany.

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M6 Replay leads the catch-up TV market Médiamétrie recently published Global Catch-Up, its new baseline study on the use of catch-up TV services in France. The fi ndings show that M6 leads the market in time-shifted TV viewing. France - 18 May 2012

M6 Replay confi rms its leading position on TV screens. With 180,400 daily users the service is number one in the total audience, which corresponds to a 24 per cent market share among users of catch-up TV (741,300 people). M6 Replay has a similarly high market share (23.4 per cent) of the total number of videos watched. Moreover, M6 Replay is in second place in the total daily audience with an average 20.9 per cent market share. The service also recorded the longest viewing times per viewer among the traditional channels’ services – an average 76 minutes a day.

Since the beginning of 2012, Groupe M6 video offerings (especially M6 Replay and W9 Replay), which are now watched on eight million TV screens and more than three million mobiles and tablets via the M6 app for the I-Phone and I-Pad, generated more than 200 million video views across all screens, 65 per cent of them on TV, mobile and tablets.

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His ‘n’ her websites RTL.be recently launched two new website focusing on women and men, called ‘Pour elle’ (For her) and ‘Pour lui’ (For him). Belgium - 21 May 2012

Screenshot ‘Pour lui’

“This launch is part of the strategy originally In the broadest sense of the word RTL.be developed for the RTL.be website, centred on combines information from RTL Info, RTL Sport, breaking news and areas where there was a lack RTL People and RTL Loisirs. Since its launch in of magazine content because it needed to be 2011 RTL.be has become a fi xture in Belgium’s handled in a different way,” says Jean-Jacques French-speaking community. Deleeuw, Director of RTL Newmedia, in a interview with the daily newspaper Libre Belgique. “We can do this now with ‘Pour elle’ and ‘Pour lui’.”

Articles, expert advice and more than 5,000 videos will illustrate such varied topics as cooking, fi tness, psychology, fashion, beauty and home décor, with one goal: to bring a fresh perspective to topics of interest to the two sexes, as Deleeuw explains: “We are going to put identical content on the two sites but treat it from a male or female point of view to overcome the prejudice that says cars are for men and beauty for women. You will fi nd content from Plug RTL or Club RTL that has recently undergone a similar thematic treatment.” Plug RTL is positioned for women and Club RTL aim at male audience. Jean-Jacques Deleeuw 11 week 21 the RTL Group intranet

Croatia’s most watched second generation channel With an average audience share of 4.5 per cent in the fi rst four months of 2012, RTL 2 confi rmed its position as most watched second-generation channel in Croatia in the target group of viewers aged 18 to 49. Modern Family Croatia - 21 May 2012

RTL 2 was launched in January 2011, as a pure entertainment channel and was therefore categorized as a “specialised channel” by the Croatian television regulator. The channel runs a stripped prime time schedule from Mondays to Fridays, consisting of double episodes of comedy classics like Malcolm in the middle, King of Queens, Two and a Half Men, as well as current hits like Modern Family and Big Bang Theory. The evening is rounded out by Croatia’s only daily late-night talk show, Studio 45.

This mix has proven very successful so far and RTL 2 continues to grow. In the fi rst four months of 2012, RTL 2’s average prime time audience share in its target group of viewers aged 18 to 49 has grown to 4.5 per cent (compared to 3.7 per cent in the same period 2011), well ahead of competitor Doma with 3.5 per cent, as well as other national channels of the second generation. In all-day ratings, RTL 2 also remains the most watched channel with 4.5 per cent.

RTL 2 has the youngest audience of all channels – with regular viewers aged 33 years old on average. Of the 15 most watched formats broadcast on RTL 2 and Doma in the fi rst four months of 2012, ten formats were broadcast on RTL 2.

So-called “mirror breaks” offered to advertisers on RTL 2 proved to be an excellent move: in the time from 16:00 to 23:00 advertising breaks on RTL Televizija and RTL 2 are synchronised, offering advertisers more visibility and the chance to increase the reach of their campaign. 12 Theme Day: Planet Earth On Whit Monday N-TV’s programme line-up will be devoted entirely to Planet Earth. From 7:10, the news channel will air a variety of documentaries about humankind’s home planet, including detailed insights into the world of space travel in the two-hour documentary ‘The Space Shuttle’s Last Flight.’ week 21 the RTL Group intranet

The most popular Spanish medium on Facebook A survey by LaInformacion.com indicates that with more than 535,000 Facebook fans, Antena 3 is the most popular medium on the social network in Spain. Spain - 18 May 2012

UFA Sports founds hospitality unit To facilitate its exclusive marketing of the offi cial hospitality programme for the Fifa Football World Cup 2014 and the Confederations Cup 2013 in Brazil, UFA Sports has set up a separate hospitality unit at its Hamburg headquarters. Germany - 18 May 2012

Ludia signs agreement with Red Sprite Studios The Interactive entertainment company Ludia has announced its debut in publishing activities with the signing of a new publishing deal with Brisbane-based video game studio Red Sprite Studios. North America - 21 May 2012

One minute to win big Coming to M6 this summer: the international hit TV game show 60 secondes chrono (Minute To Win It). France - 21 May 2012

Distinct brand awareness According to the latest Observatoire 2012 CSA de notoriété des chaînes de complément poll, which measures the brand awareness of complementary channels, Groupe M6’s digital channels are the best known in France. France - 22 May 2012

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Great launch for Ludia’s Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? app Just days after launch, Ludia and One Three Media’s new Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? app has already broken into the US App Store’s overall top 5, as well as reaching the number one position for the I-Pad. North America - 22 May 2012

News from UFA Lab UFA Lab is teaming up with Kaasa Solution, Dusseldorf to bring its fi rst game to the Apple App Store: Master of Maya. Furthermore, on 21 May the Youtube Academy made its debut on the UFA Lab premises. Germany - 22 May 2012

Le 12h45 gets a new look Since 21 May 2012, M6’s mid-day news programme presented by Aïda Touihri has changed its formula to offer viewers more explanation and interactivity. France - 23 May 2012

Social network catches the travel bug Wer-kennt-wen.de has teamed up with Reise.de to serve up holiday-related deals and information from now on. Germany - 23 May 2012

Double up for The Xtra Factor Caroline Flack, one of Britain’s most sought-after TV presenters and Olly Murs, a double-platinum selling artist, will be back to host The Xtra Factor, the popular sister show to The X Factor. United Kingdom - 23 May 2012

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Harsh reality on access prime time Since 21 May the Dutch men’s TV channel RTL 7 has presented a new access prime-time line-up full of reality formats. The Netherlands - 24 May 2012

Catch-up Radio: RTL Radio maintains among the top According to the latest fi gures from Médiamétrie on podcast downloads in April, RTL Radio in France continues to confi rm healthy fi gures in digital formats. With almost one million more downloads as compared to April 2011, RTL Radio posts the biggest increase among radio stations over one year (plus 31 per cent). France - 24 May 2012

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