week 11 the RTL Group intranet

Newsletter

15 years of RTLII Jochen Starke celebrates the anniversary

France RTL Radio France at the heart of local elections United Kingdom Five secures new face of property and architecture Germany Success participation Formula 1 Live on the Internet The Netherlands New reality show: 71 Noord COVER: Mixture of RTLII programmes. week 11 the RTL Group intranet

RTL II celebrates its fifteenth anniversary On 6 March 1993 at 06:09 in the morning, RTL II went on air. Backstage spoke to RTL II CEO Jochen Starke fifteen years later. Jochen Starke Germany - 6 March 2008

The past 15 years have been formative, bold of 1995, the channel had a technical reach of and irreverent: Big Brother moved the nation 80.5 percent throughout Germany. The positive with its unsparing look at real, unadulterated response elicited at press screenings by RTL2’s life, and sparked many a discussion. Numerous own production Rohe Ostern (No Panic) anime series cast their spell on countless chil- prompted the comedy to first be released to dren, and the rise of famous names such as movie theatres in February 1996, before even- Verona Pooth is bound up with RTL II. 24 and tually being broadcast to TV screens on RTL2. Heroes are just two of many examples for unu- In March 1996 another RTL2 own production, sual TV series that the Munich-based TV chan- Der Sandmann (The Sandman), won the Adolf nel has brought to German living-room screen. Grimme Award in Gold. In January 1997, RTL2 aired the first edition of The Dome. Today, The “We will continue to seek out our own path in Dome is Europe’s biggest music show. In German television. Our aim: great and popular October, the film Die Maske (The Mask) drew programming,” says Jochen Starke. “15 years 4.49 million viewers, setting a new viewer aren't an eternity - but they were eventful years record for the channel. that we have reason to be proud of. We will continue to help shape the future of television In 1999, RTL2 became RTL II. The start of the with our programming and our employees.” series Stargate with 4.34 million viewers overall and 23.6 percent of the relevant target demo- The success of the first broadcast from graphic is still the most successful launch of a Luxembourg on 6 March, 1993 was attributable series in the channel’s history. In March 2000 to RTL 2’s then managing director and current RTL II made TV history with Big Brother, beco- RTL Group CEO Gerhard Zeiler and some 80 ming the first channel in Germany to establish employees. At 06:09, the channel broadcast its the “real life” format. When Verona Feldbusch first film, Ein reizender Fratz (Funny Face) star- moved into the Big Brother house, she pushed ring Walter Matthau, Julie Andrews and Tony RTL II’s viewer ratings to a new high: 7.03 mil- Curtis. The first Action News arrived in German lion people tuned in to watch. November mar- living rooms, with Nicola Sengelmann in the ked the debut of Popstars - Du bist mein studio as its editor. Over the course of the year, Traum! (Popstars - You Are My Dream), whose popular formats like Ruck Zuck, Bravo TV and 15 episodes showed Germany’s biggest music Exklusiv – Die Reportage made their debut. In audition for a girl-band, and the making of a 1994, RTL2 moved from Cologne to the Bavaria pop band from its very beginnings through to Film grounds in Munich. In December, the the first recording contract. In January 2001, broadcasting center also moved from Villa the No Angels became the first hit band spaw- Louvigny in Luxembourg to Munich. By the end ned by Popstars. Upon release, their first single

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Daylight in Your Eyes sold over 1 million CDs and stayed at number one in the charts for six weeks. In October 2002, the cornerstone was laid for RTL II’s new building on the Bavaria Film grounds in Grünwald by Munich.

In January 2003, RTL II was given a makeover. Its new design went on to win several international awards. In July, the channel airs the first episode of the docu-soap Frauentausch (Wife Swap). In January 2004, RTL II launches its own airtime marketing with El Cartel Media, a wholly owned subsidiary. In 2006, the No Angels feature Das Experiment – 30 Tage Moslem (The Experiment – 30 Days as a Muslim) won in which Miriam Pielhau presented the best of both the European and the German CIVIS TV what RTL II had had to offer during its first 15 Award in the entertainment genre. In years in existence. At the channel’s headquar- December, the 40th edition of The Dome went ters we also held a modest birthday party for on air. In July 2007, RTL II broadcast the spec- our staff. tacular, twelve-part series extravaganza Rom (Rome). The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Which events would you describe as parti- commended the lavish, USD 100 million-plus cular high points during your time at RTL II? series, writing: “Rom is one of the great TV RTL II is synonymous with great competence in experiments of our day, and we can count our- reality shows, science fiction and feature films. selves lucky that its success is bound to lend RTL II successfully staked its claim to viewers’ new impetus to quality television.” attention by broadcasting programmes like Big Brother, Popstars and Frauentausch. At the On Thursday, 6 March, RTL II celebrated its same time, RTL II has established a reputation 15th anniversary with the RTL II for screening top-class series like Rom or Geburtstagsshow – 15 Jahre einfach Spaß (RTL Heroes. Moreover, we’re also prepared to take II Birthday Show – 15 years of pure fun), which on socially relevant topics by airing program- presented the best, most spectacular and most mes like Das Experiment – 30 Tage Moslem bizarre footage from 15 years of broadcasting (The Experiment – Being a Moslem for 30 history. Backstage spoke to RTL II CEO Jochen Days), which was crowned with both European Starke about 15 years of television at RTL II. and German CIVIS media prizes in the Entertainment category. What does 15 years of RTL II mean to you? They’ve been eventful years, full of ups and downs. But one thing we are most definitely not is boring. For instance, we were the first channel to introduce reali- ty TV, docutainment, Bollywood or Japanese animation to Germany.

How did you celebrate RTL II’s fif- teenth anniversary? On air on our birthday special RTL II Geburtstagsshow – 15 Jahre einfach Spaß, marking 15 years of fun on RTL II,

Zlatko, participant of Big Brother season 1

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RTL II is often equated with trash TV. What’s What does RTL II have lined up for vie- your take on that? wers in the future? RTL II is now 15 years old and has definitely We’ll continue to go our own way in grown up a bit. How things are done can German TV. Our aim is to put together always be debated, as can taste-related issues. an exciting, successful programme Have a look at: Our annual surveys show that viewers certainly schedule. The innovative quiz format don’t associate RTL II with trash any more. But we launched in January, Die Wahrheit www.rtl2.de we also intend to remain the most innovative und nichts als die Wahrheit (The Truth TV channel, and that entails pushing back bar- and Nothing but the Truth) has been very riers. well received by viewers and will be conti- nued this year. Personally, I’m looking forward RTL II established its reputation among vie- to top series like Dexter and Californication. In wers by airing formats like Big Brother. fact RTL II has a fair few surprises up its slee- What is RTL II’s recipe for success? ve, so you might as well sit back and enjoy I think it’s important to keep your nose ahead, them! to be a bit cheekier and bolder than others. That is RTL II’s recipe for suc- cess. With Big Brother, the mother of all RTL II Shareholder Structure reality shows, we really kicked down a big door for other channels. Big Brother Burda GmbH has been a very successful programme 1.10% for years, and has been much copied as Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG RTL GROUP S.A. 31.50% 35.90% a result.

Tele München Fernseh GmbH & Co. Medienbeteiligung KG 31.50%

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RTL Radio France at the heart of local elections RTL Radio France was France’s favourite station for coverage of the general and presidential elections, and is now aiming to be the top radio station for local election coverage. France - 6 March 2008

France’s number one radio station has really pul- employment and security. His reports were led out all the stops this time round. First of all, broadcast as part of the news programmes at RTL did a tour of the country for its programme 7:00 and 18:00. Le tour de France RTL des municipales 2008, organising a day of debates and reports high- Finally, on Sunday 9 March and Sunday 16 lighting burning issues in ten cities (Lille, Nice, March, from 19:00 to 23:00, Hervé Béroud, Head Marseille, Nantes, Strasbourg, Paris, Bordeaux, of the RTL Radio editorial team, supported by Toulouse, Lyon and Nancy). A final debate bet- the station’s editorial writers, presented and will ween the mayoral candidates was organised for present two special programmes dedicated to the end of each day (between 19:15 and 20:00). the local election results. RTL Radio was on the ground in 25 municipalities broadcasting the first From Monday 3 to Friday 7 March, Olivier Geay, reactions from town halls. Politicians were given one of RTL Radio’s top reporters, was in the field the chance to share their first impressions with finding out about the current key concerns of the the nation live on air with RTL Radio. French: purchasing power, housing, transport,

New “TV Effectiveness Day” Website Six weeks before the congress is scheduled to begin, the organisers of ‘TV Effectiveness Day’ (TV-Wirkungstag) are merging the two esta- blished generic sites tv-wirkungstag.de and wirkstoff.tv. Germany - 7 March 2008

The TV airtime sales agents IP Deutschland, As part of the relaunch, the navigation check out SevenOne Media, ARD-Werbung Sales & was condensed to the site’s three www.wirkstoff.tv Services and ZDF Werbefernsehen will continue main focuses: ‘Facts’, ‘Research’ and to publish the new website at the familiar URL ‘TV Effectiveness Day’. The menu items www.wirkstoff.tv. This is also where people can familiar from the two previous generic initiate or confirm their registration for the 5th TV sites are contained in these sections. The Effectiveness Day, which takes place in Frankfurt ‘Case Study Finder’, which now contains on 17th April under the heading ‘Marken insze- around 70 case studies, will continue to be at the nieren – Menschen involvieren’ (Staging Brands heart of the platform. – Involving People). The Highlight Box is a new feature on www.wirkstoff.tv – one click takes users to prac- tical pointers for their first own TV commercial.

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Five secures new face of property and architecture Five has secured renowned architectural designer Charlie Luxton as its new face of property and architecture. Charlie Luxton, architectural designer United Kingdom - 10 March 2008

Charlie takes over from George Clarke to pre- Five’s Head of Features, Alex Menzies said: sent Build A New Life In The Country when it “We’re thrilled to have Charlie on Five. His pas- returns for a fourth series next year, and is sion for people, property and architecture is about to co-host a new nine-part series on the infectious and the warmth and authority of his channel, I Own Britain’s Best Home, which airs presenting style make him perfect for Five’s on 20 March at 20.00. As part of the newly existing output and the commissions we have revamped arts portfolio on Five, Charlie will lined up for 2008/2009.” also present Open House later in the year. This brand-new seven part series follows one of Property expert Charlie is best known for pre- London’s most prestigious architectural events, senting the ITV1 series, Homes and Property; Open House, which takes place in the capital BBC Two’s Restored to Glory; BBC Three’s every September, giving the public unprece- Bionic Buildings and Not All Houses Are dented access to some of the country’s most Square and Not all Bricks And Mortar for celebrated buildings. Channel 4. In 2000, he fronted the six-part series, Modern British Architects, for Five. Charlie Luxton said: “I’m thrilled to have been Charlie Luxton was born in Sydney, Australia given this opportunity to join the team at Five and has lived in England since 1983. He has an and am looking forward to helping the channel M.A. in Architecture from the Royal College of strengthen its already excellent reputation in Art and is currently designing and running a architecture and property programming. I’ve number of architectural projects in the UK and always been impressed by the quality and abroad. variety of Five’s programmes in this area, and I relish the challenge of bringing architecture and design to a new audience by making them accessible and entertaining. I am delighted to be embarking on a relationship with the chan- nel at a time when its future is so exciting.”

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Extra money in Germany Anke Schäferkordt, President of the Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, informs her employees that a success participation of EUR 10.8 Million will be distributed among the rightful claimants. Anke Schäferkordt Germany - 11 March 2008

“The strong performance by our TV channels Since 1992 RTL employees have shared in the has given us our largest ever lead over our profits earned by their company. Since that rivals”, Schäferkordt wrote in a letter, thanking time EUR 87 million has been paid out. her employees. That was the basis for the posi- tive development of business.

Read the whole letter (in German):

Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen,

vor wenigen Tagen haben wir Sie über die Ergebnisse der RTL Group informiert. 2007 war ein weiteres gutes Jahr für unser Mutterhaus.

Wir haben als Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland mit all unseren Unternehmen und Aktivitäten in den unterschiedlichsten Bereichen einen wesentlichen Anteil daran.

Die starke Leistung unserer Sender hat im Zuschauermarkt für den bisher größten Vorsprung vor unseren Wettbewerbern gesorgt und war damit Basis für die guten wirtschaftlichen Ergebnisse des letzten Jahres.

Ich möchte mich bei Ihnen für den Einsatz bedanken, mit dem Sie persönlich in Ihrem Bereich an unserem gemeinsamen Erfolg mitgearbeitet haben. Es ist gute Tradition bei uns, dass diejenigen, die Erfolge wie diese erst möglich machen, auch daran beteiligt werden. Ich freue mich, dass wir für das Jahr 2007 mit insgesamt 10,8 Millionen Euro die bisher höchs- te Erfolgsbeteiligung an alle berechtigten Kolleginnen und Kollegen der Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland auszahlen können.

In den nächsten Tagen gehen Ihnen Briefe zu, denen Sie bitte alle Details zu Ihrer persönli- chen Erfolgsbeteiligung entnehmen.

Ich freue mich darauf, diese Erfolgsgeschichte gemeinsam mit Ihnen fortzuschreiben.

Herzliche Grüße

Ihre Anke Schäferkordt.

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Name that French Dream Team M6, RTL Radio France and the free daily 20 Minutes are joining forces to compose the ideal French football team for Euro 2008, dubbed “Le Onze de Rêve”, or Dream Team. France - 12 March 2008

Between Thursday, 13 March and Thursday, 29 France), Pierre Koetschet (a sports journalist on May, listeners, viewers, readers and Web users 20 Minutes) and M6 journalist Pierre Ménès. will be able to vote for their ‘ideal’ 11-man line- up. Every Sunday on M6, the full 100% Foot team will assess the progress made in naming the Every Thursday between 20.00 and 21.00 star- optimal French line-up and launch the debate ting from 13 March, RTL Radio France will air about the position under scrutiny that particu- RTL Foot, the programme that no French foot- lar week. ball fan can afford to miss. The programme will start off by discussing the merits of a player for RTL Radio’s listeners, 20 Minutes’ readers and a specific position in the French team and TV viewers will be able to submit their votes on continue with a lively panel debate between any of the three media’s websites. Christian Ollivier (Head of Sport at RTL Radio

Formula 1 Live on the Internet As the 2008 season begins, RTL Television’s viewers can watch the Formula 1 world cup races live and for free on the Internet at rtl.de. This is a first in Germany. Germany - 13 March 2008

The live video-stream is an added service with convinced that it will help us to further enhance interactive features accompanying RTL our position as one of the leading entertain- Television’s TV broadcasts of Formula 1 events. ment and information sites on the German It further extends the video offering of RTL’s Web.” subsidiary RTL Interactive and brings the rtl.de website into even closer thematic proximity to F1 enthusiasts can share their thoughts and the channel RTL Television. comment on the race in a chat screen below the live images from the event. A ticker beneath Matthias Büchs, head of RTL Online and the live video screen also shows the latest pla- Mobile, said: “Apart from football, Formula 1 is cements and dropouts to keep users abreast of the most popular spectator sport on German developments. The new service premieres on television. We are delighted that we can now Saturday, 15 March, beginning at 3:45 with the offer fans premium motorsports live on the Qualifying race for the Grand Prix of Australia in Internet as an added service for fans. The new Melbourne. The race including the warm-up Formula 1 season live on rtl.de is another step follows on Sunday, 16 March starting at 4:15. in our strategy of interlinking our online offe- rings even more strongly with RTL content. I am

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To the North In the reality show 71 Noord, which RTL 5 will start airing on Thursday 13 March, five famous Netherlanders and five famous Flemings will begin a long, exhausting 2,500 kilometer trek to reach the North Cape. Ernst-Paul Hasselbach and Evi Hanssen The Netherlands - 13 March 2008

The group of adventurers, who will have to try and group achieving the assignment will win a special cope with extreme cold, exhaustion and of course comfort prize, such as a welcome hot meal or a each other, is extremely diverse. The Netherlands night of luxury accommodation. is being represented by the judo expert, presenter and DJ Dennis van der Geest, the several times At the same time, although the participants will world champion (kick)boxer and Hollywood film have to work together to reach their final objective, star Lucia Rijker, the artist, presenter, DJ and for- 71 Noord will also be an individual knock-out mer Olympic hockey star Margje Teeuwen, the sin- competition, for at the end of each stage, one par- ger and composer Xander de Buisonjé, and the ticipant will have to leave the group and go home. winner of Holland's Next Top Model 2007, Kim Feenstra. The Flemish contingent comprises In the ongoing individual competition to take the several times motocross world champion Stefan lead in the race, it will be a case of every man for Everts, Antwerp city councillor Maya Detiège, Miss himself (or woman for herself). The winner of each Belgian Beauty 2007 winner Anne-Marie Ilie, artist, phase will become the group leader for the follo- cartoonist and presenter Herr Seele and the archi- wing assignment and will also be allowed to des- tect Stijn Peeters, who also manages the career of ignate the leader of the other group. Another rule his brother, the Flemish singer, drummer, TV pre- is that the winner of the individual competition senter and actor Bart Peeters. cannot be voted off during the elimination round, so it’s absolutely certain that he or she will not Their journey will be divided up into nine adventu- have to go home (at that stage). rous stages, which the adventurers will cover on foot, on skis, by dog sleigh, on snow scooters or Finally, in the knock-out phase, the group will have in kayaks. At the start of each stage two groups to decide who is sent home and will therefore not will be composed and be given an assignment by make it to the North Cape. In this way, after a long the show’s presenters, Ernst-Paul Hasselbach and and arduous journey completed under harsh Evi Hanssen, that will test their orienteering skills, conditions, just two participants will reach the staying power and tactical awareness to the very North Cape to take part in the final assignment limit. Teamwork will play an essential role. The and see who is declared the winner of 71 Noord.

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Reinventing mobile entertainment M6 Mobile by Orange launches the first fixed-limit contract package including unlimited TV. France - 6 March 2008

Politicians in Paradise N-TV is running a new motif that picks up on current political events in Germany in its Schärfen Sie Ihren Blick (‘Sharpen Your View’) campaign. Germany - 7 March 2008

Seeking to extend on the Net Groupe M6 has entered exclusive negotiations in order to acquire 100 per cent of Cyréalis. France -10 March 2008

FremantleMedia Enterprises plays it cool FremantleMedia Enterprises announced that its Home Entertainment division has entered into a deal with digital entertainment download store Coolroom.com. United Kingdom - 10 March 2008

Jungle celebrities get roaring ratings 2.65 million viewers tuned in for Das Perfekte Promi Dinner (The Perfect Celebrity Dinner), for an excellent 8.0 percent share of total audience – well above the channel’s average. Germany - 11 March 2008

Datingdirect.com to sponsor Grey’s Anatomy on Five Five has secured the sponsorship of Datingdirect.com for the third series of the Golden Globe and SAG Award winning smash hit US hospital drama series Grey’s Anatomy. United Kingdom- 12 March 2008

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Mein Mörder kommt zurück wins awards at Wiesbaden’s FernsehKrimi Festival The Teamworx production Mein Mörder kommt zurück (My Murderer Will Be Back) won two awards at last Saturday’s “Deutscher Fernsehkrimi-Preis 2008” (German TV Thriller Awards 2008). Germany - 12 March 2008

Unsere Erde is Germany’s most-watched Nature Documentary Last weekend, its fifth weekend in movie theatres, Unsere Erde (Earth) became the first nature documentary in Germany to pass the two million viewer mark. Germany - 12 March 2008

News Presenter Carola Ferstl Named a Young Global Leader The award pays tribute to Carola Ferstl’s efforts in the area of ‘Financial Education’, as the World Economic Forum announced on 11 March in Geneva. Germany - 13 March 2008

The extraordinary US series Californication is poised to make an impact on M6 Amoral, cynical and downright funny, Californication caused a furore in the USA in 2007. Tomorrow it will make its debut in France at 23:50 on M6. France - 13 March 2008

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