week 48 the RTL Group intranet

Newsletter RTL Group to expand in Russia New joint venture to enter the Russian satellite and cable TV market

France RTL Radio: The French passionate about politics is granted a new DTT Frequency for HD-TV A million euro for a good cause An excellent response to IP’s first Future Day

People Bruno Guillen, RTL Radio France Christian Granderath switches to Teamworx week 48 the RTL Group intranet

RTL Group to expand its TV activities in Russia Investment in a promising market: RTL Group enters the Russian satellite and cable TV market via the new joint venture Content Union. Luxembourg - 23 November 2007

Last week, RTL Group, the leading European bution because there are only few up-to-date entertainment network, announced that it had cable networks and Russian viewers don't tend signed an agreement with Continental Finance to subscribe to expensive pay-TV packages Group S.A. (CFG) to build up a joint venture for broadcast via digital satellite. Approximately 78 the production, operation and distribution of per cent of all TV households in Russia only thematic, non-terrestrial TV channels in Russia have analogue terrestrial TV reception. In 2006, and the Commonwealth of Independent States nationwide terrestrial TV channels commanded (CIS). In 2005, RTL Group already acquired a 30 a combined audience share of 72.0 per cent in per cent shareholding in the terrestrial TV net- the target group of 6 to 54-year-old viewers. work Ren TV, which will continue to operate independently from the newly created joint ven- However, the audiences and advertising market ture. shares of non-terrestrial channels are very like- ly to increase in the future. Over the last two Under the agreement, RTL Group will purchase years, many companies have invested in the 50 per cent of the shares of Content Union S.A. fragmented Russian cable market and announ- (CUSA) to which CFG has already contributed ced plans to upgrade the country's cable net- its four own produced Russian thematic chan- works and offer high-quality pay-TV and broad- nels, namely Russkiy Illusion (Russian movies), band internet services. Illusion Plus (international classic movies), Detskiy (a children's channel) and Zoo Park (an In addition, TNS, the company gauging the animal channel). These channels are also distri- audiences of terrestrial channels in Russia, buted in the cable networks of Ukraine, launched a system for measuring the populari- Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Georgia. In ty and reach of non-terrestrial channels during addition, the joint venture will act as a distribu- the first half of 2007. Since the cable channels tion agent for third-party channels. – which currently carry little advertising – now have a tool to measure their performance in the The deal will see RTL Group enter the nascent ratings, they can be expected to screen more Russian satellite and cable TV market, streng- ads in the future. Accordingly, the two leading thening its presence in one of the fastest gro- Russian sales houses – Video International and wing advertising markets. Over the first six NTV Media – intend to sell non-terrestrial tele- months of 2007, the net TV advertising market vision channels to advertisers. grew by an estimated 27 per cent, having pre- viously expanded by 28 per cent in 2006.

Today, the Russian broadcasting landscape still heavily relies on analogue terrestrial TV distri-

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RTL Group's joint venture partner CFG is a capacity for TV broadcasting on the northern Luxembourg-based company, operating in the beam of the ABS1 (LM1) satellite, which ranks Russian Federation and the CIS through seve- third in terms of the number of cable channels ral subsidiaries. Apart from the new joint ventu- carried in Russia. The company also provides re with RTL Group, CFG operates 16 digital B2B broadband internet access in Russia. satellite transponders including the whole

Programmes of Detskiy...... aimed at young viewers.

Movies, children's programmes and everything about animals

The four Russian-language channels produced by Content Union address a wide range of audien- ces, from music and cinema lovers to parents, children and amateur zoologists.

Russkiy Illusion is a channel screening classic Russian films. Content Union explains: “We show the films we grew up with, which we want our children to see, for educational purposes”.

Illusion Plus screens classic foreign films that have impressed more than one generation of viewers. “Films you have all heard of, but never mana- ged to see for whatever reason, e.g. the Soviet authorities did not show them or they were screened only in a very heavily censored form.”

Detskiy is aimed at families with young viewers aged between 3 and 16. Today, it is watched not only in various regions of Russia, but also in Kazakhstan, Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine. The channel airs children's feature films, cartoons and series, informative and entertaining program- mes. “Our channel teaches kids how to spend their time enjoyably and beneficially, stretches their creative abilities or inspires new ones, and familiarises them with the creative work done by their peers.”

Zoo Park is the first Russian TV channel devoted to pets and domestic animals, targeting the whole family. The programme schedule includes foreign documentaries and series about pets, aquatic creatures and wild animals, entertaining amateur films, and advice from professional animal tamers, trainers and zoopsychologists.

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The French passionate about politics Acclaim for Jean-Michel Apathie on RTL Radio France and a keen interest among listeners in political debate. Jean-Michel Apathie France - 26 November 2007

The latest survey by Médiamétrie published on 15 November reaffirms the success of Jean- Michel Apathie as a top political journalist. It also highlights the keen interest among the French in politics as covered by RTL.

Listeners can tune in to hear Jean-Michel Apathie twice a week: during his weekday slot between 7.50 and 8.00 he puts a guest asso- ciated with a hot topic of the moment through his or her paces. This morning show is the highest-rating in France attracting some 1,853,000 listeners each day and previous guests included Nicolas Sarkozy, Ségolène Royal and many other politicians. Jean-Michel also welcomes other, non-political, guests such as big bosses like Bernard Arnault (LVMH). In many cases, such personalities – many of whom generally keep a low profile – will refuse to be interviewed unless for RTL and only by Jean-Michel Apathie.

On Sundays, between 18.30 and 19.30, the political journalist hosts Grand Jury RTL along- side colleagues from Le Figaro and the French channel LCI. He recently invited Bernard Thibault, the leader of France's largest trade union and the man behind the strikes that have crippled the country during the two past weeks, and Rachida Dati, the French Minister for Justice faced with simmering discontent among magistrates opposed to her reform of the judiciary. Grand Jury RTL regularly attracts some 474,000 listeners and its ratings have risen 60 per cent in one year alone.

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A million euro for a good cause The 15th celebrity edition of Wer wird Millionär? on RTL Television provided yet another top quiz, proving a real hit and above all netting a huge profit for children in need. Anke Engelke Germany - 26 November 2007

Star contestants won a total of EUR 721,000 The high point of the evening was undoubtedly for good causes in the latest celebrity edition of comedienne and actress Anke Engelke who the quiz show hosted by Günther Jauch. played a risky game, reaching the one-million- However, that wasn't enough because the spe- euro question where she gambled with EUR cial edition was after all aired as part of this 500,000. The multi-talented star had already year's RTL fundraising event. RTL Television won EUR 500,000 for the RTL fundraising event quickly added a further EUR 279,000 bringing last year and was under pressure to succeed the total donated to the Stiftung RTL - Wir hel- again this year. She played gracefully right up fen Kindern e.V. foundation up to EUR 1 million. to the one-million-euro question: “What did Like all other donations made during the RTL Belgian Luc Luycx create?” A: The Oscar fundraising event, the prize money will go Statuette, B: The Smurfs, C: The euro coins, D: directly to help children in need across the The Atomium (correct answer C). Anke Engelke world. decided to use her final lifeline to ask the audience. For the first time ever, the one-mil- 9.57 million viewers tuned in as four contes- lion-euro question was put to the audience. tants entered the race for a good cause. The The studio audience voted as follows: A: 26 per show achieved an excellent market share for cent, B: 40 per cent, C: 19 per cent, D:15 per the total audience of 32.7 per cent. Comedian cent. Anke Engelke followed her instincts and Kaya Yanar was the first contestant out and said “I think I'd like to stop here, EUR 500,000 won EUR 32,000. TV journalist Frank Plasberg is already something for the children and I to (Hart aber fair, ARD) netted EUR 64,000 and celebrate.” RTL restaurant critic Christian Rach won EUR 125,000.

RTL Spendemarathon 2007

24.5 hours on air, two Guiness world records broken and the generous support of countless donors – that’s what was going on at RTL-Spendenmarathon 2007. At the end, the 'donations thermometer' indicated that the fabulous total of EUR 5.485 million had been raised. That perfor- mance smashed last year's record by EUR 330,000 and means that the overall sum donated during the 12 years of the fundrai- Anke Engelke, Christian Rach, Günther Jauch, Frank Plasberg and Kaya Yanar sing event is now EUR 63.5 million.

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RTL II supports the German Aids Foundation 1 December is World Aids Day. RTL II will be doing its bit by incorporating the red ribbon into its schedule throughout the day and will be appealing for donations to the German Aids Foundation. Germany - 29 November 2007

World Aids Day aims to highlight the importan- people in Germany with Aids and those who ce of information, protection and solidarity are HIV positive as well as helping to fund care since despite all the research that has been and education for Aids orphans in Namibia. carried out to date there is still no cure for Aids. And despite all the information available the Jochen Starke, CEO of RTL II, said: “It is a fact number of new infections is continuing to rise in that more and more people in Germany are Germany too. becoming infected with the Aids virus and this has to do with the fact that Aids is still not being Last year, too, RTL II displayed the red ribbon, given a high enough profile. Millions of people which is the visible symbol of solidarity and the watch RTL II every day. We want to use this to fight against the disease, throughout its sche- raise people's awareness of the issue and as dule on World Aids Day and took every oppor- such we are supporting the German Aids tunity to raise public awareness. With the sup- Foundation.” port of the German Aids Foundation, in 2007 RTL II is taking its commitment to stamping out the disease even fur- ther by including an appeal for dona- tions. Anyone calling the donation hotline will be able to immediately contribute EUR 5 to the German Aids Foundation. Donations will be used by the Foundation to offer support to

Jochen Starke, CEO of RTLII 6 week 48 the RTL Group intranet

An excellent response to the first Future Day in Frankfurt IP Deutschland: Information and impact studies on the advertising platforms of the future Germany - 23 November 2007

The very first “Future Day”, held on 22 Day shows us that we chose the right approach November in Frankfurt has elicited an excellent when adopting our concept. The many practi- response. More than 350 participants had cal examples given and associated impact stu- signed up to attend the event staged by multi- dies have enabled us to close a gap in the mar- media marketing specialist IP Deutschland to ket. The feedback we've received from our cus- find out about new advertising platforms and tomers reinforces our firm belief that we've actually see them in action. succeeded in creating a new fixture in the media calendar”. Presentations in the ‘Showroom’, covering the communication environments that are people's After the keynote speech by Johannes Züll living rooms and children's bedrooms, not only (RTL Interactive), entitled “Platform Develop- included the aforementioned platforms presen- ment – From Free TV to an Integrated ted in a series of talks, but also some very pro- Multimedia Provider” the presentations began mising, entirely new and innovative platforms. The range of topics covered by the talks extended from general information on the use of digital media to the new TV generation (e.g. N- TV plus) and innovative Internet platforms like video on demand. The programme was rounded off by a module entitled Mobile Marketing and a visionary presentation on Media 3.0.

IP Deutschland CEO Martin Krapf said: “We're more than happy with the participants' response. The success of our Future Jan Isenbart, Head of Media Research and Services IP Deutschland 7 week 48 the RTL Group intranet

with the first module on media use, which all channels is possible. Gunther Wanner focussed on answering the question “Media (Ehrmann) and Thorsten Stork (Mediaedge:cia) Use – Radical Change or a Generation Issue?”. then outlined the implementation and presen- Drawing on the results of an exclusive study, ted the results of the first, successful VOD Hartmut Scheffler (from TNS Infratest) and campaign conducted by Ehrmann for Christian Franzen (Mindshare) spoke about the RTLnow.de, which had a major impact, achie- consequences of the switch from analogue to ving an impressive ad recall rate of 81 per cent. digital for the media, viewers and advertising, and also gave an overview of the present sce- The fourth and final module was dedicated to nario and likely future situation in Germany. Mobile Marketing. Lars-Eric Mann (IP Deutschland) presented the results of the inte- Other contributions by researchers covered grated Sony Ericsson campaign. Sony Ericsson aspects of the theme “TV 3.0 – Television How not only occupied podcasts and online and TV I Want it!”, including topics such as the status platforms, but also – for the first time ever – of digital special-interest channels in Germany RTL's mobile Internet. This module ended with and the idea and impact of the first interactive a presentation of the results of a study conduc- TV channel – N-TV plus. Dr Klaus Holtmann ted by Gerhard Graf (Media Research) on (RTL Television/Passion GmbH) gave a presen- behalf of IP Deutschland, Mindshare, O2 and tation on digital Germany, summed up the pro- NBC Universal that entailed asking Delphi visional results of Mediengruppe RTL experts about mobile TV. Experts spoke about Deutschland's digital channels aimed at speci- the forms of services and income models and fic target audiences, and gave an overview of then gave their idea of how the market might the prospects in coming months. Dr Julian look in 2011 and 2016. Weiss (N-TV) and Dirk Ziems (IFM Wirkungen+Strategien) took the opportunity The Future Day programme ended with a voya- offered by the Future Day event to present ge into the future with Nils Müller (Prodiction), N-TV plus and unveil the exclusive results of taking the participants on a journey to the next usability tests involving N-TV plus and explain level of medial evolution: Media 3.0. His visio- how the channel's first advertising customer – nary presentation showed vividly how the Nissan – was benefiting from the solid and Internet, TV and Gaming are all merging into classy image associated with it. MeTV.

In the third module, entitled “Net worlds – Connecting Directly to Target Groups”, Oliver Gertz (Beyond Interactive) reported on the influence of Web 2.0 and viral marketing on brand management, highlighted the opportu- nities it is opening up and explained how rigorous brand communication via

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Groupe M6 is granted a new DTT Frequency for HD-TV Thanks to a ruling by France’s broadcast authority CSA (Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel), the RTL Group channel M6 can now move ahead with its ambitious, groundbreaking plans for High-Definition Television (HD-TV). France - 23 November 2007

The CSA has just granted Groupe M6 a new HD ling of programmes for the hearing-impaired, frequency in France’s DTT network where TV Internet television, and personalized mobile TV channels are transmitted digitally but can be to cell phones. received free to aerial and decoded using an adapter. The group already has three channels The group launched its HD offensive in on the DTT network (M6, W9, Paris Première). September 2006, and ratcheted it up a notch this summer. Since the end of June, it has M6 reports that the new HD digital channel is broadcast 15 TV hours a week in HD standard, scheduled to start broadcasting in June 2008. seven of them during primetime. This increased The plan is to use the new channel to bring its the average daily HD broadcast time to two most popular productions e.g. Nouvelle Star, hours. The aim is to broadcast an average of Kaamelott, , NCIS and Les Bleus to three HD hours in daily primetime by the end of a broad public in the HD format, along with the year, the equivalent of 260 hours a year. By some of the matches in the 2008 European foot- 2008, the number is to grow to 500 hours. All ball championships. M6 sees the French broad- technical requirements for the new era in televi- cast authority’s decision as both confirmation sion are already in place at M6. The infrastructu- and recognition of the channel’s efforts to syste- re for sound and image already allows for 100 matically use the opportunities of new technolo- percent of fictional programming to be produced gies for the benefit of its viewers. Apart from the and/or bought in HD quality. M6’s HD formats DTT activities, this includes broad-scale subtit- are broadcast via cable, ADSL and satellite.

The best weather forecasts for the According to the consumer programme Kassa of the public broadcasting organization Vara, the weather reports provided by RTL on TV and on the RTL Nederland website are the most reliable forecasts in the Netherlands. The Netherlands - 23 November 2007

Over a fairly long period, Kassa kept track of the RTL, NOS, SBS, weeronline.nl and weer.nl all weather forecasts made by RTL Nederland, the produce their own weather reports, rather than Dutch public broadcaster NOS, SBS, weeronli- being supplied with ready-made forecasts. ne.nl and weer.nl. Both long- and short-term Naturally, all forecasts are based to some extent forecasts for the central Netherlands were noted on the same weather information and on the down and then compared with the actual situa- models used by various official weather stations, tion one or more days later. Only the presented such as the Royal Dutch Meteorological weather report was taken into consideration. Institute, Meteo Consult, Weather News International or the World Meteorological RTL Nederland invariably achieved the highest Organisation. But the weather channels and score in both categories and can therefore des- websites then process and interpret the data cribe itself as the channel providing the most entirely by themselves, drawing on their know- reliable weather forecast. ledge and experience. 9 week 48 the RTL Group intranet

The story of a legend of Paris in the 1920s lands a prestigious award from RTL Radio On Tuesday morning the leading French radio station announced the winner of its 2007 RTL Grand Prize for Best Comic Book to Kiki de Montparnasse (Kiki from Montparnasse) published by Casterman, drawn by the female artist Catel and penned by Bocquet. France - 28 November 2007

As Backstage already revealed on 15 instrument. Something that started out as November, it was gearing up for the 2007 nothing more than a provocative Surrealist Grand Prize for Best Comic Book, with the win- image went on to become emblematic of its ner to be decided by a jury including RTL age and indeed of an entire artistic movement, Director of Information Jacques Esnous, as well as supposedly being the most widely Monique Younes (a comic book connoisseur on sold postcard in the world. RTL's editorial staff) and four booksellers. Kiki de Montparnasse transports its readers The jury's choice fell on Kiki de Montparnasse, into the libertine artistic milieu of 1920s Paris, a comic book biography of Kiki, a star of the with all its jealousies and bed-hopping, not to bohemian Parisian quarter of Montparnasse in mention the fracas within the Dadaist move- the 1920s, when photographs of her were all ment. over Paris, though the public knew little about her. Who hasn't seen the world-famous photograph by Man Ray entitled Ingres' violin, which features on the cover of the book? Well, that unfor- gettable nude image shows Kiki, viewed from behind, baring a back on which the artist had drawn the sound holes of a violin, thus transforming his muse into a musical

Jean-Louis Bocquet, Monique Younès, Marcel Gotlib, president of the jury, and Catel Muller.

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See Belgium's most beautiful women on RTL-TVI On Saturday, 15 December, RTL-TVI will broadcast a programme that's always a big hit with Belgian viewers, namely this year's Miss Belgium beauty contest, Election de Miss Belgique 2008. Kelly Clarkson Belgium - 27 November 2007

Among the target audience of viewers aged 4 gorgeous and all the girls are intent on making and over, last year's Miss Belgium contest the most of their charms by winning over the achieved an audience share of 24.9 per cent. judges with their grace and smile. Plenty of viewers were bowled over by the radiant beauty of 19-year-old Annelien To make the colourful beauty pageant even more Coorevits, who beat a bevy of other beauties to glamorous, Kelly Clarkson, the international star the title and donned the coveted tiara. discovered during American Idol, who has since sold over 15 million albums, will set viewers' This year's contest also looks like being a close- hearts racing by performing her smash hits run thing. All the candidates look simply Because of You and Never Again on the show.

Alizée Poulicek, Miss Liège Bo Tijkens, Miss Limbourg Lara Santamaria, Miss Namur 11 week 48 the RTL Group intranet

Victory in Wembley wows footballing nation RTL Televizija’s live broadcast of the Euro 2008 qualifier England vs. Croatia scored excellent ratings, as the Croatian national team drove the home team into the depths of despair. Croatia - 26 November 2007

By Toutatis! RTL Radio France has been selected by Pathé Distribution and production company La petite Reine to support the most highly anticipated movie release of 2008: Astérix aux Jeux Olympiques. France - 29 November 2007

New shows of Kocharena Get ready to cook! Starting on Sunday, 23 December, each month Vox will be broadcasting a new edition of its hit show. Germany - 27 November 2007

Australian Idol raised 178,000 Australian dollar in a charity extravaganza In the night of 25 November, the fifth season of Australian Idol ended with high TV ratings, digital achievements and thousands of Australian dollar raised for children in need. Australia - 28 November 2007

A murderer tracked down and fans’ loyalty ensured Up to 21.2 per cent of 14 to 49-year-old viewers tuned in to the thrilling TV hunt for the murderer of Lara Martensen as part of the Unter uns crime week. But real record ratings were achieved on the Internet, where the investigative work continued interactively. Germany - 28 November 2007

Big Brother is back The eighth season of will start on RTL II right at the beginning of 2008, on 7 January. 12 contestants will live together in the new Big Brother house in Cologne, constantly monitored by cameras. Germany - 28 November 2007 12 week 48 the RTL Group intranet

People Bruno Guillen appointed Executive Director of RTL Special Marketing and RTL Events

Bruno Guillen in France France - 23 November 2007

RTL Special Marketing and RTL Events are two Bruno Guillen, 29, has worked in various capa- subsidiaries responsible for the diversification cities within the M6 Group since 2001, first as business of RTL's French radio stations (RTL, product manager (from 2001 to 2005), then as RTL 2 and ). head of development and special marketing (since January 2006) at the Group's subsidiary RTL Special Marketing is now coordinating all M6 Interactions. brand and derived product licensing activities, whereas RTL Events is responsible for develo- Bruno Guillen will report to Jérôme Fouqueray, ping production, co-producing shows, and sta- general manager of RTL 2 and Fun Radio who ging music tours and cultural events. is also coordinating the development of these new activities.

People Christian Granderath switches to Teamworx Germany - 27 November 2007

In the new year, Christian Granderath is swit- years as an executive producer at Colonia ching from Colonia Media Filmproduktion to Media, I'm really looking forward to working Teamworx to run the production company's together again in an intelligent and inspiring Cologne office. atmosphere. There are some exciting projects in store”, Christian Granderath said. Up to now Granderath has been an executive producer at Colonia Media Filmproduktion, After studying history and German, Granderath where he turned out TV and feature films like launched his career at SWF, where he worked Die Polizistin, An die Grenze, Wut and Der freie on series like Tatort, Debüt im Dritten and Wilde Wille. Herzen. After occupying various other posts, in 2000 he became an executive producer with Teamworx CEO Nico Hoffmann, who is also an the film production company Colonia Media executive producer, said he was delighted with Filmproduktion in Cologne. His productions his new catch: “Christian Granderath is a truly and co-productions have landed him numerous exceptional producer.” Hofmann and national and international prizes, including a Granderath know each other from earlier, when German Film Award (Bundesfilmpreis), a they worked on productions at SWF – a public Golden Camera Award, a German TV Award TV station in Germany. “After seven successful and a Grimme Award. 13 http://backstage.rtlgroup.fr http://backstage.rtlgroup.com http://backstage.rtlgroup.de

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