How Vox Tells the Story of Humanity in an Event-Scale Documentary

week 5 / 31 January 2013

70,000 YEARS IN EIGHT HOURS How Vox tells the story of humanity in an event-scale documentary

Germany United Kingdom France Luxembourg Joey Heindle is Radical Media Jacques Expert Enex wins the new ‘King of to bring Youtube on his new BFMTV as the Jungle’ channel Thnkr’s responsibilities a member Prodigies on TV at RTL Radio in France week 5 / 31 January 2013

TITLE How A la bonne heure has won over RTL Radio’s listeners

Luxembourg United Kingdom Germany Survey: Television and FME to adapt Ich bin ein Star – Radio still preferred Les Revenants for Holt mich hier raus! media English-speaking is also popular on viewers the Web Cover Montage with screenshots taken from the documentary

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“Let’s getty to Joey!” RTL Television p. 8

“Small-screen content can pack a big punch” FremantleMedia p. 9

“To perform at our very best in a serene atmosphere” RTL Radio p. 10 Living history Vox p. 4–7 New Enex member: BFMTV Enex p. 11

Big Picture p.12

SHORT NEWS p. 13–14 LIVING In early February, Vox takes viewers on an extraordinary journey to key moments in the history of mankind. HISTORY Backstage presents this project. Germany – 31 January 2013 Vox

The team behind the project: Frank Hoffmann, Managing Director of Vox; Dieter Moor, Presenter; Chris Granlund, Writer and Producer and Alexander Kluge CEO of DCTP (from left to right)

4 70,000 years of human history – 70,000 years of BBC One. The innovative documentary concept struggle for survival, uncertainty and discoveries. shows historical turning points in human history Humanity itself was almost history so many times. using scenes of a high production quality that make Why was the human species able to do so well history tangible. compared to other mammals? How did man become the advanced mammal that can even travel into Writer and Producer Chris Granlund explains: space? How were great empires able to arise and “At fi rst we thought it would be virtually impossible to why did they collapse again? Why are some events convey the story of mankind in a TV format, and the indelibly etched onto global memory, while others project was discussed at the BBC for nearly eight merit barely a mention? years before I started working on it.” When he began work on it four years ago it was quickly decided that actors would be used. “We wanted to make a series that appealed to viewers around the world and that could also be understood worldwide. Therefore, we decided to work with actors and re-enact events. This gave us the possibility of shooting it like a feature fi lm and reaching the audience on an emotional level.” In the end, around 1,100 actors were involved in the production and made it possible not only to resurrect signifi cant places in history, but also historical fi gures. Alexander Kluge, CEO of DCTP, says: “A decade ago I would not have dared to predict that anything like this would ever be shown on German commercial television.”

In the event-scale documentary Die Geschichte des Menschen – 70.000 Jahre Überleben, Erobern, Kämpfen (on 1 and 2 February at 20:15 on Vox) presenter Dieter Moor attempts to answer all these questions for viewers. As well as less obvious questions such as: Why was the invention of the sewing needle so important for mankind? How did the trade in Dutch tulips lead to the fi rst stock market crash? And how have language and agriculture changed the course of history? First human species: the Neanderthals “Vox treats its viewers to an eight-hour journey through the history of mankind in feature-fi lm The documentary shows how Caesar died alone quality,” says Frank Hoffmann, Managing Director on the fl oor of the Senate, while at the same time of Vox and Managing Director designate of the audience learns why the ideals of the Roman RTL Television. “We are proud of this documentary republic had to die with him. Viewers will stand with and feel it is an excellent match for Vox, regardless Christopher Columbus on the deck of his ship as of what the ratings are in the end. Even if it doesn’t he discovers America. They will see Martin Luther achieve a double-digit audience share it will still be as he unleashes the Reformation, which he soon watched by millions of people. Just ask yourself: loses control over. And the audience will witness How many history books would you have to sell the moment when the fi rst stock market crash to reach as many people? And how many of these took place. Kluge: “Numerous researchers have books are actually read? We know that we will be confi rmed that we have portrayed history correctly watched.” – for example, we went through the project step by step with Professor Parzinger, President of the The programme was created in a joint project of Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Berlin. You Vox, the BBC and DCTP, and is the most elaborate can verify the accuracy of everything we show in this history documentary ever commissioned by documentary.”

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5 Chris Granlund also points out: “The most important thing for us was that everything should be accurate. And we succeeded at this. The information comes from books, interviews with experts and visits to archaeological sites. Academic advisors from our production partner The Open University were also on hand. There are also a lot of fantastic websites that helped us.” The key moments that are discussed in each episode all follow a common thread that makes the different eras tangible. This main theme links the stories together. The corresponding key moments The early history of China were then selected on this basis. “They are often small stories with huge repercussions,” says Granlund. “It was very difﬁ cult to decide which milestones should be re-enacted in the documentary. After all this wasn’t just about telling the history of the world, but also about including all the continents and as many countries as possible.”

This means that although the documentary was produced in Europe, it by no means focuses only The emigration of the fi rst humans out of Africa on the history of Europe. A conscious decision was made to start 70,000 years ago, with the emigration of the fi rst humans out of Africa. The early history of On both broadcast days, viewers can also watch China and the oldest city in the world are examined the entire documentary event as a livestream accordingly, giving viewers a greater understanding on the ‘Inside Online’ section of Vox.de, and chat of aspects of history that are less well known up with other users about it, as well as read a lot of to now. In this way, the eight hours shed light on background information about the production and human history and the great questions of humanity: the key moments. For instance, they learn that all Who are we and how did we get here? Presenter but two scenes were fi lmed around Cape Town Dieter Moor says: “Everything that was in the past because all the forms of landscape needed are really does directly have to do with us. I fi nd it very located within two hours drive of there. Users can comforting to sense this. You feel less alone in the also read, among other things, that the most faithful world when you know that thousands of generations replica of the Terracotta Army to be found outside have already previously fought, suffered and thought of China is in Germany, that to this day we do not about things here.” know what the colour of Cleopatra’s skin was, and that there is not a single Leonardo da Vinci sculpture that can be clearly attributed to him as its creator.

Vox is broadcasting the eight-hour event-scale documentary Die Geschichte des Menschen – 70.000 Jahre Überleben, Erobern, Kämpfen on 1 and 2 February 2013 in prime time.

1 February from 20:15: Episode 1: The First People (70,000 to 1600 BC) Episode 2: The Great Conquerors (701 to 342 BC) Episode 3: Fighting for the Faith (273 BC to 600 AD) Episode 4: Age of Discovery (700-1460 AD)

2 February from 20:15: Episode 5: Raiding and Plundering (1492 to 1637 AD) Episode 6: Revolution! (1633 to 1796 AD) Episode 7: Industrial Progress (1812 to 1918)

Episode 8: The 20th Century (1918 to 2011) Next >

6 The documentary ﬁ lming with Dieter Moor

From event TV to classy entertainment channel

On 25 January 1993 the German channel Vox went on air for the first time. Twenty years down the line, Vox has evolved from intellectual “Ereignisfernsehen” (event television), as it used to be called, into a classy entertainment channel that is captivating more and more viewers. In 2012, Vox attained an average audience share of 7.7 per cent among viewers aged 14 to 49.

The journalists at Vox back in the very early days included Wibke Bruns, Götz Alsmann and Roger Willemsen. Magazines like Canale Grande (presented by Dieter Moor), Voxtours and Liebe Sünde were typical of the channel’s unconventional programme schedule. Yet the channel failed to attract a big audience, and a year after its launch the ‘event TV’ channel seemed to have reached its sell-by date. Today, Vox is 99.7 per cent owned by RTL Group. DCTP holds the remaining stake of 0.3 per cent.

In 1995, Anke Schäferkordt joined Vox as Chief Financial Officer. She served as the channel’s Programme Director as well as CFO from 1997 to 1999, and as its CEO from 1999 to 2005. During this time, she transformed Vox from a loss-maker into an enduringly profitable channel – and discovered her love for programme planning. At its launch in 1993, the channel had an audience share of 1.4 per cent among viewers aged 14 to 49. By the time Schäferkordt left Vox for its bigger sister RTL Television in 2005, the audience share was 6.4 per cent.

Over the years Vox established a foothold in the German TV landscape, scheduling feature films and US series like Ally McBeal or CSI – Dem Täter auf der Spur (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) alongside its magazines and documentaries. Even today, the channel’s image is very much coloured by its own formats, such as Prominent!, Das perfekte Dinner (Come Dine With Me), Verklag mich doch! and Shopping Queen. Vox is the only German TV channel to broadcast major documentaries on Saturday evenings.

On 1 February 2013, Frank Hoffmann, who had served as Managing Director of Vox since April 2005, became Managing Director of RTL Television. Hoffmann’s successor as Managing Director of Vox is Bernd Reichart (38). Reichart has served as Managing Director Multichannel at Grupo Antena 3 in Spain since 2007.

7 “LET’S GETTY TO JOEY!” RTL Television

On 26 January, Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! (I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!) ended on RTL Television. Joey Heindle is the new ‘Jungle King’, having garnered 53.21 per cent of the viewer votes. Germany – 28 January 2013

The 19-year-old prevailed against drag queen Olivia Jones in the ﬁ nal show, though Jones had always been the audience favourite up until that point. Claudelle Deckert came third.

“I only came ﬁ fth in Deutschland sucht den Superstar (Idols),” said Joey when the results were announced. “Now I say: Dieter Bohlen, I’m the King of the Jungle.” Asked what his Jungle King slogan would be, he responded: “Let’s getty to Joey!” The new king was, however, quite speechless when he was able to take Jacqueline, who had been waiting for him, into his arms. He placed his crown on his girlfriend’s Joey, the new ‘Jungle King’ head and knelt down in front of her, saying: “You are my true Jungle Queen.”

In all, 8.76 million viewers tuned in for the two-hour ﬁ nale on Saturday, for a 34.6 per cent share of the total audience. Among viewers aged 14 to 49, the audience share was 49.4 per cent. So the ﬁ nale was the season’s most-watched episode by Germany’s total TV audience as well as the young viewer demographic; at its peak, the show attracted as many as 9.66 million viewers.

With an average 7.45 million viewers and a total audience share of 29.2 per cent, season seven of Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! is in second place behind the most successful season to date, season ﬁ ve in 2011, which attracted an average 7.65 million viewers. With 4.46 million young viewers (audience share: 41.6 per cent, viewers aged 14 to 49), the latest season is third in this demographic, behind season ﬁ ve (4.75 million) and the premiere Joey and Jacqueline, his ‘Jungle Queen’ season in 2004 (4.55 million).

On 29 January 2013 the Grimme Award nominations committee announced the 6th season of Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! as one of this year’s nominees.

8 “SMALL-SCREEN CONTENT CAN PACK A BIG PUNCH” FremantleMedia

The FremantleMedia subsidiary Radical Media is partnering with Emmy-winning Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons’ new production company, That’s Wonderful Productions, to bring Prodigies, the award-winning series on Youtube channel Thnkr, to a television audience. United Kingdom – 28 January 2013

Prodigies, which won the Best Documentary Series award at the International Academy of Web Television Awards earlier this year, tells the story of exceptionally gifted young people – including a 14-year-old programmer and software developer and a 5-year-old who plays pool like a professional.

Justin Wilkes, Radical Media’s President of Media and Entertainment, commented: “The Thnkr Channel was born out of the idea that a large and engaged audience passionately desires smart entertainment. The overwhelming online success of Prodigies has proven that if done well, small-screen content can pack a big punch. We’re ecstatic to be collaborating with Jim on bringing this programme to life on longer-form television.”

A huge fan of the online series, Parsons said: “I knew within minutes of viewing my ﬁ rst episode that I wanted to be a part of the team bringing the digital series to a wider audience via television. Spending time with these geniuses, these children, soaring and struggling with their gifts and their talents, is inspiring and entertaining in a way that great television is. Prodigies reveals something about the human spirit with such joy and insight, which is why it achieved such a passionate following on Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons the internet. I think there are many more people out there that will ﬁ nd this irresistible, like I do.”

The TV show is being pitched to networks at next week’s Realscreen Summit in Washington.

9 “TO PERFORM AT OUR VERY BEST IN A SERENE ATMOSPHERE” RTL Radio

Jacques Expert has just joined RTL Radio in France as its Station and Programme Director. On 21 January, he was the guest on Buzz Média Orange-Le Figaro, where he talked about his new responsibilities at France’s number one radio station. France – 25 January 2013

Previously Programme Director at Paris Première, Jacques Expert replaces Yves Bigot, who has been named General Manager of TV5 Monde. “I was made an offer I couldn’t refuse – to work with Christopher Baldelli, who came to get me,” says Jacques Expert in his ﬁ rst public statement for RTL Radio. “We appreciate each other, on a professional as well as human level.”

With RTL Radio having just conﬁ rmed its status as France’s number one radio station – with a cumulative audience of 12.5 per cent and market share of 11.6 per cent for the November-December 2012 Jacques Expert, new Station and Programme Director of RTL Radio period – Jacques Expert says he is aware that he is arriving at a ©Gerard GIAUME /M6 company “where all indicators are green.” When asked about how he intends to proceed with managing the programmes, he explains: “The goal is for me to become part of the RTL story and the RTL team. The programme schedule is working ﬁ ne, so I’m not going to change something that’s working. It’s in the details, in making improvements, where I will be operating. More than print media, radio is the medium that senses instantaneity, currents, and changing times. It’s that which we need to work with. With the programmes, it will be a matter of craftsmanship on each one.”

In the weeks to follow, Jacques Expert will start working on the summer schedules and the start of the new season in September. “There must be an evolution in the editorial line of this station. I’m to be part of this momentum. It’s also a matter of working closely with the hosts, who expect a lot from a Programme Director. Our objective is to perform at our very best in a serene atmosphere.”

Asked about the results of the latest TNS Sofres/La Croix barometer survey on the level of conﬁ dence the French have for the media, and particularly radio, he says: “Radio accompanies the French a great deal, especially in the morning. And it is the medium in which I hear the fewest stupidities. Radio is even more instantaneous than television, but its thoroughness, its background and its professionalism are omnipresent. It’s based on a real experience, and that’s a reason why the French trust radio. It’s the result of a longstanding pact of conﬁ dence.” 10 NEW ENEX MEMBER: BFMTV Enex

Enex, one of the world’s leading providers of TV news, has won France’s leading news channel, BFMTV, as a member. Luxembourg – 31 January 2013

Henning Tewes, Managing Director of Enex Enex coordinates the news coverage for its members, with accompanying editorial information and transmission services at a low cost. With the inclusion of BFMTV, the organisation now has 36 full members, including Europe’s largest commercial broadcaster, RTL Group, Sky News in Great Britain, CBS in the United States and TBS in Japan.

With Sky News Arabia covering the Middle East and North Africa, ﬁ ve TV channels in Latin America and now BFMTV in Europe, Enex has added seven new members over the past six months.

BFMTV was founded in 2005 and achieved a total audience share of 1.8 per cent in France in 2012. The news channel is now watched by 10 million viewers every day and is trusted by viewers to be quick, accurate and impartial, and has impressive newsgathering operations with many connection points and transmission vehicles all over France.

“International breaking news is at the heart of both Enex and BFMTV. We are excited to be joining an organisation with so many prestigious member channels across the globe,” said Guillaume Dubois, Managing Director of BFMTV. “We look forward to delivering breaking news to our viewers around the world, every day, 24/7.”

“We are proud to be adding yet another inﬂ uential member channel to the Enex family. BFMTV will perfectly complement our existing partner in France, M6,” said Managing Director of Enex, Henning Tewes. “We will continue our path of growing and globalising the organisation in order to deliver great value to our members.”

11 Le Convoi de l’extrême is a hit on W9 On 24 January 2013, W9 scored unprecedented ratings thanks to the docu-reality Le Convoi de l’extrême : La route du Grand Nord (Ice Road Truckers) airing in prime time. The two new episodes presented by Stéphane Roterberg, were followed by 1.2 million viewers on average – the highest ratings for the season, with a total audience share of 4.8 per cent. The programme allowed W9 to rank as the fourth national channel with male audiences, with a 7.6 per cent audience share. SHORT NEWS 1/2

Antena 3 Internacional now available in the Netherlands Grupo Antena 3

Thanks to an agreement with KPN, Antena 3 Internacional can now be received in the Netherlands. The Grupo Antena 3 channel is now available in a total of 22 countries in Europe and the Americas. Spain – 25 January 2013

TV legend returns RTL Television

Since 29 January 2013, RTL Television is showing the relaunch and continuation of the iconic US series Dallas as a free-TV premiere. Off to a good start, the ﬁ rst episode recorded an audience share of 25.4 per cent among viewers aged 14 to 49. Germany – 29 January 2013

Handball World Cup transmitted to over 150 countries around the world UFA Sports

For the ﬁ rst time, UFA Sports handled the sale of marketing rights for the 2013 Handball World Cup, which was held in Spain from 11 to 27 January, in more than 150 countries around the world. UFA Sports was also able to recruit numerous advertising partners. Germany – 29 January 2013

RTL II releases new Köln 50667 app RTL II

Following the successful release of the Berlin – Tag und Nacht app in November 2012, now there’s an app for RTL II’s new soap Köln 50667 as well. Germany – 30 January 2013

13 SHORT NEWS 2/2

Culinary interactivity M6 Web

The new season of Top Chef kicks off on 4 February 2013 on M6. To enhance the viewing experience of the show’s fans, M6 is offering the second-screen function starting with the ﬁ rst episode. France – 30 January 2013

Ever stronger on social networks Fun Radio

Now with 1,400,000 fans on Facebook, Fun Radio conﬁ rms its position as the number two brand in French and French-language media, and its massive presence on social networks. France – 30 January 2013

Olivier Schrameck a guest on RTL Soir RTL Radio

On 29 January 2013, less than a week after his appointment to the presidency of CSA, Olivier Schrameck was the guest of Marc-Olivier Fogiel, live on RTL Radio. It was the president’s ﬁ rst media interview since he took ofﬁ ce. France – 31 January 2013

14 More about Backstage

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