14 January 2010 week 02 Strong ratings in 2009 Despite cost cutting, RTL Group channels managed to add audience share in 2009 Germany United States Deutschland sucht den American Idol off Superstar scores best start ever to season nine France Netherlands Nicolas de Tavernost was RTL Nederland buys named ‘Manager of the year’ Radio 10 Gold week 02 the RTL Group intranet week 02 Montage showing the ratings increase of RTL Group’s channels in their respective target groups Strong ratings in 2009 D it t tti RTL G h l d 2 week 02 the RTL Group intranet Up, up, up! In the economic crisis year 2009, RTL Group’s fl agship channels recorded strong audience performances. Luxembourg - 14 January 2010 In a diffi cult economy, RTL Group channels ers, putting it well ahead of Germany’s other nevertheless managed to add signifi cant “second-generation broadcasters” and the pub- audience share or maintain past levels. Even lic-service channels. RTL II closed the year 2009 though RTL Group’s broadcasters reduced with a 6.2 per cent market share among 14- to programme costs, nearly all of them 49-year-olds, unchanged from the previous outperformed the competition. year. With 24.2 per cent among 3- to 13-year- olds (6:00 – 20:15), Super RTL improved its Germany ratings year on year (2008: 23.2 per cent) and continues ahead of the public children’s chan- nel Kika, which scored 19.7 per cent, and the commercial channel Nickelodeon (12.7 per cent). For news channel N-TV, 2009 was the most successful year in its history, with an annual market share of 1.0 per cent among viewers aged 14 to 49. An average 5.6 million viewers over the age of 3 tuned in each day. France Wer wird Millionär? Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s channels scored a combined audience share of 34.4 per cent among viewers aged 14 to 49 in 2009. Its channels thus managed to widen their lead over the ProSiebenSat.1 group, which attracted a 30.1 per cent share of this key target demo- graphic, to a solid 4.3 percentage points in 2009, 0.7 percentage points more than in 2008. Despite the economic crisis and increasing Desperate Housewives fragmentation in the market, RTL Television improved its performance by a strong 1.2 per- With a total audience share of 10.8 per cent centage points year on year, to 16.9 per cent, (compared to 11.0 per cent in 2008), M6 was the the greatest gain achieved by any channel. only major channel to largely retain its audience, The runners-up are ProSieben (11.9 per cent), withstanding the strong growth of DTT channels Sat.1 unchanged at 10.8 per cent, Vox also un- and posting the best results among the major changed at 7.5 per cent, ARD at 6.6 per cent channels for the second consecutive year. and ZDF at 6.3 per cent. RTL Television’s share of total TV audience came to 12.5 per cent – an The year saw a daring move by general-interest increase of 0.8 percentage points – putting it in channel M6 to change its evening news format second place with ZDF, which lost 0.6 percent- – a risk that paid off. Launched on 7 September age points, right behind ARD (12.7 per cent). 2009, M6’s new evening news, Le 19.45, was the only programme of this type to increase its Vox ended 2009 with a 7.5 per cent share of ratings, gaining 200,000 viewers (2.5 million the target demographic preferred by advertis- viewers between September and December 3 week 02 the RTL Group intranet 2009 as compared to September to December RTL 4 completed a successful 20th anniver- 2008 when M6 broadcast the previous news sary year, scoring a 17.0 per cent market share format 6 Minutes). among shoppers aged 20 to 49. The channel improved its market share strongly by 2.1 per- M6 also managed to create a major TV event centage points year on year. Its most popular by broadcasting a World Cup football qualify- programmes included Ik Hou Van Holland, ing match for the fi rst time. With 8.2 million X Factor, Gooische Vrouwen, Goede Tijden, viewers for the Ireland-France match, M6 Slechte Tijden, and the information and news obtained a record audience for 2009. formats. M6 achieved an excellent performance in the RTL 5 ended 2009 with an average audience 20:40 to 24:00 time slot and was the only major share of 9.6 per cent among 20- to 34-year-olds channel to increase its ratings in the evening, (+0.5 percentage points). So You Think You a gain of 100,000 viewers from one year to the Can Dance, Expeditie Robinson, Benelux Next next. Top Model or Wipe Out were some of the most watched formats. W9 has posted excellent fi gures for 2009 with an average total audience share of 2.5 per cent The men’s channel RTL 7 attracted an average nationwide. The channel has continued to in- 6.7 per cent of 20- to 49-year-old male viewers crease its ratings, achieving a record audience in 2009. Broadcasts of the UEFA Europa League for the month nationwide: In December 2009, and Dutch Cup football games were especially W9 obtained an average audience share of popular. 2.9 per cent, placing it in the number one spot among DTT channels for this period. RTL 8 drew a 3.3 per cent market share among women aged between 20 and 49. Its most suc- Also W9 holds the audience record among cessful broadcast was As The World Turns on DTT channels with 1.5 million viewers for the 2 June, which attracted 11.2 per cent – RTL 8’s fi lm Astérix et les Vikings on 27 October 2009. best ratings ever in this target demographic. The Netherlands United Kingdom Despite a major restructuring process, Five was the only terrestrial family of channels to show growth in audience shares across 2009, for both individuals and adults. Its share for all individu- als was slightly up from 6.09 per cent in 2008 to 6.12 per cent in 2009. As in previous years, all terrestrial channels re- ported declining audience shares in 2009 due to the ongoing digitisation process. However, Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden Five’s loss – namely 3.0 per cent – was less than that suffered by any other terrestrial channel. RTL Nederland’s channels attracted an average 31.7 per cent share of their target demographic, 20- to 49-year-old viewers, in 2009. Overall, RTL Nederland increased its market share by 1.6 percentage points compared with 2008. This puts RTL Nederland well ahead of the country’s public-service broadcasters and the SBS group, which attracted 26.9 per cent and 27.2 per cent of 20- to 49-year-old audiences respectively. 4 week 02 the RTL Group intranet Belgium The year 2009 got off to a spectacular start with the broadcast of the 21st Men’s World Hand- ball Championship. The fi nal match between France and Croatia scored excellent ratings with an audience share of 81.3 per cent among young viewers and became the channel’s most- watched programme ever. The good ratings continued with the broadcast of the new docu-soap format Ljubav je na selu (The Farmer Wants A Wife). Host Lorena Nosic took the viewers to the countryside, where the search for love proved to be full of surprises. Viewers were increasingly won over by the rural The presenters of RTL-TVI’s Le Journal romance, with ratings climbing steadily from one episode to the next. On average, the 12 RTL Belgium’s channels came in number one episodes of the fi rst season attracted a 29.1 per with 80 out of the 100 top audiences. Despite cent audience share in the target group. a gloomy economic year, it even managed to increase its total audience share by 6.4 per cent Greece in 2009, reaching 33.5 per cent. The competition did not fare as well during this period, with audi- ence shares that were stable at best. RTL-TVI news has proven to be a tremendous success with French-speaking Belgian audi- ences. Le Journal de 13h was number one every day in 2009 and even managed to increase its lead over the competing news show on public channel La Une by 25 per cent. The predomi- nance of RTL-TVI’s evening news is equally overwhelming. Alternating between presenters Hakima Darhmouch and Michel de Maegd, RTL-TVI’s news held the number one spot 360 Kati Psinetai days out of 364. 2009 was the year that brought signifi cant Croatia changes in Greek television, on account of the arrival of the RTL Group, which by its moves on the television chessboard altered long-standing habits and facts. In 2009, Alpha achieved an average audience share of 13.7 per cent among viewers aged 15 to 44, as compared to 12.5 per cent in 2008 — an increase of 9.6 per cent. In prime time, Alpha achieved an audience share of 14.7 per cent among viewers aged 15 to 44, as compared to 12.5 per cent in 2008 — an in- crease of 17.6 per cent. In a highly competitive year, Alpha secured third place both in day total and in prime time. During Lorena Nosic, host of Ljubav je na selu the fi rst half of the current season (September to December 2009) the channel managed to at- In 2009, RTL Televizija confi rmed its market- tract even more viewers, and came in second.