15 March 2012 week 11 “Meet the need” Hans Demmel discusses the news channel N-TV, its marketing and productions Germany United Kingdom RTL Interactive’s sites score FremantleMedia Enterprises 100 million video views signs deal with Hulu France Belgium / Luxembourg M6 takes a journey RTL Group companies through time en route to Télévie 2012 week 11 the RTL Group intranet Cover: Montage with Hans Demmel and N-TV content on various platforms 2 week 11 the RTL Group intranet “Soundly researched and reputable” In 2011, N-TV generated operating profi t for the second time in the channel’s history. Backstage asked Managing Director Hans Demmel about his business model and the channel’s future direction. Hans Demmel Germany - 15 March 2012 With a total market share of 1.0 per cent and Is N-TV still a traditional news channel – 1.2 per cent among the 14 to 49 age group, or a news brand for all platforms? 2011 was the best year in N-TV’s history. How We are a news channel that has very successfully was the year from an economic viewpoint? embraced a multi-platform strategy. This means In 2011 we once again managed to turn a profi t. that we offer our content, and especially a lot of After the stock market boom year of 2000, this video, on all platforms and across all media. In is the second time in its history that N-TV has doing so, we meet the needs of our audience, achieved an operating profi t. which no longer receives its information solely from TV, but also via N-TV.de or What are the success factors? Teleboerse.de when they’re at the offi ce, or via First, there are our ratings, which we have their smartphones or tablets while travelling. increased continuously since 2007. Second, we did well in the advertising market. The fi nancial How do you rate the prospects for generating service providers, which had completely revenue in the online/mobile sectors? disappeared from view in 2009 and 2010, have Our online services and mobile applications have returned as advertisers. And last not least, we’ve developed very positively. We already generate targeted N-TV more towards a male audience. high single-digit million sales with these offers, Two thirds of our viewers are men. This also and are very confi dent that we will continue to benefi ts us in our ad sales. grow them. N-TV’s online and mobile services generate high single-digit million euros in sales 3 week 11 the RTL Group intranet In your marketing campaigns you tackle the rather dull subject of politics with humour. How diffi cult is it to fi nd the right balance so as not to lose the requisite reputability as a news channel? Soundly researched and reputable news and business coverage are our core business. Of course, this doesn’t rule out a more relaxed approach to the business of politics at times. And state the spians like Berlusconi and the ‘Merkozy’ duo personally provide us with the material. What is your strategy for the year ahead? 2012 began very nicely for us. Our goal is to continue to generate sustainable profi ts. We will Starting on 24 March 2012, at 20:05, Alltag unterm HakenKreuz further optimise our prime time slot from 7:00 to is one of N-TV’s highlights 13:00. For instance, in early summer there will be an ‘on-air facelift’ including a new news ticker. With Gerhard Richter – Logistik einer We aim to invest in high quality documentaries Ausstellung (Gerhard Richter – The Logistics for the evening. of an Exhibition) in February you delved into art for the fi rst time. Was that just a An absolute highlight of the programme line-up one-off test, or will there soon be more art is certainly our ten-part own production Alltag programmes on N-TV? unterm Hakenkreuz (Everyday Life Under The The viewer and media response to our Richter Swastika). This document shows previously documentary was very positive. Our next project unseen private footage from the lives of soldiers is an N-TV documentary about the painter, and civilians in the Third Reich, beyond the graphic artist and sculptor Markus Lüpertz, which propaganda. We were able to recruit Friedrich is currently in production and will be broadcast in von Thun, one of Germany’s best-known actors, October. to present the series. Following positive response to Wolfram Kons’ documentary on Gerhard Richter, N-TV will broadcast more art in the future 4 week 11 the RTL Group intranet Deutschland sucht den Superstar for kids Children between the ages of 4 and 14 can now apply to appear on DSDS Kids. Like the original, the show is produced by Grundy Light Entertainment. Liam Leufgen Germany - 14 March 2012 Now, the wishes of the little Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS) fans can come true as well: to step onto the Superstar stage, sing before an audience of millions, and fulfi l their biggest dream. Kids with great voices have a unique opportunity to demonstrate their vocal talent here. On DSDS Kids young talents sing to win a future training grant and an attractive monetary prize. Chief DSDS juror Dieter Bohlen says: “I’ve been asked a thousand times by kids and teens: Why is there no DSDS for us? I think it’s fabulous that we’re now doing DSDS Kids.” From now until 31 March 2012, gifted kids aged Dieter Bohlen (right) with Liam Leufgen from 4 to 14, or their parents on their behalf, can apply on RTL.de. The broadcast date, number of episodes, presenters, and who will judge the show has yet to be decided. The show will be produced by Grundy Light Entertainment. 5 week 11 the RTL Group intranet More than 100 million video views In February, the online offerings produced by RTL Interactive – which include the channel sites RTL.de and Vox.de, the Video-on-Demand (VoD) portals of the Now family and the video clip portal Clipfi sh – set a new record with 101.2 million video views of professionally produced content. Germany - 9 March 2012 RTL.de Usage was strongly fuelled by the video In the month of February, RTL.de scored content of the RTL II Now VoD site, which is 56.55 million visits in the IVW ratings. The produced by RTL Interactive for RTL II, and website thus increased its number of views here especially Berlin Tag & acht as well as over January despite the fact that the month content related to RTL Television’s Deutschland had fewer days. Compared with February 2011, sucht den Superstar and The Bachelor. the channel’s Web site registered a 13,3 per Other contributors to the positive performance cent increase and the best February score ever included the use of video content on measured. With 7.33 million visits during the specifi c-interest portals such as Frauenzimmer. month, Vox.de also had its best February score de, VIP.de, Sport.de, GZSZ.de and Wetter.de. and second-best reported score ever. Mobile options for accessing video content are Video views of the celebrity news site VIP.de becoming ever stronger – users can use RTL hit a new high in the IVW measurements Apps, the RTL.de mobile portal and Clipfi sh despite the shorter month, scoring 3.29 million apps for smartphones and tablets: at this point, visits. The Frauenzimmer.de website, produced nearly one in ten video views takes place on in close coordination with Vox, scored 3.07 million mobile devices. visits. The top performer among the sites produced by RTL Interactive and included in the IVW survey, is still the social network Wer-kennt-wen.de, which now has more than 9.6 million members and generated 63 million visits in February. 6 week 11 the RTL Group intranet A trip back in time for its 25 years To celebrate its 25th anniversary in style, M6 presented two special programmes and new look for their websites. France - 13 March 2012 On 1 March 2012, M6 turned 25. Twenty-fi ve years of history that have seen the “one channel too many” or “the little channel”, as it was labelled for so long, grow and become what is now: the third national channel, after TF1 and France 2. It is also, “the most profi table,” as the French Daily Le Monde said in an article published on 1 March 2012, entitled “At 25, M6 is a ‘grown-up’ on the audiovisual landscape.” Karine Le Marchand, Stéphane Plaza and guests To mark its 25th anniversary, Groupe M6 in Joyeux anniversaire M6! has updated its corporate websites, with new versions to appear online on 12 March 2012. On 14 March, on Les 25 ans d’évènements GroupeM6.fr, the institutional website of Groupe que les Français n’oublieront jamais, M6 M6, offers all group’s fi nancial and institutional offered viewers a chance to relive the events news. It also offers a presentation of the group’s that most marked these last 25 years. All the activities and those of its subsidiaries and reports images were chosen by the French in a survey on its involvement in terms of the company’s whose results were defi nitely surprising. social responsibility and its foundation. Presented by Faustine Bollaert and Bernard de La Villardière, the 25 events on this As for M6Pro.fr, which is mainly designed programme involved dramatic moments where for journalists, but up to now has been accessible history was turned upside down and show to everyone, will now be accessible through staggering images of nature unleashed, passwords.