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Revenues and profits fell at Poor Things super-indie Fremantle last year as the outfit’s lofty €3B ($3.2B) revenue target draws ever nearer.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent RTL Group has reached a deal to sell RTL Nederland, the leading Dutch commercial TV group and owner of the local streaming service Videoland, to DPG Media, a multimedia company active in Benelux and Denmark. The sale of RTL Nederland is subject to regulatory approvals and a consultation with labor unions.

Long-serving RTL exec Stephan Schmitter has landed the big seat in Germany. He has been named CEO of RTL Deutschland, effective January 1, 2024.

Naman Ramachandran German TV giant RTL Deutschland has named Stephan Schmitter as CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2024. In addition to his current role of chief content officer, Schmitter will take on responsibility for streaming service RTL+ and the reorganized publishing business Gruner + Jahr (G+J) as CEO of RTL Deutschland.

Ellise Shafer RTL Group, the European broadcasting company that owns Fremantle, reported a 6.9% drop in revenue from January to September, due in part to the “persistent weakness” of TV advertising markets. In Q3 alone, group revenue was down 10.3% to €1.6 billion, with the company saying 9.2% of this happened organically due to “timing effects at Fremantle and lower TV advertising revenue.” Due to the current advertising landscape, particularly in Germany, RTL expects that TV ad revenue will decline by a “mid-single-digit percentage” in the second half of the year, with Fremantle’s yearly revenue also tracking lower than expected because of a decrease in buyer activity.

European broadcasting heavyweight RTL has warned of “persistent weakness” in the TV advertising market, as it posted Q3 revenue down more than 10% year-on-year.

Fremantle’s revenues fell by 5.6% in the first quarter of this year as owner RTL saw turnover tumble by nearly 10%.

Naman Ramachandran Revenues at European media giant Bertelsmann, the parent company of Fremantle, RTL Group, BMG and Penguin Random House, leapt 8.3% from €18.7 billion ($20.2 billion) in 2021 to  €20.2 billion ($21.8 billion) in 2022. These are the highest revenues in the company’s history. While the company’s operating EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) was maintained at €3.2 billion, the same as the previous year, despite higher start-up losses from streaming, profits halved from €2.3 billion to €1.1 billion. In the previous year, revaluations at Bertelsmann Investments (€423 million after taxes), as well as gains on the disposal of video advertising platform SpotX and the revaluation of the Magnite [the advertising company that bought SpotX] shares (totalling €355 million after taxes), had led to the highest figure since 2006.

Last year, RTL’s merger plans in France were halted by regulators and it has now suffered the same fate in the Netherlands.

French broadcaster M6 is no longer for sale.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent German media group Bertelsmann is expected to weigh in over the weekend on the offers it received for RTL Group’s 48.3% stake in M6 Group, France’s second largest commercial TV group. Bertelsmann put M6 Group back on the market a little over a week ago, after its planned merger with Bouygues-owned TF1 Group was abandoned due to a number of competition concerns raised by France’s anti-trust board. Bertelsmann’s chief executive Thomas Rabe asked to receive non-binding offers by Sept. 23 to test the market and received offers from three major bidders, according to Le Point.

A consortium led by Banijay chairman Stéphane Courbit is leading the race to acquire French broadcaster M6, according to reports, with shares in the Bertelsmann-owned network spiking on news of several planned offers.

Former Canal+ CEO Rodolphe Belmer is taking charge of TF1.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent German media group Bertelsmann has put its TV group M6, France’s second-biggest commercial broadcaster, back on the market following its abandoned merger with TF1. Bertelsmann’s chief executive Thomas Rabe told the Financial Times that he has asked to receive non-binding offers by Friday to “test the market” after being “inundated with expressions of interest.” Bertelsmann’s RTL Group owns a 48.3% stake in M6 Among those expected to bid are a consortium of high-profile French entrepreneurs including Rodolphe Saadé, the French shipping billionaire; Stéphane Courbit, chairman of TV powerhouse Banijay; and Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, chairman of the investment vehicle Fimalac, Variety has confirmed.

European giant Bertelsmann has put M6 up for sale following the collapse of the French broadcaster’s merger with TF1.

Stephan Schäfer is exiting his post at German media giant RTL Deutschland after less than a year, amid a management restructure that follows the takeover of publishing company Gruner + Jahr.

European broadcasting giant RTL Group has reaffirmed its belief the merger of its French subsidiary M6 with local rival TF1 must go ahead to keep competing with the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon.

Fremantle-Owner RTL Group Boosts Revenues By 11.3%

Naman Ramachandran Bertelsmann’s Luxembourg-based media giant RTL Group, which owns Fremantle, has declared revenues of €1.56 billion ($1.64 billion) for the first quarter of 2022, a growth of 11.3%.The RTL Group has interests in 67 television channels, 10 streaming platforms and 38 radio stations. The group’s content business, Fremantle, is one of the world’s largest creators, producers and distributors of scripted and unscripted content, including “American Idol,” “Britain’s Got Talent” and “The X Factor.”Fremantle revenues are up 6.5% to €461 million (Q1/2021: €433 million) with the stated target of full-year revenue of €3 billion by 2025 on track.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentHamburg 1982. Andreas, in the family bathroom, spies his mother’s stockings, pulls one over his head breathing in deeply.

Fremantle Boosts Revenue By 25% For RTL Group

Naman Ramachandran Bertelsmann’s Luxembourg-based media giant RTL Group, which owns Fremantle, has declared a group profit of €1.5 billion ($1.65 billion) for 2021, up from €625 million in COVID-affected 2020.The RTL Group has interests in 67 television channels, 10 streaming platforms and 38 radio stations. The group’s content business, Fremantle, is one of the world’s largest creators, producers and distributors of scripted and unscripted content, including “American Idol,” “Britain’s Got Talent,” and “The X Factor.”Full-year group revenue was up 10.3% to €6.6 billion of which Fremantle accounted for €1.92 billion, a 25.3% increase. The group’s full-year adjusted EBITA climbed 35.1% to €1.1 billion, up from €853 million in 2020.

European broadcasting giant RTL Group on Friday reported a 10% increase in 2019 profit as revenue reached a record €6.65 billion ($7.44 billion), driven mainly by higher sales from global content unit Fremantle and its digital business.