![RTL Group](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/RTL_Group.svg)
RTL Group (for "Radio Television Luxembourg") is a
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
-based international
media conglomerate
A media conglomerate, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, theme parks, or the Internet. According to the ...
, with another
corporate centre in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
The company operates 68 television channels and 31 radio stations in Germany,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and other European countries. It also offers national streaming platforms, content productions and a range of digital services. Important segments of RTL Group are
RTL Deutschland
RTL Deutschland (formerly known as ''Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland'') is a German media company based in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in 2007 as a holding company for the German television, broadcasting and content production ...
,
Groupe M6
Metropole Télévision SA, commonly known as Groupe M6 ( en, M6 Group), is a French media holding company. It was formed around the Public television channel M6, launched in March 1987 by the CLT (RTL Télévision) and La Lyonnaise des Eaux.
...
,
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
and
RTL Nederland
RTL Nederland is a Dutch media network, a subsidiary of the RTL Group. The media company is located in Hilversum, although the licences of its TV stations are issued in Luxembourg.
History
The history of the network dates back to 1989 when dutch ...
.
The company, in its present form, was established by
Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA () is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates, and is also active in the service sector and ...
,
Groupe Bruxelles Lambert
Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), is a Belgian holding company invested in various sectors within companies that can be considered marketleaders and in which it can play an active role as a professional shareholder over the long term.
In the last ...
(GBL) and
Pearson Pearson may refer to:
Organizations Education
*Lester B. Pearson College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
*Pearson College (UK), London, owned by Pearson PLC
*Lester B. Pearson High School (disambiguation)
Companies
*Pearson PLC, a UK-based int ...
in the year 2000. Over the years, Bertelsmann, a conglomerate based in the German city of
Gütersloh
Gütersloh () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the area of Westphalia and the administrative region of Detmold. Gütersloh is the administrative centre for a district of the same name and has a population of 100,194 peo ...
, continued to increase its stake in RTL Group and currently owns just over 75% of the
shares
In financial markets, a share is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation, and can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Share capital refers to all of the shares of an ...
in the company after holding a stake of more than 90% in the past.
RTL Group is one of a total of eight divisions of Bertelsmann: It is responsible for more than a third of its revenue and a large share of its operating profit.
It is one of the founding members of the
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
.
History
Historical background
The roots of RTL Group date back to the 1920s.
The company itself was established in 1931 as the Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion (known as CLR for short). It was one of the world's first
private broadcasting
Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship. It was the United States′ first model of radio (an ...
companies. After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the company ventured into the world of television broadcasting. It was renamed Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT) to reflect this new service in 1954. Under the name RTL (for
Radio Télévision Luxembourg), it went on to provide its private broadcasting services in several European countries. When the European media markets were liberalised in the 1980s, television became increasingly important and started to overtake radio.
In the 1980s, Belgian and French media companies made up the majority of the shareholders of CLR and CLT. The following decades witnessed repeated conflicts for domination within the company and among its
subsidiaries
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a sa ...
.
In the 1990s, Bertelsmann ultimately came out on top after having gradually increased its stake in the German television channel RTL. Following a legal dispute with RTL/CLT,
Bertelsmann announced plans to merge the television businesses of
UFA
Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the ...
to form the joint venture CLT-UFA in April 1996. A merger agreement was signed on 8 July 1996. It was approved by the CLT board of directors on 5 December, and the formation of CLT-UFA was completed on 14 January 1997. As a result, German television channels such as RTL Television and VOX and international broadcasting services, including M6 in France, were all brought together under one roof.
Growth and stock market launch
CLT-UFA not only grew organically but also increased in size due to a number of acquisitions. In the year 2000, Bertelsmann and Pearson announced plans to merge their television, radio and production activities. The two companies joined forces to create RTL Group, Europe's leading network of television channels and radio stations with a global content business, which was rebranded FremantleMedia in 2001 (now called Fremantle). This merger was designed to provide a strong European response to U.S. media dominance.
RTL Group was first listed on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
on 26 July 2000.
The existing shell of Audiofina, which was already a listed company, was used to simplify the administrative effort involved in the
stock market
A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange, as ...
launch. The issue price of the RTL Group share was calculated based on the closing prices of Audiofina in Luxembourg and Brussels. The RTL Group share consequently replaced the Audiofina listing.
Acquisition by Bertelsmann
Although Bertelsmann initially only held a minority share in RTL Group, the German conglomerate managed by
Thomas Middelhoff
Thomas Middelhoff (born 11 May 1953) is a German retired corporate manager. He was on the board of directors of Bertelsmann from 1990–2002, being CEO from 1998. From 2004 to March 2009, Middelhoff was chairman of the supervisory board of Arcand ...
set its sights on playing a leading role within the group. After exchanging shares with the Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) in 2001, Bertelsmann achieved its goal of becoming the majority shareholder of RTL Group and thus secured a leading position in the European television market.
Over the years, Bertelsmann increased its stake in RTL Group to more than 90%.
Bertelsmann's initial aim was to acquire full ownership of RTL Group to reduce administrative costs, but this plan failed in 2007 due to uncertainties in Luxembourg law. The conglomerate responded by altering its strategy and in 2013, it sold a minority interest in RTL Group on the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (german: link=no, Börse Frankfurt, former German name – FWB) is the world's 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time).
Organisation
Locat ...
to finance the growth of Bertelsmann and especially its digital transformation. Media reports responded positively to the secondary listing of RTL Group and the resulting availability of shares open to external investors.
Recent developments
RTL Group was already responsible for a large part of the revenue and profit of Bertelsmann in 2001. In the new structure of Bertelsmann, which was introduced in 2016, the company maintained its position as an important division. Since April 2019,
Thomas Rabe, chairman and chief executive officer of Bertelsmann, has also simultaneously been at the helm of RTL Group. Under his management, the company is pursuing the objective of strengthening its core businesses, establishing local
streaming services
An over-the-top media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributors of s ...
and further developing
advertising technologies. Fostering its alliances and partnerships with other companies in the European media industry also plays an important role in the current strategy of RTL Group.
Corporate affairs
RTL Group S.A. is the parent company of the entire corporate group. Its legal form is a
société anonyme
The abbreviation S.A. or SA designates a type of limited company in certain countries, most of which have a Romance language as their official language and employ civil law. Originally, shareholders could be literally anonymous and collect div ...
, a
public limited company
A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a limited liability company ...
under Luxembourg law. It was entered into the Luxembourg Trade Register on 29 March 1973. The company's main corporate objective is to develop audio-visual media and to lead and manage other companies active in the same field.
Listing
RTL Group S.A. currently has a net worth of €191,845,074. It is divided into 154,742,806 shares without nominal value, which are traded on the Luxembourg and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges. RTL Group S.A. shares are included in the German
SDAX
The SDAX (German abbreviation for ''Small-Cap-deutsche Aktienindex'') is a stock market index composed of 70 small and medium-sized companies in Germany. These so-called ' small caps' rank directly below the MDAX (mid-cap) shares in terms of o ...
, a stock index for medium-sized companies. They are also included in the
SXMP, a sector index for the European media industry.
Bertelsmann holds more than 75% of the shares in RTL Group S.A. The second-largest shareholder is
Silchester International Investors
Silchester International Investors LLP is a London-based investment management company. One of the "designated members" of the limited liability partnership was Silchester Partners Limited until 30 June 2016, which was also the predecessor of the L ...
, a British investment company based in London, which has a stake of around 5%. This shareholding forms part of the group's
free float
In the context of stock markets, the public float or free float represents the portion of shares of a corporation that are in the hands of public investors as opposed to locked-in shares held by promoters, company officers, controlling-interest inv ...
, which has at a stable value of between 20 and 25%.
Management
The highest authority of RTL Group S.A. is its
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
, in which the power to manage and control the group's business is vested. The Board of Directors has 13 members; there are currently eleven men and two women serving on the Board.
Martin Taylor is the Chairman of the Board of Directors; the other members are Thomas Götz, Elmar Heggen, Immanuel Hermreck, Bernd Hirsch, Bernd Kundrun, Guillaume de Posch, Thomas Rabe, Jean-Louis Schiltz, Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, James Singh, Bettina Wulf and Lauren Zalaznick.
The operational business of RTL Group is headed by Thomas Rabe (
Chief Executive Officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
, CEO), Elmar Heggen (
Chief Operating Officer
A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...
, COO and Deputy CEO) and Björn Bauer (
Chief Financial Officer
The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...
, CFO). Together they form the
executive committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
of RTL Group S.A., which is supported by the group management committee and operations management committee. The management boards of RTL Group are based in Luxembourg and Cologne, Germany.
Corporate centre
The headquarters of RTL Group, according to trade law, is located in the so-called "RTL City", which is located at Boulevard Pierre Frieden in the
Kirchberg quarter in the north-east of
Luxembourg City
Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...
. Bertelsmann initially planned to sell the complex and lease it back in 2017 but ultimately decided to delay the transaction for an indefinite period. Besides the Luxembourg headquarters, there is another corporate centre located in the Cologne borough of
Deutz,
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
.
Key figures
In the 2019 financial year, RTL Group generated revenue of around €6.7 billion with a profit of €1.1 billion. The revenue mainly came from advertising (44% television, 4% radio), content production (22%), digital activities (16%) and platform businesses (6%).
RTL Group generated 32% of its revenue in Germany, 22% in France, 16% in the United States, 8% in the Netherlands, 4% in Great Britain and 3% in Belgium.
Divisions
RTL Group operates television channels, radio stations, streaming platforms, content production, a range of digital services and advertising sales. All of its business activities are assigned to 14 areas. The main segments of RTL Group are
Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland
RTL Deutschland (formerly known as ''Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland'') is a German media company based in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in 2007 as a holding company for the German television, broadcasting and content production ...
,
Groupe M6
Metropole Télévision SA, commonly known as Groupe M6 ( en, M6 Group), is a French media holding company. It was formed around the Public television channel M6, launched in March 1987 by the CLT (RTL Télévision) and La Lyonnaise des Eaux.
...
,
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
and
RTL Nederland
RTL Nederland is a Dutch media network, a subsidiary of the RTL Group. The media company is located in Hilversum, although the licences of its TV stations are issued in Luxembourg.
History
The history of the network dates back to 1989 when dutch ...
. We Are Era, RTL Hungary, RTL Luxembourg, SpotX and other businesses all fall into the "others" segment, as does the Group's minority interest in
Atresmedia
Atresmedia Corporación de Medios de Comunicación, S.A., previously Grupo Antena 3, is a Spanish media group, present in the television, radio and filmmaking industries. Significant shareholders include Grupo Planeta and Bertelsmann.
On 6 Marc ...
, a leading Spanish media company.
RTL Deutschland
RTL Deutschland is based in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
and operates the free-to-air channels
RTL Television
RTL (from '), formerly RTL plus and RTL Television, is a German-language free-to-air television channel owned by the RTL Group, headquartered in Cologne. Founded as an offshoot of the German-language radio programme '' ,'' RTL is consider ...
,
VOX (entertainment),
RTLup
RTLup (formerly RTLplus) is a German free-to-air television channel of the RTL Group
RTL Group (for "Radio Television Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate centre in Cologne, German ...
,
RTL Nitro
Nitro is a German free-to-air television channel owned by the RTL Group.
Conception
The slogan of Nitro is „Fernsehen für Helden“ (television for heroes). It describes itself as a "premium entertainment channel" ("Premium-Unterhaltungsse ...
, VOXup, and
ntv NTV may refer to:
Television
* NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh
* NTV (India), Telugu regional channel
* NTV (Kenya)
* NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia
* NTV (Newport Television) ...
(news), along with holding a significant stake in
RTLZWEI. Most of these channels have Austrian and Swiss versions for the insertion of nation-specific advertising. It also offers pay-TV channels such as RTL Crime, RTL Living, RTL Passion and GEO Television. The company additionally operates a streaming service under the name RTL+ (formerly TV Now).
Advertising space for RTL Deutschland is sold by the advertising company Ad Alliance, which also works with other Bertelsmann companies and further partners. RTL Deutschland is also part of Bertelsmann's Content Alliance.
Groupe M6
The headquarters of the Groupe M6 media holding company are located in
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...
in Paris. The company operates the television channels
6ter
6ter (pronounced: ister is a French television network which is available free-to-air through digital terrestrial television, satellite and DSL. It is a subsidiary of the Groupe M6; the name 6ter has been selected for the channel as M6's little "si ...
,
M6 and
W9, the channels
Paris Première
Paris Première is a French public TV channel, available on cable, satellite and the digital terrestrial service, Télévision Numérique Terrestre. It was launched on 15 December 1986 and is now wholly owned by the Groupe M6.
Programming
Ta ...
and
Téva
Téva is a French general-interest public television channel, privately owned, with a female and family focus, belonging to the M6 Group. Téva has been broadcast in 16:9 since 10 November 2009 and in HD quality since 8 November 2011.
History
I ...
, as well as children's channel
Gulli
Gulli (; stylised as gulli) is a French free-to-air television channel focused on kids programming for those aged 3 to 14. It was created as a result of a partnership between Lagardère Active and state-owned broadcaster France Télévisions. ...
. These channels are joined by radio stations such as RTL Radio France and Fun Radio and the streaming service 6play. Salto, a joint streaming service by
France Télévisions
France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (former ...
, Groupe M6 and
TF1, is currently in its test phase. Groupe M6 subsidiaries M6 Film, M6 Studio, SND and Studio 89 Productions are among the best-known production and film rights companies in the French-speaking world. Although RTL Group only owns a minority interest in Groupe M6, it controls the listed company and consolidates it in its balance sheet. On 18 May 2021, Groupe M6 and
Groupe TF1 announced that they had begun negotiations to merge. On 16 September 2022, the merger was officially abandoned. On September 22, 2022,
Thomas Rabe, CEO of RTL Group's parent company,
Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA () is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates, and is also active in the service sector and ...
confirmed that Groupe M6 is up for sale, after the failed merger with TF1 Group. On October 3, 2022, RTL Group confirmed that they wouldn't be selling their stake in Groupe M6
Fremantle
The head office of Fremantle (formerly FremantleMedia) is located in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. The company, which operates in 31 countries, creates, produces and distributes content for broadcasters of RTL Group (including TV channels and streaming platforms) and other clients, for example
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
and
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
. It not only produces films and series (for example ''
Deutschland 86
''Deutschland 86'' () is a 2018 German television series starring Jonas Nay as an agent of East Germany in 1986, in relation to the Angolan Civil War.
It is a sequel to the 2015 series ''Deutschland 83'' and precedes the 2020 series ''Deutschl ...
'') but also shows. Fremantle has attracted global attention with its casting shows such as ''
Got Talent
''Got Talent'' is a British talent show TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's SYCOtv company. It has spawned spin-offs in over 69 countries, in what is now referred to as the 'Got Talent' format, similar to that described by Fremantle ...
'' and ''
Idols'', which have been adapted in a multitude of countries worldwide, and owns popular game shows like ''
The Price Is Right
''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...
'' and ''
Family Feud
''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes.
The show has had three separate runs, the ...
''.
RTL Nederland
RTL Nederland (formerly the Holland Media Group) is a Dutch company based in
Hilversum
Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...
. Its television channels
RTL 4
RTL 4 (Radio Télévision Luxembourg 4) is a Dutch free-to-air, free-to-cable television channel; it is the most-watched commercial station in the country, popular especially with those aged between 20 and 49. RTL 4 is a general entertainment chan ...
,
RTL 5
RTL 5 is a Dutch free-to-cable television channel that was launched on 2 October 1993. It mainly broadcasts American films and hit series but also reality shows, comedy, travel, international shows and local productions including ''Expeditie Robi ...
,
RTL 7
RTL 7 is a Dutch free-to-cable television channel that was launched as ''Veronica'' on 1 September 1995. RTL 7 is RTL Nederland's "men's channel" with action films, reality television about crime and professions, soccer, motorsport and talk sho ...
,
RTL 8
RTL 8 is a Dutch free-to-air, free-to-cable television channel that was launched on 18 August 2007 replacing Tien (TV channel), Tien, previously known as Talpa. RTL 8's main target audience consists of women. It broadcasts soap operas, talk shows ...
,
RTL Z
RTL Z is a Dutch free-to-cable business and financial news television channel. It displays economic changes and the stock exchange news in a banner at the bottom of the screen in the daytime. In the evenings the programming consists of documenta ...
,
RTL Crime,
RTL Lounge
RTL Lounge is a Dutch pay television channel dedicated to drama and lifestyle programmes.
It is operated by RTL Nederland and launched on 2 October 2009.
Programming Domestic
* ''Goede tijden, slechte tijden'' (reruns)
Imported
* ''Baywatch ...
and
RTL Telekids
RTL Telekids is a Dutch pay television kids channel owned by RTL Nederland. In addition, RTL Telekids was broadcasting as a youth block on television channel RTL 8 during daytime till 31 December 2020. Like the rest of the Dutch RTL network, RTL ...
all have licences issued by Luxembourg. RTL Nederland also operates the streaming service
Videoland and the free streaming service
RTL XL
RTL Nederland is a Dutch media network, a subsidiary of the RTL Group. The media company is located in Hilversum, although the licences of its TV stations are issued in Luxembourg.
History
The history of the network dates back to 1989 when dutc ...
. In June 2021
Talpa Network
Talpa Network is a Dutch media conglomerate created by John de Mol Jr. in 2017.
History
Talpa Network was created in 2017 by John de Mol when he merged all his various media assets, De Mol wanted to create a Dutch media conglomerate that cou ...
and RTL Nederland announced an intent to merge; RTL is to hold 70% and Talpa is to hold 30% in the new company, pending approval by the
Dutch ACM and the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
. In January 2022 the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets stated that it could not approve the merger as of yet and that further investigation to the consequences of price, quality and innovation is necessary.
Former divisions
RTL Group or its prececessors previously operated or owned stakes in other TV channels or channel families, including RTL Belgium,
RTL9
RTL9 is a French-language Luxembourgish television channel shown in Luxembourg, France, Monaco, Africa and the French-speaking regions of Switzerland.
History of the channel
Télé-Luxembourg
On 1 July 1954, CLR (Compagnie Luxembourgeoise ...
,
Channel 5,
REN TV
REN TV (russian: РЕН ТВ) is a Russian free-to-air television network, was founded on 1 January 1997 by Irena Lesnevskaya and her son, Dmitry Lesnevsky, who had been running REN TV as a production house for other national Russian television ...
,
RTL Croatia,
Alpha TV
Alpha TV is a Greek free-to-air channel, being one of the biggest stations in Greece. The station features a mix of Greek and foreign shows with an emphasis on information. The studios are located in Kifissia and Pallini. Alpha TV is owned by Alp ...
,
RTL 7
RTL 7 is a Dutch free-to-cable television channel that was launched as ''Veronica'' on 1 September 1995. RTL 7 is RTL Nederland's "men's channel" with action films, reality television about crime and professions, soccer, motorsport and talk sho ...
, and
TVI.
RTL Belgium
The headquarters of RTL Belgium are located in Brussels in the so-called "RTL House". The television channel
RTL-TVI
RTL-TVI is a private French-language Luxembourg based television station in Belgium owned by DPG Media and Groupe Rossel, it was originally owned by the RTL Group until 31 March 2022. Within the French-speaking area of Belgium, it is the most ...
and related channels such as
Club RTL
Club RTL is a Luxembourgish channel of French language based in Kirchberg, Luxembourg-City, Luxembourg and it was owned by DPG Media and Groupe Rossel, it was originally owned by RTL Group until 31 March 2022. The two principals countries of tr ...
and
Plug RTL
Plug RTL is a general Luxembourgish French speaking commercial television chain with international presence and targeting adolescents and young people (15-34 age bracket). The station is particularly popular in francophone parts of Belgium (Wallon ...
form the core of the company's business activities. These channels also have licences issued by Luxembourg, causing numerous problems to them. Being
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
ish channels, they do not face the same requirements and laws as for the Belgian TV channels, creating potential problems for disloyal competition. RTL Belgium additionally operates radio stations such as
Bel RTL
Bel RTL is a commercial radio network broadcasting in Brussels and Wallonia (French-speaking Belgium). The station is owned by the Radio H holding company, which is part of the Luxembourg-based RTL Group. It is now owned by DPG Media and Groupe ...
. Almost all of its services are provided in French. In June 2021 it was announced that RTL Belgium would be sold for €250 million to
DPG Media
DPG Media Group is a Belgian media company also active in the Netherlands and Denmark. It is owned by the Van Thillo family and employs some 6,000 people.
Divisions
The DPG Media Group operates through three national subsidiaries:
* DPG Media ...
and ''
Rossel'', pending regulatory approval.the sale was effectuated On March 31, 2022.
Controversies
Observers have repeatedly criticised RTL Group for having "missed the boat in the streaming era". Thomas Rabe, chairman and chief executive officer of Bertelsmann, has responded to this criticism by campaigning for the deregulation of the highly competitive television market to enable the establishment of national alternatives to the "giants of
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
".
See also
*
European News Exchange The European News Exchange (short: ENEX) is an association of the world’s leading commercial TV broadcasters. Coordinated by the ENEX Centre in Luxembourg, ENEX members share their news content and news production resources in order to gain compet ...
Notes and references
External links
Official websiteof the RTL Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rtl Group
1929 establishments in Luxembourg
Bertelsmann subsidiaries
Brands of Luxembourg
Companies based in Luxembourg City
Companies in the BEL Mid Index
Dutch-language television networks
European Broadcasting Union members
French-language television networks
German-language television networks
Holding companies of Luxembourg
International radio networks
Mass media companies established in 1929
Mass media companies of Luxembourg
Multilingual broadcasters
Multinational companies headquartered in Luxembourg
Pan-European media companies
RTL Group
RTL Group (for "Radio Television Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate centre in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 68 television channels and 31 radio stations in Germany, France and ...
Television networks in France
Television networks in Germany
Companies in the MDAX