RTL Group

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RTL Group SA

logo
legal form Société Anonyme (public limited company)
ISIN LU0061462528
founding July 5, 2000
Seat
management
  • Elmar Heggen ( COO )
  • Björn Bauer ( CFO )
Number of employees 16.264 (⌀)
sales 6.651 billion euros
Branch media
Website www.rtlgroup.com
As of December 31, 2019

The RTL Group (derived from R adio T élévision L uxembourg) is an international media company with headquarters in Luxembourg and another administrative center in Cologne . It operates 68 television channels and 31 radio stations in Germany, France and other European countries. There are also national streaming services , content productions and various digital offers. Important business areas of the RTL Group are Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, Groupe M6, Fremantle , RTL Nederland and RTL Belgium.

The current company was founded in 2000 by Bertelsmann, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) and Pearson . Over the years, Bertelsmann increased its shares so that the Gütersloh Group now owns just over 75% of the shares. In the meantime, the proportion was more than 90%. The RTL Group forms one of eight business areas of the Bertelsmann group and is responsible for over a third of the group turnover and a large part of the result.

history

Historical background

The history of the RTL Group goes back to the 1920s. The company was founded in 1931 with the Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion (CLR for short), one of the first private broadcasting companies . After the end of the Second World War, the company went into television and consequently called itself Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT) in 1954. Under the abbreviation RTL (for Radio Télévision Luxembourg) private offers arose in several European countries. With the liberalization of the European media markets in the 1980s, television became increasingly important compared to radio.

The shareholders of the CLR and CLT mainly included Belgian and French media companies. Over the decades there have been repeated disputes about supremacy in the company and its subsidiaries . In the 1990s, Bertelsmann finally prevailed. The group had gradually acquired a majority in the German television broadcaster RTL . After a legal dispute with RTL / CLT, Bertelsmann announced in 1996 that it would bring UFA's television business into the CLT-UFA joint venture. This gave both German TV channels such as RTL and VOX and international channels , including M6 from France, a common roof.

Growth and IPO

The CLT-UFA grew not only organically, but also through takeovers. In 2000, Bertelsmann and Pearson announced that they would merge their television, radio and production activities. Under the name RTL Group, a leading European network of television broadcasters and radio stations with a worldwide production business was created, which from 2001 traded under the name FremantleMedia . This combination should provide a European response to US media power.

RTL Group's initial listing took place on July 26, 2000 on the London Stock Exchange . The existing Audiofina company shell, which was already listed on the stock exchange, was used for this in order to reduce administrative costs. The issue price of the RTL Group share was based on the closing prices of Audiofina in Luxembourg and Brussels. The RTL Group share replaced the Audiofina listing.

Takeover by Bertelsmann

Although Bertelsmann initially only had a minority stake in RTL Group, the German group claimed a leading role under the leadership of Thomas Middelhoff . A share swap with Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) in 2001 finally gave Bertelsmann a majority stake in RTL Group, thus securing a leading position in the European television market.

Over the years, Bertelsmann’s share rose to over 90%. In order to reduce administrative costs, Bertelsmann initially wanted to take over the RTL Group completely, but failed in 2007 due to ambiguities in Luxembourg law. The group then changed its strategy and in 2013 sold a minority stake on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in order to finance the growth of the Bertelsmann group, especially in the digital sector. The RTL Group's secondary listing and the associated further opening to external investors received positive comments in the media.

Recent developments

As early as 2001, the RTL Group was responsible for a large part of Bertelsmann's sales and profits. In the group structure introduced in 2016, the company continues to be a key business area. Thomas Rabe , CEO of Bertelsmann, has also been heading the RTL Group since April 2019 . Under his leadership, the company is pursuing a strengthening of its core businesses, the development of local streaming services and the further development of advertising technologies. Alliances and partnerships with other European media companies also play an important role.

Corporate structure

Legal form, subject

RTL Group SA acts as the parent company for the entire group of companies . It is a Société Anonyme , i.e. a public limited company under Luxembourg law. It was entered in the commercial register on March 29, 1973 . The business purpose essentially comprises the development of audiovisual media as well as the administration and management of other companies that are also active in this area.

Stock exchange listing

The capital of RTL Group SA today amounts to 191,845,074 euros. It is divided into 154,742,806 shares with no par value, which are traded in Luxembourg and Frankfurt . The RTL Group SA share is part of the German MDAX, a share index for medium-sized companies. The share is also included in the SXMP, a sector index for the European media industry.

Bertelsmann holds over 75% of the shares in RTL Group SA With a stake of around 5%, Silchester International Investors, a British investment company headquartered in London, is the second largest shareholder. This stake is allocated to the free float , which is stable between 20 and 25%.

management

The supreme body of RTL Group SA is the Board of Directors , which unites the management and the controlling body. According to the Articles of Association, the Board of Directors consists of 13 people, currently eleven men and two women. Martin Taylor (Chairman) chairs the Board of Directors; 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 in the hands of Thomas Rabe ( Chief Executive Officer , CEO), Elmar Heggen ( Chief Operating Officer , COO; Deputy CEO) and Björn Bauer ( Chief Financial Officer , CFO). They form the Executive Committee of RTL Group SA, which is supported by the Group Management Committee and the Operations Management Committee . The RTL Group's management is based in Luxembourg and Cologne.

Headquarters

The commercial headquarters of the RTL Group is located in the so-called "RTL City". This is located on the Boulevard Pierre Frieden on the Kirchberg plateau in the northeast of Luxembourg City. In 2017 Bertelsmann wanted to sell the building complex and lease it back, but then postponed the business indefinitely.

Key figures

In the 2019 financial year, RTL Group's sales amounted to around 6.7 billion euros with a profit of 1.1 billion euros. The revenues came mainly from advertising (44% television, 4% radio), content production (22%), digital activities (16%) and platform business (6%). RTL Group generated 32% of its sales in Germany, 22% in France, 16% in the United States, 8% in the Netherlands, 4% in Great Britain and 3% in Belgium.

in billions of euros 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
sales 6.029 6.237 6.373 6.505 6.651
Profit ( EBITA ) 1.167 1.205 1.248 1.171 1.139
Employees ( FTE average) 10,325 10,699 11,011 10,809 10,747

Business areas

The RTL Group operates television channels, radio stations, streaming services, content productions and various digital offers as well as marketing activities. All businesses are assigned to 14 areas. The Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, Groupe M6, Fremantle, RTL Nederland and RTL Belgium deserve special mention. Divimove , RTL Croatia, RTL Hungary, RTL Luxembourg, SpotX and other businesses are grouped under other activities. This also applies to the minority stake in Atresmedia, a leading Spanish media company.

Mediengruppe RTL Germany

Logo of the media group RTL Germany

Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland has its headquarters in Cologne . The company owns the free TV channels RTL Television and VOX (entertainment) as well as ntv (news). There are also pay TV channels such as RTL Crime , RTL Living , RTL Passion and GEO Television . The company offers a leading streaming service under the name TVNOW .

The offers of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland are marketed by the Ad Alliance. The company works with other Bertelsmann companies and other partners. In addition, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland is part of the Bertelsmann Group's Content Alliance.

Groupe M6

Groupe M6 logo

Groupe M6 is headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine in Paris . For example, the company operates the TV channels 6ter, M6 and W9 as well as Paris Première and Téva. Then there is Gulli, a successful children's channel. The television stations are supplemented by radio stations such as RTL and Fun Radio as well as the streaming service 6play. Salto, a joint streaming service from France TV, M6 and TF1 , is in the test phase. The subsidiaries M6 Film and M6 Studio as well as SND and Studio 89 Productions are among the best-known production and rights companies in French-speaking countries.

RTL Group owns a minority stake in Groupe M6, but controls the listed company and consolidates it on its balance sheet.

Fremantle

Fremantle logo

Fremantle (formerly FremantleMedia) is headquartered in London . The company, which is represented in 31 countries, designs, produces and sells content for RTL Group's television channels and other customers, including Amazon Prime Video and Netflix . In addition to films and series (including “ Deutschland 86 ”), the range also includes shows. Fremantle gained international fame through its casting shows such as the " Got Talent " and " Idols " series, which are being adapted in numerous countries around the world.

RTL Nederland

RTL Nederland (formerly Holland Media Group) is a Dutch company managed from Hilversum . The television channels RTL 4 , RTL 5 , RTL 7 , RTL 8 , RTL Z as well as RTL Crime, RTL Lounge and RTL Telekids all work with a Luxembourg license. RTL Nederland's streaming service is called Videoland.

RTL Belgium

RTL Belgium is headquartered in Brussels . The core of the company is formed by the TV station RTL-TVI and related stations such as Club RTL and Plug RTL . These also broadcast with a Luxembourg license. There are also radio stations, including Bel RTL. Almost without exception, the offer is provided in French.

criticism

Observers repeatedly criticized the RTL Group having "missed the boat in the age of streaming". Against this background, Thomas Rabe, in his position as CEO of Bertelsmann and Chief Executive Officer of the RTL Group, campaigned for the highly competitive television market to be deregulated in order to develop national alternatives to the “giants from Silicon Valley”.

See also

Web links

Commons : RTL Group  - collection of images, videos and audio files
 Wikinews: Category: RTL Group  - in the news

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Christian Muller: RTL Group: A clear commitment to Luxembourg . In: Luxemburger Tageblatt . April 20, 2012.
  2. ↑ a b Thomas Lückerath: Viva Colonia: RTL Group management moves to Cologne. In: DWDL. August 28, 2019, accessed June 15, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b c Annual Report 2019. (PDF) RTL Group, accessed on June 15, 2020 (English).
  4. ↑ James Harding, Lutz Meier: Today, Europe's largest TV group emerges. In: Financial Times Germany . April 7, 2000, p. 1 .
  5. ↑ Bertelsmann increases stake in RTL. In: Börsen-Zeitung . February 18, 2000, p. 9 .
  6. ↑ a b Petra Münster: RTL Group 90 percent at Bertelsmann . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . March 20, 2002, p. 25 .
  7. ↑ a b Annual Report 2019. (PDF) Bertelsmann, accessed on June 15, 2020 (English).
  8. ↑ a b The History. (PDF) RTL Group, accessed on June 15, 2020 (English).
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  12. ↑ leap forward . In: Der Spiegel . August 14, 1995 ( spiegel.de [accessed June 15, 2020]).
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  18. ↑ Bertelsmann and Pearson seal alliance. In: The world . April 8, 2000, p. 13 .
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  30. ↑ Bertelsmann secures supremacy in the TV business. In: Handelsblatt . February 6, 2001, p. 25 .
  31. ↑ Thomas Clark: RTL Group remains on the stock exchange for the time being. In: Financial Times Germany . March 20, 2002, p. 5 .
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  37. ↑ Andreas Wolf: RTL also has something to offer investors. In: Wirtschaftsblatt . June 13, 2013, p. 15 .
  38. ^ Annual report 2000/01. (PDF) Bertelsmann, accessed on June 15, 2020 .
  39. ↑ Henrik Mortsiefer: Bertelsmann is positioning itself more broadly. In: Der Tagesspiegel . March 23, 2016, p. 16 .
  40. ↑ Bertelsmann boss Rabe will also lead RTL in the future. In: Der Spiegel . April 1, 2019 ( spiegel.de [accessed June 15, 2020]).
  41. ↑ Annette Becker: Head of RTL Group resigns - Bertelsmann CEO takes over. In: Börsen-Zeitung . April 2, 2019, p. 16 .
  42. ↑ Steffen Klusmann, Thomas Schulz: Alone we only dig our own grave. In: Der Spiegel . March 16, 2019, p. 78 .
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  56. ↑ Michel Thiel: Sale of RTL City delayed. In: Luxemburger Wort . August 30, 2017 ( wort.lu [accessed June 15, 2020]).
  57. ↑ RTL increases profit thanks to production and digital business as well as sales of Universum Film. In: Meedia. March 13, 2020, accessed June 15, 2020 .
  58. ↑ Volker Scharninghausen: RTL Group: Atresmedia in Spain increases group profit. In: New Business. March 9, 2020, accessed June 24, 2020 .
  59. ^ Julian Clover: M6 completes acquisition of Lagardère TV Business. In: Broadband TV News. September 3, 2019, accessed on July 12, 2020 .
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