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Nerve Centreof the NewsScoop after scoop, RTL Radio Franceincreases its significance

Germany

RTL Group takes home nine German Television AwardsFrance

M6 builds further on good prime-time resultsUnited Kingdom

FremantleMedia sells programmepackage to FoxtelBelgium

Belgian-style Youmake.tv

the RTL Group intranetweek 40

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A medium that countsFrance's top politicians frequently like turningto RTL Radio when they have something to sayand often speak exclusively to the radio stationthat is talk of the country.France - 25 September 2007

“We adjusted our growth forecasts when dra-wing up the 2008 budget. They are now at 2.2per cent”, French Prime Minister François Fillontold RTL Radio. Whilst the programme was stillon air, that quotation went round the world viathe news agencies — the latest in a series ofscoops by RTL Radio France. The guest list ofRTL Radio's news team reads like an excerptfrom the Who’s Who of French politicians. Thecrème de la crème of the French political sceneregularly appear as guests on RTL, talking aboutthe issues that stir the country.

Not long ago, in an interview with RTL Radio,Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner explainedthat France was no longer ruling out the possibi-lity of a war against Iran because of the Iraniannuclear programme: “We should brace oursel-ves for the worst-case scenario, which is war”,he said, underlining the French government’stough stance in the conflict with Tehran overnuclear weapons. And Claude Guéant gave RTLwhat has so far been the only interview with asecretary-general at the Elysée Palace since theadvent of the Fifth French Republic in 1958. Inthat interview he explained how the release ofthe Bulgarian nurses condemned to death inLibya had been secured.

Jacques Esnous, Director of Information at RTL,knows why high-ranking politicians prefer RTL toother media: “RTL is the leading French radiostation. Politicians know that when they comehere and appear live on our programmes, espe-cially in the morning, more than 2 million French

listeners tune in to hear what they have to say.That’s phenomenal. Nothing in France comesclose to that, apart from TF1’s TV news pro-gramme, which hardly invites any politicians toappear on it. But RTL Radio’s isn’t just strong innumerical terms; it is a medium that genuinelycounts for something in France. The informationand explanations it broadcasts are taken up bypress agencies, newspapers and TV channels,so they frequently shape public opinion”, hesaid.

The high quality of RTL’s coverage of the presi-dential election in France further consolidatedlisteners’ and politicians’ faith in the radio sta-

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French Prime Minister François Fillon

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner


tion's information programmes. As JacquesEsnous was quick to add: “RTL was right at theheart of the presidential election. It was whenspeaking on RTL Radio that Lionel Jospinannounced he would not be standing as a can-didate. It was on RTL that Nicolas Sarkozy andSégolène Royal made their final pre-electionappearances. And it was on RTL that FrançoisBayrou [president of the Union for FrenchDemocracy and the centrist candidate in thepresidential election] accused Nicolas Sarkozyof pressuring the media”.

The daily weekday programmes determiningwhat become political issues in France are theinterview L’invité de RTL with Jean-MichelApathie and Le fait politique presented by AlainDuhamel. Another programme presented byJean-Michel Apathie, Le Grand Jury, is broad-cast early on Sunday evenings, the fruit ofcooperation between RTL, the daily newspaperLe Figaro and the news channel LCI.

“RTL has talented news editors with strong per-sonalities. French politicians virtually queue upto be quoted or interviewed by them”, JacquesEsnous emphasised.

For decades now, RTLRadio has been one ofthe key sources of infor-mation for French peo-ple. This fact is reflectedin the latest Média-métrie ratings, publi-shed in September2007 and covering the

period July to August 2007. Compared with thesame period the previous year, RTL Radio'sratings were up in all the categories measured.Its leadership in terms of accumulated audiencewas up 1.3 points to 11.6 per cent, and its mar-ket share was up 1.2 points to 12.4 percent. Thisperformance was due, amongst other things, tosuccessful information programmes on whichthe radio station's 130 journalists work round theclock every day, to bring RTL’s listeners compre-hensive, reliable, up-to-date news.

Jacques Esnous explained: “The strategy pur-sued by RTL Radio is to be the radio station ofchoice in all news domains. We set out to be thebest at taking up listeners' interests by offeringthem as much exclusive information as we can.We want our programmes to reach the highestnumber of people, whether top executives orordinary citizens”.

To achieve these aims Jacques Esnous has setan editorial line to guide his radio station's jour-nalists: “The information broadcast on RTL mustbe both popular [in the noble sense of the term]and of high quality. That takes effort and preci-sion”.

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Jean-Michel Apathie Alain Duhamel


RTL and Vox witha successful startto the new seasonWith a market share of 34.0 per cent, RTL'sGerman family of channels managed to boost itsratings yet again by a very clear margincompared with the same month the previousyear, leaving rival ProSiebenSat.1 lagging everfurther behind. Germany - 2 October 2007

Commanding a market share of 16.6 per cent,RTL is the undisputed number one amongyoung viewers, with sharply rising ratings up0.9 percentage points since September 2006.Over five points behind come ProSieben (with11.5 per cent, down 1.3), Sat.1 (10,7 per cent,down 0.9), Vox (8.5 per cent, up 1.0), ARD (7.2per cent, down 0.4) and ZDF (6.7 per cent,down 0.1).

Compared with September 2006, RTL'sGerman family of channels has clearlyextended its lead over the ProSiebenSat.1Group among young viewers. For whereasthe combined market share achieved byRTL Television, Vox, RTL II, Super RTL andN-TV has risen by 1.7 points to 34.0 percent since September 2006 (32.3 per cent),ProSieben, Sat.1, Kabel 1 and N24 togetherlost 1.9 points, managing just 29.0 per cent(as against 30.9 per cent in September2006).

In September, RTL extended its lead in allprogramme genres. Particular hits in theratings included Formula 1 racing, theshows Wer wird Millionär?, 6! Setzen andthe two-part event TV film Tarragona.

Vox can take pride in setting a new ratingsrecord, registering a market share of 8.5 per-cent in the target group of adults aged between14 and 49, a performance that topped therecord set the previous month (8.1 per cent) bya further 4 per cent and is an impressive 13.0per cent up on the channel's performanceduring the same month last year (7.5 per cent).

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Gunther Jauch

Tarragona


RTL Grouptakes home nineGerman Television AwardsRTL Television and Teamworx clear the tableat the German Television Awards.Vox receives coveted trophy for first time.Germany - 1 October 2007

Super Nanny Katharina Saalfrank, RTL newsanchor Peter Kloeppel, Vox cookery show Dasperfekte Dinner and Teamworx films Die Flucht,Tornado - Der Zorn des Himmels, Nicht allewaren Mörder and Rose were all recognisedSaturday evening at the German TelevisionAwards founded by ARD, RTL, Sat.1 and ZDF.Teamworx celebrated a total of six awards.

Vox was particularly pleased with its first everaward. Vox managing director Frank Hoffmannsaid: “Das perfekte Dinner is simply brilliant. I'mdelighted that the jury recognised the particular

appeal of this show and theoutstanding work by all whohelp to make the ‘Dinner’ areal pleasure each evening.”

A total of 3.43 million viewerstuned in to RTL to watch theglitzy awards ceremony at theColoneum in Cologne repre-senting a market share of 16.4per cent of the target audience.

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Peter Kloeppel

German Television Awards laureates

Further details about

the winners in each

category are available

atwww.deutscherfernsehpreis.de/

content/blogcategory/16/123


The myth of trash TVA recent long-term study by the University ofCologne shows that there is no correlationbetween viewers’ level of education andchannel preferences.Germany - 27 September 2007

The term ‘trash TV’ (or ‘TV for the underclas-ses’) describes low-brow channels or program-mes and was first used by the German satiricalmagazine Titanic. The term ‘neue Unter-schicht’, meaning ‘new underclass’ was firstcoined by the historian Paul Nolte in his 2004book Generation Reform. In the book, whichset off a debate about 'the underclass', theterm was used to refer to poorly educated peo-ple. The word was subsequently popularisedby the humorist Harald Schmidt, who used it onhis TV programme.

Initially, media criticism focussed primarily oncommercial television, and any attempts by pri-vate channels to counter such criticisms werechallenged and dismissed as biased, as werethe pictures of viewing habits painted by thesales companies. Such criticism is now beingundermined by the University of Cologne study.In it, media scientist Dr Jörg Hagenah andsociology professor Heiner Meulemann analy-sed the data gathered by TV market resear-chers AGF/Gfk Fernsehforschung from thechannels ARD, ZDF, RTL, Sat.1 and ProSiebenbetween 1988 and 2004. Their conclusion?Viewers' level of education and income have noimpact on their choice of channels.

Dr Hagenah offered the following explanation:“At the risk of oversimplifying, you could saythat everybody watches everything, so thatthey can have their say about it with everyone”.

An unabridged version of the study has beenpublished in the German specialist journalPublizistik, which focuses on the press, radio,film, rhetoric, public relations, advertising andopinion-forming.

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The summer was kind to RTL Radio FranceJuly and August 2007 were crowned with success for France's favourite radiostation, with an additional 700,000 listeners tuning in.France - 1 October 2007

RTL Radio has retained its role as the undispu-ted leader across all categories, and remainsthe number one radio station in terms of itsaccumulated audience, audience share and lis-tening duration (2 hours, 29 minutes a day).

Compared to its performance in summer 2006,RTL even succeeded in increasing its audiencein all the measured criteria. Its accumulatedaudience leapt by 1.3 points to 11.6 per cent

and its audience share increased by 1.2 points,reaching 12.4 per cent. Finally, its averagequarter-hour score rose by 0.2 points, which isequivalent to 775,000 listeners at any moment.

So the statistics clearly prove that RTL isFrance's leading radio station, in summer andwinter alike.

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M6 builds further ongood prime-time resultsBetween January and September 2007, M6 wasthe only TV channel in France to improve itsperformance.France - 2 October 2007

Over that period, M6 was watched on averageby more than 3.5 million viewers, 100,000 morethan the previous year. The channel's success isreflected in the number of evenings on which itsprogrammes were watched by more than 4 mil-lion viewers: In 2006 there were 85 such eve-nings, but this year there have already been 103.This corresponds to a 21 per cent increase.

The past month has seen two particularly suc-cessful series: Prison Break, which started itssecond season, and NCIS. Other broadcasts

that attracted big audiences included the filmsMen in Black I and II, the information program-mes Capital, Enquête exclusive and 66 Minutes,and the coaching format D&CO.

Enquête exclusive, Bernard de la Villardiere

D&CO, Valerie Damidot


FremantleMediasells programmepackage to FoxtelFremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) has sold asubstantial package of drama and documentaryprogramming to Australia’s leading subscriptionTV provider, Foxtel.United Kingdom - 1 October 2007

Top shows included in the deal are the edgy,new series Love You To Death, which tells twis-ted tales, drawn from real life, of spouses whokilled their loved (or not-so-loved) ones; thesmart, sexy university-based drama The BestYears; series two and the Christmas special ofthe entertainment show The Janice DickinsonModeling Agency; both parts of the hit docu-mentary Iconoclasts; and the highly successful,controversial political documentary.

Paul Ridley, FME's Senior Vice President,Sales, Asia Pacific, brokered the deal withFoxtel.

Les Sampson, General Manager, Acquisitions,Advertising and Programme Sales at Foxtelsaid, “It is great to be working with FME onwhat is probably our largest acquisition so farfrom their programming line up. These showsare all unique and just a little bit different”.

FME CEO David Ellender said: “The depth andrange of our programming portfolio has establi-shed our position as one of the world’s leadingcontent distributors. We are continuing toexpand and develop our range of dramas anddocumentaries by incorporating high-qualityshows from award-winning independent produ-cers around the world”.

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Love You to Death


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Asset deal finalised in the NetherlandsThe asset deal with John de Mol’s Talpa Media Holding in the Netherlands has nowbeen closed. The RTL Group family has grown a little bit bigger.The Netherlands - 3 October 2007

Following the announcement of the deal on 26June 2007 and the unconditional regulatoryapproval by the Dutch competition authority inAugust, the details had to be negotiated bet-ween RTL Group and Talpa Media. Thosenegotiations were successfully concluded lastFriday.

The leading Dutch radio station Radio 538 willnow be integrated into RTL Nederland, whichhas also acquired certain TV assets from TalpaMedia. The RTL 4 programme schedule, forexample, has been boosted with football rightsincluding the Dutch Football Premiere Leagueand successful dramas also acquired as part ofthe deal. In return, Talpa Media now holds a26.3 per cent stake in RTL Nederland.

On 18 August 2007, RTL Nederland launched afourth Free-TV channel, RTL 8, to strengthenand complement the existing family of chan-nels (RTL 4, 5 and 7). RTL 8 has a distinctlyfemale touch and its programme mix includestalk shows, soaps and docu-soaps, realityshows, casting shows and films. As previouslyreported on Backstage, the “new” RTL family ofchannels in the Netherlands achieved a marketshare of 31.6 per cent among 20 to 49-year-olds in September, up 2.1 percentage pointsfrom the previous month.

Following the deal, RTL Group now owns inte-rests in 39 television channels and 30 radio sta-tions in ten countries.


Belgian-style Youmake.tvFollowing the successful launch of the website Youmake.tv in Luxembourg, RTLDigital has launched a Belgian equivalent of the video community website.Belgium - 27 September 2007

The Luxembourg website Youmake.tv waslaunched by RTL Lëtzebuerg on 18 September(as previously reported by Backstage). On 25September, RTL Digital, the RTL Belgium sub-sidiary dealing with multimedia activities, laun-ched Belgium's first video portal.

The new service is specially tailored to theBelgian target group, with a clear focus on localcontent. Users can register, create their ownpersonalised web pages, upload videos, write ablog, contact other users and rate videos.

The programmes broadcast by RTLGroup's Belgian TV channels and radiostations will also be available onYoumake.tv. For example, the channelPlug Replay will offer viewers thechance to watch Plug TV's best pro-grammes after they have been broad-cast on TV. There are also plans tolaunch a comedy channel, a car andmotor sport channel and special Mintand Radio Contact channels.

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Youmake.tv

check out

youmake.tv


Antena 3 seeks young sports prodigiesAntena 3 has launched a special talent show via its video community website tuclip.com.

Spain - 4 October 2007

Parents can register their kids with a talent forsports for the competition Champions en casa.All they have to do is register as users ontuclip.com and upload videos of their talentedoffspring in action. The decision about who winswill be left to the audience, with viewers votingfor their favourites directly via the website.

The competition covers practitioners of everyconceivable sport, including football, tennis,swimming and basketball. The aim of the com-

petition is to be discovered. The idea for thecompetition on tuclip.com was inspired bythe Australian lad Rhain Davis, who pos-ted videos of his games on YouTube andwas promptly discovered by the Englishfootball club Manchester United.

The winner of Champions en casa willdefinitely receive tickets to a ChampionsLeague football match, but could stand towin far more than that!

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check out

tuclip.com

Super RTL remainsmedia partner andsponsor of the HamburgChildren's Film Festival Super RTL presenter David Wilms will beopening a busy week of action at the HamburgChildren's Film Festival.Germany - 28 September 2007

The feast of children's films gets underway inHamburg today as the city stages its Children'sFilm Festival, part of the Hamburg Film Festival,for the fifth time. Super RTL has been involvedright from the word go, and this year tooGermany's favourite children's channel is onceagain a media partner and sponsor of the festi-val.

Super RTL presenter David Wilms will presideover the opening of the festival, accompaniedby Heike Makatsch, the female patron of thisyear's festival, amongst others. Over thecoming week, children will be able to have fun

finding out about films and TV, attend works-hops and choose their favourite film from a top-quality selection.

“The Children's Film Festival has always attrac-ted hordes of viewers”, said Super RTL CEOClaude Schmit, “so it's only natural that weshould support this major event. Super RTL haslong advocated the fostering children's mediacompetence. The Hamburg Children's FilmFestival makes a major contribution towardsdoing just that, which is another reason whywe've taken it so much to heart”.

Nina Moghaddam and David Wilms


A double victory for UFA's production armBoth parts of the historical event movie Die Frau vom Checkpoint Charlie (TheWoman from Checkpoint Charlie) scored excellent ratings. The second part of thefilm was watched by more than 11 million people, equivalent to a market share of 28per cent.Germany - 3 October 2007

RTL Nederland again the market leaderin SeptemberThe RTL family of channels in the Netherlands achieved a market share of 31.6 percent among 20 to 49-year-olds, up 2.1 percentage points from the previous month.The Netherlands - 1 October 2007

Back to natureNew on RTL II, in Jamie At Home British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver will now alsocook for German viewers using ingredients taken from his own garden.Germany - 2 October 2007

RTL Crime extends its reachStarting in October, the digital channel operated by RTL Television will be availableat no extra charge as part of the pay-TV package Premiere Thema.Germany - 28 September 2007

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