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Powerfulmarket leaderDirk Gerkens, CEO of RTL Klub,continues the Hungarian sucess story

France

Paris Première - Cheeky, demanding and creative Fresh presenters and new programmes for W9Spain

Antena offers drama series via mobile phonesUnited Kingdom

FremantleMedia reveals thrillingnew entertainmentPeople

Appointments at RTL Lëtzebuerg

the RTL Group intranetweek 39

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RTL Klub in pole positionfor the futureThe CEO of Hungarian TV channel RTL Klub,Dirk Gerkens, talks to Backstage about newprogrammes, diversification, digital switch-overand the need to change for Hungarian mediaregulations.Hungary - 25 September 2007

RTL Klub has built up a powerful position sinceits launch in 1997 and has established itself inpole position as the market leader in the 18 to 49age range. In the first six months of 2007 RTLKlub remained the undisputed market leader inHungary with a primetime audience share of34.4 per cent in the key demographic of 18 to 49year-old viewers (2006: 34.8 per cent), 8 percen-tage points ahead of its closest rival TV2.

For the full year 2006 RTL Klub also was thenumber one with programme highlights such asthe daily soap, Barátok Közt which drew an ave-rage 39.4 per cent audience share in primetimein the target group, and the reality show Gyözikewhich reported an average audience share of38.9 per cent. Overall, 16 out of the 20 mostpopular programmes in 2006 on Hungarian tele-vision were broadcast by RTL Klub.

RTL Klub airs in the morning 30 minutes ofcurrent news. This new news programmepremiered on Monday. Is it worth investing insuch an expensive programme? First of all, taking into consideration thatcontent-wise, the majority of the programme isready, it is not so expensive after all. On theother hand, the morning news helps to definethe reputation of the channel, and a market lea-der needs to keep that in mind. Naturally, thatdoes not mean that the programme is not acommercial success.

Talking about programmes, what is awaitingviewers in the autumn? We are preparing to launch two large budget ori-ginal productions in the autumn season: Csillag

születik (A Star is Born) and Pókerarc (PokerFace). The successful American series will alsocontinue, of course, with Prison Break, CSI,Bones and Lost to mention but a few as willsport broadcasts such as boxing and theHungarian national football team.

Is it possible for RTL Klub to maintain thegrowth rate of recent years? We expect further growth but at a somewhat slo-wer rate after several years of high growth. Themarket is no longer expanding as fast as oncewas and it is becoming increasingly fragmented:new cable channels keep emerging and theirviewing figures increase to the detriment ofthose of the large channels.

RTL Klub has changed its communicationstrategy, too, this year. We did this because we felt that the newsappearing in various media did not reflect ourposition clearly. Suffice it to say that in 2007,RTL Klub has won the ratings race and has thelargest audience in the 18-49 age group in com-mercial terms over more than 90 per cent of theevening.

You are striving to increase your diversifica-tion businesses… Yes, RTL Klub is strengthening its online invest-ments. We have just purchased NetPiac.hu, anonline DVD and bookstore to extend our ownKlub Publishing, which supplies major hyper-market chains and already sells close to one mil-lion DVDs annually. We want to convert Netpiacin a full e-commerce platform.

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Mariann Falusi, Csillag születik jury


The NHH (National Telecommuni-cationsAuthority) released the working papers forthe multiplex tender last week; tenders willbe invited in the autumn and terrestrial digitalbroadcasting may be launched next year. Willthe first nationwide multiplex include RTLKlub? What else would it include if not our channel?However, let us not forget that the potential mar-ket for terrestrial digital broadcasting is shrinkingsteadily. The number of cable and digital pay-tvsubscribers is increasing rapidly and more andmore people are choosing IPTV. The remainder,in other words those viewers who use only anindoor aerial to receive broadcasts, are not themost profitable customers but still need to beable to watch television. Therefore, it is less clearwhether the digital switchover will bring aboutdramatic changes in the market or not; any suchchanges will probably be in terms of marketshare rather than market position.

The new Media Act may be adopted by thetime digital broadcasting starts and under thenew law, the present restrictions concerningcross-ownership are expected to be aboli-shed making it possible for the nationwideterrestrial channels to launch their own cablechannels. The legal regulations have to change to enableRTL Klub to build up a family of channels similarto those built up by RTL Group in all its markets.Fragmentation in Hungary is rapid mainly due tothe success of Digi TV, the second pay-tv plat-form, and therefore we need to be able todefend our position. Why should Hungary be anexception?

The leading commercial channels have so farlet cable providers have their programmingfor free, but this situation is now changing:your commercial competitor TV2 has alreadystarted negotiations with the major marketplayers and will therefore presumably receivemoney in exchange for its programmes indue course. What is RTL Klub's view on this?That is a complex problem. Certainly, there willbe changes. However, the first thing we wouldlike to agree on is the basic principles, or if youlike, the payment philosophy.

The channel's best show in terms of ratingsis Barátok közt (Between Friends), episodesof which have often been in the top five in theweekly audience ratings. Does the CEO fol-low the storyline?I work and travel quite a lot so I do not reallyhave time to keep up with the events in the plot.However, I always follow the viewing figures withinterest.

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Andras StohlNora OrdogIstvan Vago Balasz Sebestyen

Dirk Gerkens

Dirk Gerkens, born in 1968, joined RTLGroup in 1995 as deputy to the Head ofTV activities. After studying economicsand journalism, he started his career in1992 as deputy to the CEO of theBarcelona based bookclub ofBertelsmann. In 1997, he was part of thelaunch team of a TV channel in Hungary.He is CEO of RTL Klub since 2001.


Cheeky, demandingand creativeFrench broadcaster M6 Group’s TV channelParis Première is kicking off the 2007/2008season with plenty of new programmes.France - 20 September 2007

Paris Première presented its new programmeschedule in Paris. This season the channel willmainly focus on magazines, lifestyle program-mes, events coverage, series and films.

In the magazine department, one new arrival isthe Saturday media magazine Pif Paf, presen-ted by Philippe Vandel, in which journalists andselected viewers rate TV programmes that haveeither already been broadcast or are scheduledfor the near future.

Miss France 1999 Maréva Galanter, ParisPremière’s new face, will present Do You DoYou Scopitone, the magazine devoted to musicfrom the 60s and 70s. Finally, Priscilla Telmonwill present a new environmental magazineentitled La terre est bleue comme une orange(The Earth Is as Blue as an Orange).

In addition to the popular series Nip/Tuck,Scrubs and Hôtel Babylon, the channel will bescreening the US hit programme Shark and theunprecedented Spanish success Genesis àl’origine du crime.

Where events are concerned, Paris Premièrewill cover the full range, namely sportingevents, top concerts and plays. So all aspectsof the cultural scene in Paris will be covered.

Movie buffs among the channel's viewers willbe delighted to see the programme scheduleincluding French films like Le Moustachu byDominique Chaussois and Hollywood produc-tions like Casino by Martin Scorsese.

Paris Première CEO Christopher Baldelli explai-ned: “Boosted by positive financial resultsagain, Paris Première remains ambitious and isinvesting in a range of programmes hithertounprecedented in digital TV. The result is ahigh-quality channel that more and more peo-ple are watching”.

A year after celebrating its 20th birthday, ParisPremière has become something of a fixture inthe French media landscape. Last season,roughly 10 million viewers a day tuned in. Andbetween the beginning and end of last seasonthe programme attracted more than 1.4 newviewers. The culture channel can be receivedvia cable, satellite and DTT.

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Philippe Vandel

Genesis SharkPriscilla Telmon


FremantleMediareveals thrillingnew entertainmentThe new series Murder will make itsinternational debut and the drama Fanny Hillwill be as well available for international salefor the first time at Mipcom.United Kingdom - 25 September 2007

FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) will presentvarious entertainment genres at Mipcom inCannes this October.

Headlining FME's entertainment genre is thenew investigation series Murder that offers aclever twist on the usual case-solving format.The programme, which is hosted by seniorhomicide detective Tommy LeNoir, gives realpeople the chance to unravel a true homicidepulled directly from police files.

FME has launched amongst others the delecta-ble drama Fanny Hill. The drama follows thestory of a young, orphaned country girl whofalls into prostitution and works her way up thesocial ladder of 18th century London.

Returning to Cannes with a second series is themusic show, Live From Abbey Road. Therenowned recording studio invites viewersthrough its famous doors oncemore to meet a host of new andestablished international A-listartists.

Project Runway returns with afourth series. Hosted by super-model Heidi Klum, this realityseries follows fifteen fashiondesigners as they are given theopportunity to have their des-igns shown in front of the globalfashion community in New Yorkand displayed in the pages ofElle magazine.

Also to see is the return of The JaniceDickinson Modelling Agency in season three.Janice continues to make the transformationfrom model to mogul by starting and runningher own Hollywood modelling agency.

A new third series of the lifestyle hit, TheMartha Stewart Show, is also on offer atMipcom. The show is anchored by entertainingand informative segments and puts the spot-light on Martha's sense of humour and love offun. Every episode features people who haveaccomplished extraordinary things.

Sir Alan Sugar makes his international debut atCannes in The Apprentice, as he tests the ner-ves and brains of the hungriest hopefuls in theUK's business world with series one and twoavailable for international sale.

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Murder

Tommy LeNoirMartha Stewart


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Antena 3 mobileAntena 3 is making all episodes of its drama series available via mobile phone for thefirst time in Spain. Spain - 21 September 2007

Antena 3 has teamed up with Vodafone to setup a new mobile channel, which will show avariety of Antena 3's drama series in full for thefirst time. The new service includes successfulseries such as Un paso adelante, Los hombresde Paco and Manos de la obra.

Users will be able to access the mobile channelaround the clock. This new service will enableAntena 3 to supplement its existing offer of

television via mobile phones, which previouslycomprised the channels Lo Mejor de Antena 3(Best of Antena 3), Canal Megatrix andAntena 3 noticias 24 horas (news).

The new drama channel is part of the VodafoneLive TV package and is provided on a pay-per-view basis.

Other successful shows that FME brings backto Cannes include the delightfully dark andfunny scripted series Love You to Death, thesmart and sexy teen drama series The BestYears and the drama favourite Neighbours.

As well returning are comedies such as seriestwo of That Mitchell & Webb Look, the quirkystories of the I.T. department The IT Crowd andfun from Australia Comedy Inc.

Modern Toss brings the sting to the tail ofFremantleMedia's comedy titles this Mipcom.This subversive cartoon/sketch show, featuringcutting edge live action-animation hybrids, isbased on the cult comic and website of thesame name and involves the cream of UKcomedy talents such as Mackenzie Crook (TheOffice), Paul Kaye (Dennis Pennis) and SimonGreenall (Alan Partridge).

Love You to Death


Fresh presenters andnew programmes for W9M6 Group's digital television channel W9 islaunching into the new season with a host ofnew faces and four new programmes.France - 21 September 2007

W9 is bringing a well-known music show LaFureur back to French television – this time witha brand new format and a new presenter in theform of Alexandre Devoise.

Another new addition to the schedule is thegame show Buzz, le jeu musical, presented byBertrand Amar, in which contestants must ans-wer questions on music as well as demonstra-te their own musical talent.

Julie Raynaud is the new host of the weekly talkshow Rien que la vérité, in which three guestswill have to answer 100 questions from vie-wers.

The music news programme Musicronik willcontinue to report every Sunday on the latesttrends in the music world.

W9 has also brought in several other new pre-senters, including the dancer Maud Jurez, whowill be hosting A vos clips, and Karina Charniwho will be presenting the best Internet clips inE-classement.

W9 was created over two years ago. Reaching28.5 percent of all viewers, who are technicallyable to receive its programming, W9 continuesto be the most-watched channel in France’sTNT landscape.

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Buzz, le jeu musical

Fun Radio and RTL 2 bank on legal musicdownloadsThe French radio stations Fun Radio and RTL 2 have concluded a partnershipagreement with download platform iTunes.France - 25 September 2007

Starting in October 2007, Apple's downloadplatform, iTunes will offer the listeners of thesetwo RTL family radio stations the possibility ofdownloading playlists on a dedicated sector ofthe website. In all, 100,000 tracks will be onoffer. The radio stations explained that the aimof the partnership is “to promote legal musicdownloads”.

Fun Radio has also concluded a cooperationagreement with the community websiteMySpace, under the terms of which the radiostation will produce exclusive video contentwith the website.


Five goes on expeditionswith Paul MertonAfter blazing a trail through China, the Britishactor and comedian Paul Merton returns to Fivewith two new topical travel shows.United Kingdom - 25 September 2007

The documentary series, Paul Merton in China,was a big success for Five, achieving one of thechannel’s highest ever ratings for factual pro-gramming with 1.9 million viewers and an eightper cent market share.

For his next two destinations, Paul has pickedtwo contrasting countries – exotic India andEuropean partner Germany.

Germany is one of the closest neighbours ofthe United Kingdom but most Brits know littleor nothing about modern day Germany andvery few choose to spend their holidays there.So just how far does the Brits’ stereotypicalimage of the Germans match the reality?

Nearly 60 years after the war ended and 20since the Berlin Wall came down, Paul takes offto visit Germany, with side trips to Austria andSwitzerland.

In the Indian series, Paul would like to meet ‘thecoolest monk in India’ - Karmapa Dorje - whohas his own MySpace page, is an avid fan ofthe Black Eyed Peas and Spiderman, and is anenthusiastic Elvis impersonator.

Chris Shaw, Five’s Senior ProgrammeController, said: “Paul is the classic Englishmanabroad and doesn’t go anywhere without hisPanama hat and sandals. His brilliant improvi-sed humour and natural curiosity combine tooffer a totally new style of topical adventureshow.”

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Paul Merton

Paul Merton


RTL's musical actorsAfter the sensational chart success of RTL soapstar Mars, another RTL actor has now taken thehit parade by storm.Germany - 20 September 2007

The debut single Das Gegenteil von Liebe (TheOpposite of Love) by Jörn Schlönvoigt, anactor in the RTL series Gute Zeiten, schlechteZeiten, entered the Media Control Charts atnumber 8.

This is the second successful example of suc-cessful cooperation between RTL Enterprises,Grundy UFA and DEAG Music/WarnermusicGermany. The solo single Reason by Mars,known to viewers from the series Unter uns,was launched with similar success.

Fred Casimir, Vice President Music EMEAFremantle Entertainment, said: “I'm very happyfor Mars and Jörn and delighted that we'vemanaged to establish two talented cast mem-

bers of Grundy UFA series as talented musicalartists with the support of RTL Enterprises andDEAG. This achievement once again underlinesthe status enjoyed by our series among musicfans”.

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Jörn Schlönvoigt

CD Cover

M6 Publicité partners with BolloréIntermédiaM6 Publicité and Bolloré Intermédia agreed on a partnership that enables bothcompanies to advance their offers in cross-media advertising solutions.France - 20 September 2007

M6 Publicité and Groupe Bolloré will jointlyoffer their respective advertising customersand their customer’s agencies advertisingdeals. The new offer combines advertisingdeals for M6 Publicité in Bolloré’s two free dailypapers Matin Plus and Direct Soir.

The move expands M6 Publicité portfolio ofcommercial advertising in the free daily paperswhile effectively raises Groupe Bolloré’s reco-gnition and renown throughout the advertisingmarket.


Long-running hit withrising viewing figuresThe 15th season of Law & Order has just startedon RTL Television.Germany - 25 September 2007

Law & Order, the flag ship US crime series andlongest-running series in the world, has beenon air for 17 years.

The popular crime series shows not only howa crime is solved by the police but also howthe case is followed up by the judicial authori-ties. This evergreen series continues to achie-ve rising viewing figures with this successfulrecipe.

Two new faces will join the show this season:Dennis Farina (Get Shorty, Out Of Sight)arrives on the scene as Detective JoeFontana to aid his colleague EdwardGreen (Jesse L. Martin) in the daily fightagainst crime on the streets of NewYork. Annie Parisse will guarantee lawand order as Alexandra Borgia in thedistrict attorney's office.

Jerry Orbach, who played Detective LennieBriscoe from the third season, retired at the endof the 14th season in May 2005 and passedaway six months later. He was replaced byDennis Farina at the start of the 15th season.

Law & Order has received 52 Emmy nomina-tions and won the much sought-after award sixtimes. The show was also nominated for theGolden Globe six times. NBC announced thatthe series would continue in May 2007. The18th season is currently being filmed in NewYork and will be aired in the USA from 2008.

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Law & Order

Law & Order


ExperiMental –The quirky scienceshow This new Super RTL production will zero in onstrange, but everyday phenomena.Germany - 20 September 2007

Our everyday lives are full of mysteries. Yeteven the strangest phenomena have scientificexplanations, and ExperiMental – Die verrückteWissenschafts-Show will set out to providethem. Broadcasts of this brand new Germanshow made by Super RTL has started on 25September, casting light on even the mostapparently unfathomable scientific puzzles.

The show will be presented by Henry Gründler,who made his name as the unforgettableanchor man of the RTL comedy hit FreitagNacht News. With him will be a team of expertswho leave no question unanswered.

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Experimental

N-TV promotional campaign

Driving bulls and bearsA milestone for N-TV:the 20,000th edition of Telebörse.Germany - 20 September 2007

So what better time to introduce a whole rangeof new features? The programme will now bepresented from a newly designed studio – andit is also taking the opportunity to launch itsown Telebörse website.

Teleboerse.de went online yesterday and thelaunch of the new portal was accompanied byan extensive advertising campaign.

Some of the channel's best-known faces suchas stock-market legend Friedhelm Busch cameback to offer their congratulations.

With six programmes a day, Telebörse keepsviewers up-to-date with the latest develop-ments on stock markets and in companiesaround the world. The popular economics pro-gramme also broadcasts live interviews withanalysts, experts and chairmen as well asbackground reports, all produced by a 25-strong team of editors, technical staff and pre-senters working in three shifts.

Telebörse is broadcast daily (on trading days) at12.30, 13.30, 14.30, 15.40, 19.00 and 21.15.


People

Appointments at RTL LëtzebuergRTL Télé Lëtzebuerg announced an internal reshuffle.Luxembourg - 21 September 2007

The reorganisation is designed to give theexisting structure of RTL's Luxembourg pro-gramming a more dynamic feel.

With this in mind, the following appointmentshave been announced:

New Head of Magazines,RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg: Steve SchmitIn addition to his position as Station Managerat RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg, Steve will also head upthe magazines division.

New Editor-in-Chief,RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg: Alain RousseauAlain Rousseau, who joined the channel backin 2001 and has been serving as Deputy Editor-in-Chief, will take over from Tom Graas as thenew Editor-in-Chief of RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg.

New Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Caroline MartJournalist and presenter Caroline Mart, pre-viously in charge of culture and informationprogrammes, will be giving RTL TéléLëtzebuerg the benefit of her experience in hernew role as new Deputy Editor-in-Chief.

New Director of Information: Marc LinsterFormer Editor-in-Chief of RTL RadioLëtzebuerg, Marc Linster, now takes over res-ponsibility for researching and selecting infor-mation programmes for RTL Radio, TéleLëtzebuerg and RTL Newmedia.

The synergies between RTL's media are also adistinct advantage when it comes to news pro-duction. To promote these synergies further,RTL Lëtzebuerg has decided to make the follo-wing new appointments:

Christiane Kremer, Head of Programming atRTL Radio Lëtzebuerg, will now also be res-ponsible for culture programmes for all threeRTL media.

Lucien Linster will take over responsibility forall sports programmes on RTL Lëtzebuerg. Hewill remain in his post as Director ofAdministration.

Alain Berwick, Managing Director of RTLLëtzebuerg, says: “This kind of organisationalstructure will certainly increase the synergiesbetween the three media and will ensure thatwe continue to fulfil our public-service role.”

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Caroline Mart Marc LinsterSteve Schmit Alain Rousseau

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