European tv large RTL Group is closing in on profitability in its streaming division, with subscriber figures and on-line revenues surging final yr and start-up prices falling.
In its year-end outcomes, printed Thursday, RTL mentioned subscribers to its streaming companies RTL+ in Germany and Hungary and the brand new M6+ platform in France jumped 21 % to greater than 6.8 million. Streaming revenues have been up a powerful 42 % at €403 million ($437 million), boosted by worth hikes for the RTL+ service in Germany. RTL’s German service accounts for the lion’s share of the group’s subscriber enterprise, with some 6.06 million paying subscribers. Streaming start-up losses on the division have been down some 22 % to €137 million ($149 million)
RTL CEO Thomas Rabe hailed the outcomes as a “turning point” for the corporate’s digital future. “Our streaming services continued to grow dynamically and significantly reduced their start-up losses in 2024. We are firmly on track to reach profitability by 2026,” Rabe mentioned in a press release.
RTL’s aggressive push into streaming was additional bolstered by a renewed partnership with Deutsche Telekom, extending RTL+ Premium’s integration into Telekom’s MagentaTV via 2030. The transfer is predicted to drive additional subscriber features in Germany. Rabe additionally pointed to promising early outcomes in France, the place the corporate rebranded its streaming service M6+ (from 6play) and launched final May, noting month-to-month customers on the brand new platform have been up 30 % and streaming hours elevated by 35 % in comparison with its predecessor.
Looking forward, RTL tasks 9 million streaming subscribers and €750 million ($816 million) in income by 2026.
RTL’s free TV enterprise, nonetheless the corporate’s core, offered a much less rosy image. The mixed viewers share of RTL Deutschland’s German networks in its key 14-59 demographic fell to 26.3 % from 27.4 % a yr earlier. TV advert income was flat at €2.35 billion ($2.56 billion). Rabe put a optimistic spin on the figures by pointing to the worse-off competitor ProSiebenSat.1, noting that RTL Deutschland’s viewers share over ProSiebenSat.1’s mixed channel attain was 6.3 proportion factors, the widest in greater than 10 years.
Overall, group income at RTL was secure at €6.25 billion ($6.81 billion), with whole group revenue down barely at €555 million ($604 million) in comparison with €598 million a yr earlier.
Revenue at Fremantle, RTL’s content material manufacturing division, noticed an 8 % “organic” decline, which the group attributed to the 2023 U.S. actor and director strikes and by finances cuts from streaming companies and advertising-financed broadcasters. The drop was notably offset by Fremantle’s acquisition of TV manufacturing teams Asacha Media and Beach House Pictures. Asacha, a personal equity-backed group, owns a number of manufacturing outfits in France, Italy and the U.Okay., together with Death in Paradise producers Red Planet Pictures; Italian scripted teams Picomedia (Beyond the Sea, La Storia) and Stand by Me (Diaries); and France’s Srab Films (Saint Omer, Happening) and Mintee Studios (Cimetiere Indien). Singapore-based Beach House has a non-scripted focus and produces exhibits together with Netflix’s Mind Your Manners and Mr. Midnight as nicely as native variations of world franchises such as Masterchef Singapore.
On the inventive aspect, Fremantle loved a banner 2024, with Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, produced by Fremantle-owned Element Pictures, selecting up 4 Oscars.
But with revenues of €2.25 billion ($2.45 billion), Fremantle continues to be a great distance off its acknowledged goal of €3 billion ($3.26 billion) in annual revenues. RTL on Thursday casually moved the goalposts for that focus on, saying it hopes to hit the €3 billion mark “mid-term,” not by 2026, as initially forecast.
