RTL Deutschland (previously ''Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland'') is a German

media company A media conglomerate, media company, 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, video games, amusement parks, or ...

based in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in 2007 as a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

for the German television, broadcasting and content production businesses of the

RTL Group RTL Group S.A. ("Radio Télévision Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate office in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 56 television channels and 36 radio stations in Germany, France an ...

, which is majority-owned by

Bertelsmann The Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Bertelsmann (), is a German privately held company, private multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, ...

. On 14 June 2021 it was announced that the ''Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland'' would be renamed in September 2021 as part of a re-branding to ''RTL Deutschland''. In this context, both the company and the broadcaster RTL got new logos and a new design.

History

In 2000,

and Pearson announced that they would merge their television and radio stations and production companies. This created ''RTL Group'', based in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, as a leading European media company. RTL's activities in Germany were also affected by this merger; Bertelsmann had gradually increased its stake in the German television broadcaster RTL in the 1990s. In 2007, television and content businesses in Germany were bundled under the umbrella of ''Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland''. The company introduced a new brand identity and bundled digital competencies. In 2009,

RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...

, VOX,

N-tv n-tv (styled ntv) is a German free-to-air television news channel owned by RTL Deutschland. n-tv broadcasts news and weather every hour and half-hour in the morning. It also broadcasts magazine shows and documentaries. History n-tv began a ...

, and other channels moved into a joint broadcasting center in Cologne-Deutz, to achieve synergy effects not only organizationally but also through physical proximity. An example of cooperation between RTL Deutschland companies is the streaming platform RTL+ (originally launched as TV NOW). Initially launched by RTL, other channels were successively added to the service. In February 2019, RTL Deutschland and their parent company RTL Group announced that they've sold their German film production and distribution company Universum Film to New York-based American global investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Robertsn (KKR) who owns Munich-based German film distribution company Tele Munchen Group and had plans to merge TMG with Universum to create a German entertainment production company. At Bertelsmann, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland established further partnerships with other divisions, such as for marketing (Ad Alliance) and content production (Content Alliance). In 2021, it was announced that

Gruner + Jahr Gruner is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Dov Gruner (1912–1947), Jewish Zionist leader * Eduard Gruner, Swiss engineer * Elioth Gruner (1882–1939), Australian painter * Gottlieb Sigmund Gruner (1717–1778), Swiss ca ...

and Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland intend to cooperate even more closely in the future. On 6 August 2021, RTL Deutschland announced their acquisition of Gruner + Jahr for €230 million euros (excluding without debt). They aimed to merge Gruner + Jahr (and its "G+J" brand) with RTL Deutschland by the end of 2021. The deal was completed on 1 January 2022 when Gruner + Jahr became a division of RTL Deutschland and was renamed ''RTL Publishing''.

Businesses

RTL Deutschland conceives, produces, and plays out tv content for various platforms. Its focus has traditionally been on broadcast television but its online platforms and those operated by third parties have become increasingly important. Noteworthy entertainment channels are RTL and VOX, among others. Both continuously achieve high market shares in all

target group The target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to the previously intended audience. In marketing and advertising, the target audience is a particular group of cons ...

s. The majority of their programming consists of self-developed formats and in-house productions, supplemented by international series and shows. News and documentaries play an important role at RTL Deutschland, too; NTV is one of Germany#s leading news channels. More than 700 employees work for the entire media group in

journalistic Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

functions at 11 German and 15 international locations.

Operations

Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland GmbH operates as a limited liability company (

Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (; ) is a type of Juridical person, legal entity in German-speaking countries. It is equivalent to a (Sàrl) in the Romandy, French-speaking region of Switzerland and to a (Sagl) in the Ticino, Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. It is a ...

). Its corporate purpose essentially extends to looking after the overarching interests of the individual companies, as well as all related activities. The holding generates a large part of its revenues from advertising. In addition, there is revenue from licenses for content conceived and produced on behalf of third parties; subscriptions to offerings such as TV NOW account for another share.

Notes and references

External links

* {{Bertelsmann Mass media companies established in 2007 German companies established in 2007 Mass media companies of Germany Companies based in Cologne Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia Mass media in Cologne Bertelsmann subsidiaries Television networks in Germany German-language television networks