Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland to Close RTL International Pay-TV Channel

COLOGNE: Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland is closing down its pay-TV channel RTL International, with May 31 set as the final transmission day for the linear offering.

While the linear channel will go off the air, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland plans to continue making its content available to Germans overseas via OTT offerings in the future. The RTL International channel was launched at the beginning of 2016. The service has been available via platforms (satellite, cable, IPTV, OTT) in such places as the U.S., Canada, South Africa and Australia, among other countries. It can also be received on a host of cruise ships, as well as worldwide via live-stream per an app for tablets and smartphones and online.

Stefan Sporn, the senior VP of international distribution at RTL International, said: “We very much regret the discontinuation of this channel. Although we quickly managed to achieve reasonable international distribution, the number of subscribers did not develop as positively as hoped, making it not possible to operate profitably in the foreseeable future. Initial analyses clearly indicate that the success of internationally operating pirate platforms which illegally stream the transmission signals of a host of German broadcasters free-of-charge on the internet is playing a critical role in this development.”