RTL Group Delivers Revenue Gains in Q1

RTL Group’s revenues in the first quarter rose by 11.3 percent to €1.56 billion ($1.65 billion), with the company reporting gains across advertising, streaming and its content unit, Fremantle.

“RTL Group started dynamically into the new year despite the uncertainties resulting from the war in Ukraine,” said CEO Thomas Rabe. “In the first quarter of 2022, revenue grew by 11.3 percent, thanks to growth across TV advertising, content and streaming, partly driven by scope effects. In the first three months of this year, we reached important milestones in our strategy to create national media champions. The combination of RTL Deutschland and Gruner + Jahr was finalized, and the integration process is progressing well. At the end of March, we closed the sale of RTL Belgium. Our global content business Fremantle acquired majority stakes in Lux Vide and Dancing Ledge Productions to further boost its scripted business. To create an international advertising sales champion, we will combine our international sales houses RTL AdConnect, G+J iMS and the media division of Smartclip. We are expecting to close the sale of RTL Croatia and to get the regulatory approvals for the major consolidation moves in France and the Netherlands. These moves will create significant value for RTL Group’s shareholders and put us in a strong position to compete with the global tech and streaming platforms. RTL Group continues to deliver on its targets for its growth businesses of streaming, content and addressable TV advertising—and we have the resources and capabilities to further boost these businesses to create value for our viewers, clients and shareholders.”

Advertising revenues rose to €829 million ($876 million), with €653 million ($690 million) from TV, €83 million ($87 million) from digital and €46 million ($49 million) from radio.

Fremantle delivered revenues of €461 million ($487 million), a gain of 6.5 percent, lifted by positive foreign exchange rate effects, the acquisitions of This is Nice Group and Eureka and the deliveries of The Mosquito Coast and American Gods.

Streaming revenues rose 23.1 percent to €64 million ($67.6 million), with subscriber gains at RTL+ and Videoland. At the end of March 2022, the company had 4.31 million paying subs, a 58.2 percent gain, with 3.17 million at RTL+ (an 85 percent increase) and 1.14 million at Videoland (a 12.9 percent increase). By 2026, RTL Group aims to have 10 million paying subs, with streaming revenues of €1 billion.

For the year, RTL Group expects its revenues to increase to €7.4 billion ($7.8 billion), a gain of between 11 and 12 percent.