Super RTL Withdraws Nickelodeon Takeover Plans

The planned merger of Super RTL and Nickelodeon has been withdrawn, after the German Federal Cartel Office informed RTL and Paramount that it intended to block the deal.

The Bundeskartellamt’s investigation into the planned merger focused primarily on advertising. RTL is part of the Bertelsmann Group and is active in the kids’ arena under the Super RTL and TOGGO brands, under which it offers various children’s programs, particularly on linear television but also on RTL+. Paramount has Nickelodeon in Germany, as well as Paramount+ and the Pluto TV FAST channel.

Andreas Mundt, president of the Bundeskartellamt, said: “The merger planned by RTL and Paramount would have affected the area of moving-picture advertising for the target group of children aged 3 to 13. According to the investigations, this advertising market has such distinct characteristics that it had to be distinguished from other advertising. There are only a very limited number of companies that offer advertising space specifically aimed at children, above all RTL with its relevant TV program. There is no advertising on the public broadcaster KiKA. We are seeing a strong migration away from linear television, especially among children. However, streaming services, such as Netflix or Amazon, do not currently play a role in the children’s advertising market. The same applies to social media offerings such as TikTok or Snapchat, which are already clearly different in terms of their structure and design and are not aimed at children due to their age limits and therefore do not offer advertising space specifically geared towards children.”

According to the Bundeskartellamt, the investigations of practically all major advertisers in the children’s sector and the (potential) competitors not only in the TV sector but also in the online sector made it clear that there is a special demand from advertisers for moving image advertising space on which children aged three to 13 can be reached in a targeted and safe manner.

In addition to the kids’ offerings from RTL and Paramount, Disney is particularly active in this area on television and Google with its YouTube Kids offering online. Super RTL is the leading provider by a wide margin, followed by Disney, with a clear lead over Nickelodeon. Even if YouTube Kids is included in the analysis due to changing viewing habits, Super RTL remains the clearly dominant provider, which would make significant gains with the addition of Nickelodeon.