The Dutch competition authority NMa has given the green light for the acquisition of a number of Talpa TV assets by RTL Nederland. These include the rights to Dutch Eredivise football and a number of formats carried by Talpa’s Tien (10) channel. RTL will also take control of Talpa’s Radio 538, the most listened to radio station in the country.
As reported in Broadband TV News, the RTL Group and John de Mol’s Talpa Media Holding signed an asset deal. Radio 538 will be integrated in RTL Nederland, which will also acquire TV assets from Talpa Media, such as sports rights and successful Dutch shows and drama series. Talpa Media will receive a 26.3% stake in RTL Nederland. Talpa’s own TV channel Tien will cease broadcasting and the most successful programming will be transferred to the three RTL channels in the country, RTL4, RTL5 and RTL7.
This Saturday, RTL will launch a fourth channel, to be called RTL8, which will take the place of Tien on the various distribution platforms (DTT, DTH, cable and IPTV). The new channel will primarily be aimed at a female audience, according to RTL Nederland CEO Fons van Westerloo.