RTL Group will focus on stronger organic growth by expanding its video-on-demand services through significant investments into more local, exclusive content and into a joint VOD tech platform.
This is one of the key outcomes of RTL Group’s Management Summit 2018, which brought together over 90 executives across the Group in Luxembourg.
In 2019, RTL Group will start developing and implementing the roadmap to a joint tech platform for the VOD services of its broadcasters with the intention that all streaming platforms will ultimately migrate to it. As this tech platform will be a joint approach of RTL Group’s units in Germany, France and the Netherlands, it will encompass a high level of flexibility for the local operations. RTL Group will present more details of its growth plans in VOD with the announcement of the Group’s full-year results 2018 on March 14, 2019.
To support this expansion in the countries in which RTL Group has strong families of TV channels, the Group will systematically strengthen the collaboration between Fremantle and RTL Group broadcasters. At the same time, Fremantle will continue its successful push into high-end drama series in all key countries, such as the US, Germany, UK, Australia, Italy, France and the Nordics.
“With rapidly changing consumer behaviour and the emergence of global tech giants our Total Video industry has moved from a local to a global competitive landscape. This is why we have started a comprehensive Group-wide transformation journey. More than ever before, we will focus on fostering creativity, being close to our audiences, taking more risks and forging more cooperation within RTL Group,” said Bert Habets, CEO of RTL Group.
“Above all, we have the strategic goal to build local streaming champions in the markets where we have strong families of channels. Given the high growth rates of paid subscribers of our German and Dutch VOD services – TV Now Plus and Videoland – we are getting more confident day by day that we will reach our ambitious plans. The upcoming major relaunch of TV Now shows that we are on the right track. Higher investments into content production, creative storytelling and closer collaboration between all assets across our Group will also support our strategy to keep more intellectual property within our ‘RTL universe’.”
