The economic downturn and weaker performance at its production subsidiary Fremantle weighed on broadcaster RTL at the start of the year.
Revenue fell by two percent in the first quarter to €1.29 billion, the RTL Group announced on Thursday. Fremantle alone saw a decline of 5.6 percent. Nevertheless, the European television company still aims to achieve its full-year targets. "Should advertising revenues fall short of expectations in the coming months, we will correspondingly reduce costs," said RTL CEO Thomas Rabe. "We are confident that the investment program announced by the new federal government will have a positive effect on gross domestic product, private consumption, and advertising spending in the medium term."
As usual, RTL did not publish profit figures for January through March. For 2025, the Bertelsmann subsidiary continues to target adjusted operating earnings (Ebita) of €780 million, up from €721 million last year. Revenue is projected to rise by around three percent to €6.45 billion, driven by the streaming business.
In the first quarter, advertising revenues from traditional linear television declined by four percent--though this was offset by a 29 percent increase in digital advertising sales. The still comparatively small streaming revenues also rose by 29 percent to €111 million. The number of streaming subscribers grew by 18.5 percent to 7.1 million by the end of March. "We are well on track to become profitable in the streaming business by 2026," said Rabe.
(Reporting by Klaus Lauer, edited by Myria Mildenberger. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).
