RTL Group

Bertelsmann produces, serves and markets media. Our content is contributed by RTL Group, the No. 1 European broadcaster; Random House, the world's largest book-publishing group; and Gruner + Jahr, Europe's biggest magazine publisher. Arvato provides media and communication services, while Direct Group is the global market leader in media distribution through clubs and on the Internet. 

RTL Group – the leading European entertainment network

With 44 television channels and 32 radio stations in ten countries, RTL Group is the leading European entertainment network. The Luxembourg-based company operates TV channels and radio stations in Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Luxembourg, Spain, Russia, Hungary and Croatia. It is one of the world’s leading producers of television content such as talent and game shows, drama, daily soaps and telenovelas, including Idols, Got Talent, The X Factor, Good Times - Bad Times, Family Feud and The Bill. 

The company history dates back to 1931 when the Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion (CLR) was founded. As a European pioneer, the company broadcast a unique programme in several languages using the same frequency. RTL Group itself was created in spring 2000 following the merger of Luxembourg-based CLT-UFA and the British content production company Pearson TV, owned by UK media group Pearson plc. CLT-UFA itself was created in 1997 when Bertelsmann AG – shareholder of UFA, and Audiofina – shareholder of the historic Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT) – merged their TV, radio and TV production businesses. 

In July 2001, Bertelsmann became majority shareholder of RTL Group following a stock swap with the Belgian-Canadian holding company Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL). In December 2001, Bertelsmann entered into an agreement with Pearson plc to acquire its 22 per cent stake in RTL Group. Bertelsmann’s interest in RTL Group is now 90.3 per cent. The remaining 9.7 per cent of RTL Group is publicly traded on the Brussels and Luxembourg stock exchanges. 

The business units 
Television: RTL Group is Europe’s largest broadcaster. Each day, over 170 million viewers all over Europe watch RTL Group’s television channels, which include the families of channels clustered around the flagships RTL Television in Germany, M6 in France, RTL 4 in the Netherlands, RTL-TVI in Belgium, and the young Five family in the UK. The company also has broadcasting operations in Hungary (RTL Klub), Russia (Ren TV), and Croatia (RTL Televizija). 

Content: RTL Group’s content production arm, FremantleMedia, is one of the largest international producers outside the US. Each year it produces over 10,000 hours of award-winning primetime programming across 22 countries. RTL Group is also one of the world’s leading independent distributors outside the US, with rights to 19,000 hours of programming in 150 countries. 

Radio: RTL Group’s radio stations also reach millions of listeners each day. The flagship radio station is RTL in France. In addition to the market leader, RTL Group also owns the two music stations RTL 2 und Fun Radio in France, as well as radio holdings in other European countries.

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