3 april 2008 concentrated creativity - rtl group · concentrated creativity ... they were really...

Concentrated CreativityThomas Valentin on the first group-wide format event Pitch & Meet

United Kingdom

Leona Lewis conquers the worldwide chartsFrance

Diana inspires dreams... in FranceUnited Kingdom

Top sports bidder: FiveGermany

Educational magazine for childrenPeople

Michael HajekLuc Marteling

the RTL Group intranetweek 14

Newsletter33 ApApririll 20200808

‘‘This is a unique opportunity’’For the first time, executives from RTL Group’ssubsidiaries and from several production com-panies met up at M6’s headquarter in Paris fora day in early March to discuss new ideas, for-mats and concepts. Backstage spoke to ThomasValentin, General Director Networks & Contentat M6.France - 3 April 2008

The RTL Group Pitch & Meet provides a uniqueforum for exchanges of fresh format conceptsbetween the creative directors of Europe’s lea-ding production companies and programmingdirectors in RTL Group’s European network. Itwas the first time that RTL Group had invitedaround 40 of its senior executives to an exclusi-ve meeting. Representatives from seven leadingEuropean production companies also joined themeeting for a day of ideas, discussion and directfeedback. The production companies that tookpart were All3Media, BBC WorldwideProductions, Endemol, FremantleMedia, ITVProductions, RDF Media Group and ShineGroup.

Jane Millichip, RDF Rights’ Chief OperatingOfficer commented: ‘‘We were flattered to beinvited to the RTL Pitch & Meet. RDF Rights hasworked extensively over the years with RTLGroup companies, increasingly in the area of for-mats, and we have strong relationships with yourchannel buyers. However, the Pitch & Meetadded an extra dimension for us in that ourheads of development from our production armwere able to meet and pitch to the RTL channelcontrollers and directors of programmes. We arepleased to say that since the event we havecontinued to hold fruitful conversations with anumber of the RTL channels about a number ofour new formats. It is a very exciting prospect tothink that we could have one of our ideas produ-ced and broadcast in mainland Europe beforewe have gone to air in the UK.’’

To ensure a successful meetingfor all participants, the day’s pro-ceedings were broken down intotwo parts. During the daytimepitching session, the audienceconsisted of RTL Group contentexecutives. The focus was onpresenting formats that appealto various markets, takingadvantage of the Pitch & Meet’sinternational profile. Each pro-duction company was allottedan exclusive 45-minute slot,including around 20 to 30 minutes to pitch theirideas, followed by a Q&A session. For thesecond part of the event, which took place in theevening, RTL Group invited all the participantsto a special get-together in the heart of Paris,where in a relaxed atmosphere,creative executives from pro-duction companies and RTLGroup's channels could discussideas and projects on a one-to-one basis.

Claire Davenport, RTL Group’sExecutive Vice PresidentCorporate Strategy andBusiness Synergies, said: ‘‘Theadvantage of having seen all ofthese formats while togetherwas that everyone not only got agood overview of what is currentlybeing marketed but could immediately discussthe ideas with other experts in the group. I think


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Jane Milichip, COO of RDF Rights

Claire Davenport, EVP Corporate Strategy& Business Synergies


people found this very helpful and it has alreadyled to some discussions of multi-territory pur-chases.’’

To provide a closer look on the event Backstagespoke to Thomas Valentin, General DirectorNetworks & Content at M6, who chaired themeeting in Paris.

What’s the idea behind RTL Group's Pitch &Meet?

We're convinced that the relationship betweenbroadcasters and production companies is thekey to the success of our businesses.

As a result, for some time now we’ve beenexploring the idea of bringing programme exe-cutives from RTL Group’s various channels toge-ther with some of Europe’s top programmemakers.

We view Pitch & Meet as a unique opportunityfor both sides to discuss new concepts and for-mats and share some of our experiences fromacross Europe. In addition, Pitch & Meet alsogives us a chance to enhance our relationshipswith producers, beyond just dealing with day-to-day business.

Last, but not least, it gives us the prospect ofdiscovering new formats before our main com-petitors.

Have you already received any feedback fromthe participants on RTL Group’s side?

The feedback from RTL Group’s executives wasextremely positive. They really enjoyed discove-ring new formats and relished being given achance to discuss ideas with the productioncompanies’ executives themselves.

A linked event that also went down very well wasthe holding of a Syco, or Synergy Committeemeeting, between RTL Group’s programmingdirectorsthe following day, which was used fordebriefing purposes and discussing the variousformats that had been pitched. This was dee-med a really useful follow-up event.

How about feedback from the productioncompanies’ representatives?

They were really happy to get a chance to talk to10 countries, i.e. 10 potential clients, simulta-neously.The feedback they received from RTL executivesafter each pitch was really useful and informati-ve, though they also said they thought it wasslightly too short. So we will try to improve the‘Meet’ part of the event next time, allowing moretime for exchanges with the production compa-nies after each pitch.

Do you see any particular trend in program-mes at the moment?

The way I see it, there are currently five maintrends: ‘Big’ entertainment shows Loud, funny and often shot on location, these shows put courageous contestants through their physical paces and confront them with spectacular challenges (e.g. American Gladiators)

First-person documentariesThese are documentaries narrated and presen-ted by a celebrity keen on exploring a current social issue (beauty, food, war, prison). This involves highly subjective journalism.(Louis Theroux Behind Bars, Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, The Truth about Size Zero.)

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Thomas Valentin


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Natural beautyA distant cousin of the old, familiar ‘fairytale makeover’ shows, these down-to-earth coa-ching shows teach viewers how to boost their self-esteem and stop chasing unrealistic expectations about their looks without resor-ting to Botox or dressing up like a princess.(How to Look Good Naked, Dawn Gets Naked)

‘Rough men’ docusoapsRather than filming celebrity-chasing starlets orcontests in controlled environments, these documentary series depict the rough and genuinely dangerous daily lives of ordinary workers doing extraordinary jobs, e.g. deep-sea fishermen or loggers.(Deadliest Catch, Ax Men, Ice Road Truckers)

No-knowledge-required quiz showsBased either on common sense, pure luck or sheer guts, these quiz shows do not require extensive general knowledge on the part of their participants.

. Luck-based: Deal or No Deal and its many imitators

. Personality based: Amnesia, Momentof Truth

. Common sense: Power of 10, RichList

It is also worth noting that everybody’s on thelookout for the first big ‘eco-show’, for althoughclimate change and the environment are bigissues in today’s popular culture, no environ-mentally themed show has yet managed toconsistently generate high TV ratings.

Would you qualify the first Pitch & Meet asuccess?

Indeed I would. It was a great success to get 40of RTL Group’s senior executives from 10 coun-tries together with top creative people and exe-cutives from Europe’s seven leading Europeanproduction companies.

Moreover, the following-up between RTLGroup’s executives after the meeting was highlyproductive and extremely worthwhile in terms ofpotential future deals.

Do you intend to organize Pitch &Meet on a yearly basis?

Yes, we plan to make Pitch &Meet an annual event , held afew weeks before the MIP TVtelevision fair.

Next year, we would like tosee the top production com-panies joined by smaller, local,but dynamic production com-panies.

The aim of this kind of event is tomake sure that the experience of being aprogramming executive at an RTL Group chan-nel is more rewarding than it would be at astand-alone channel. In other words, we want todrive home the fact that sharing knowledge andexperience among programme makers from dif-ferent countries enriches the creative efforts ofall those involved.

Thomas Valentin is Vice-Chairman of theM6 Executive Board in charge ofNetworks and Content, having beenappointed to that post in February 2007.Previously he had been M6’s Director ofProgrammes since March 1992, and thegroup's Vice-Chairman since May 1996.

Since joining the Groupe M6 in its veryearly days, he has held numerous postswithin the company, including: Director ofFiction Programmes and InternationalRelations until November 1989; Directorof Fiction and Documentary Departmentsand Chief of International Relations up toDecember 1990; Deputy Director ofProgrammes and Director of Acquisitionsand Production in 1991: Director ofProgrammes in 1992; and Chairman ofM6 Films in 2000.


Leona Lewis conquers the USA... andthe worldwide chartsLeona Lewis is already an established big-namesinger in over 28 countries around the worldand a shining star in the music business. Sherose to prominence in December 2006 as thewinner of the third season of The X-Factor inthe UK.United Kingdom - 1 April 2008

Now she’s managed to achieve what only fewBritish artists before have succeeded in doing.Her single Bleeding Love, which topped theBritish hit parade at the end of 2007, has nowalso made it to number one in the Billboard Hot100 Charts in the USA. To do that, lastThursday the song distributed by SimonCowell’s Label Syco Music, a joint venture withSony BMG, leapt all the way from number eightto claim the top slot.

J Records, Lewis’ US label, accompanied theUS release of the single with an aggressive pro-motional campaign. Accordingly, two weeksago Leona Lewis was a guest on The OprahWinfrey Show, and last week Jay Leno invitedher onto his Tonight Show. No doubt thesehighly regarded performances helped to cata-pult Leona Lewis to the very top of theBillboard Hot 100 Charts. Having said that, afull two weeks before appearing on TV LeonaLewis had topped the iTunes charts in the USAfor two weeks in succession. Leona Lewis isonly the second UK import in the last 10 yearsto have managed the leap to the top of thehotly contested US singles charts. The lastBritish Sony-BMG artist to have topped theBillboard Hot 100 Charts was George Michaelin 1991.

This week Bleeding Love is not only numberone in the US charts, but also in Belgium,France, Switzerland and the Euro charts. InGermany and Austria Leona Lewis’s hit hasmade it to number two, in Australia and GreatBritain number three. Bleeding Love is at num-ber four in Denmark, Ireland and theNetherlands. So it’s a truly international suc-cess story.

Leona Lewis’ meteoric rise to stardom hasn’tcome totally out of the blue. The singer, born inIslington, London, in 1985, owes her almost fai-rytale start in the music business to a TV formatthat itself is constantly breaking records, name-ly The X-Factor. On 16 December 2006 LeonaLewis won the final of the third season of theexceptional talent show produced byFremantleMedia subsidiary Talkback Thamesand Simon Cowell’s production company SycoTV. The final was watched by around 12.6 mil-lion viewers and 8 million votes were cast, mostof them in favour of the young singer-songwri-ter Leona Lewis. Shortly afterwards, she hadthe Christmas hit of 2006 in Great Britain with AMoment Like This.

In early December 2007 the 22-year-old artistthen released her debut album, Spirit, inEurope. 375,872 copies were sold in a week.Bleeding Love, one of the tracks on that album,became the bestselling single of 2007 andstayed at the top of the charts for no fewer thanseven weeks. The release of Leona Lewis’album by J/Syco Records on 8 April in the USAas well is once again something very special.Never before has the debut album of the winnerof a TV talent show been rolled out internatio-nally in this way.

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Leona Lewis


Diana inspires dreams…in FranceMonday, 31 March saw the launch of the firstepisodes of a brand new series entitled Le Rêvede Diana (Diana’s Dream) by M6 and Téva inFrance.France - 28 March 2008

The plot revolves around 23-year-old DianaSommer (Tanja Szewczenko), who spends herdays delivering mail on her rollerskates but whohas always dreamed of becoming a figure-skater.One day, she bumps into Julian, marketing direc-tor for Steinkamp, a company which sponsorsice-skaters; Julian is looking for a face for his newadvertising campaign – and Diana’s dream beginsto become a reality.

Diana is played by Tanja Szewczenko, a figure-skater well known in Germany and bronze medal-list at the 1994 World Figure SkatingChampionships. In 2000, Tanja Szewczenko reti-red from competitive skating to pursue modellingand acting. As it turned out, it was only a briefpause since Tanja is now donning her skates oncemore, this time in a new drama.

When asked in an interview whether she identifiedwith her character, Diana, Tanja Szewczenkoreplies: “Like her, when I was little I was passiona-te about ice-skating and was ambitiousand a perfectionist. I share Diana’s philo-sophy: what’s important isn’t where youcome from but what you can achieve. Idrew heavily on my professional expe-rience in preparing for this role.”

Le rêve de Diana has proved a resounding suc-cess in Germany where it airs under the originaltitle Alles was zählt (All That Counts) with 440 epi-sodes filmed to date. The series is produced byGrundy UFA TV Produktion and is broadcast onRTL Television at 19.00; it regularly attracts anaverage audience share of 17.3 per cent in the 14-49 target group. The statistics are certainlyimpressive: one 25-minute episode is filmed eachday and involves some 120 people; all episodesare filmed in a 2,000-m² studio and two ice rinksare regularly commandeered for filming.

M6 and Téva joined forces for the launch of Lerêve de Diana on Monday, 31 March. The first twoepisodes were shown on both channels simulta-neously at 17.00 followed by episodes three andfour at 18.00 on Téva only. The single La vie n’estplus qu’un jeu (Life is just a game) performed byJulianne Deville and the theme tune to the serieswill be released on 28 April 2008 through M6Interactions.

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Le rêve de Diana

Tanja Szewczenko plays Diana Sommer


Top sports bidderOfcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communica-tions industries, confirmed on Friday, 28 March, that Five has been given listed eventstatus, the same as BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and Channel 4.United Kingdom - 31 March 2008

This means that Five is now in the category offree television channels which must be given agenuine opportunity to bid for the right tobroadcast listed sports events – live rights inthe case of Group A events (e.g. Olympics,FIFA World Cup, European FootballChampionship, Wimbledon) or highlights in thecase of Group B events (e.g. Cricket TestMatches, Six Nations Rugby, CommonwealthGames).

Ofcom has concluded that Five meets all qua-lifying conditions to be given listed event sta-tus. Namely these conditions are that the servi-ce is provided without any consideration beingrequired for the reception of the service andthat the service is received by at least 95 per-cent of the UK population. The Broadcasters’Audience Research Board (BARB) Data forJanuary 2008 showed that Five is now receivedby 96 percent of the UK population.

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Educational general-knowledge magazinefor childrenSuper RTL’s new general-knowledge magazine Dragonfly TV – Dem Wissen auf derSpur (Dragonfly TV – Tracking down the truth) is getting right to the heart of the matter when it comes to fascinating questions about science and research.Germany - 31 March 2008

In Dragonfly TV – Dem Wissen auf der Spur,children get to investigate scientific facts – fromthe mundane to the completely ludicrous – andunearth the secrets behind them. The newmagazine follows in the tradition of Super RTL’shighly successful WOW – Die Entdeckerzone(Backyard Science) which achieved an impres-sive market share in excess of 50 per centamong children aged between 3 and 13.Director of programmes Carsten Göttel isconvinced that Dragonfly TV – Dem Wissen aufder Spur will be a hit: “Children enjoy findingout about the world they live in. It’s fun for themto pretend to be mini-explorers or mad scien-tists – and if they are learning about science atthe same time, then so much the better.”

In their quest for answers, children will beinvestigating various topics and getting invol-ved in all sorts of unusual experiments. Inattendance will be Super RTL presenters PiaAmpaw and Beni Weber (Disneys Art Attack).Dragonfly TV – Dem Wissen auf der Spur will bebroadcast in Germany at 17.15 every Saturdayevening, with the first of 52 episodes airing onSaturday, 3 May.


M6 enjoyed a successfulaccess prime time inMarch 2008M6 is the only major channel to have increasedits access primetime audience between March2007 and March 2008.

France - 1 April 2008

From Monday to Friday, the French channelachieved an average audience share of 10.8per cent among viewers aged 4 and over (com-pared with 9.3 per cent in March 2007). That’sthe highest level attained at this time of the daysince June 2006 (the month in which WorldCup football was broadcast).

The two new programmes launched at thebeginning of the year are making steady head-way. The first is the cookery programme Undîner presque parfait (An Almost PerfectDinner), which attracted an average of 1.8 mil-lion viewers in march (achieving a record highof 2.5 million on Monday, 24 March). This madeM6 the leading channel among housewivesaged under 50 at 18.00, with an averageaudience share of 29.5 per cent.

The daily French news magazine 100% Mag,presented by Estelle Denis, drew an averageaudience of 1.5 million in March, peaking at arecord 2.2 million on Monday, 24 March. Thissuccess in the early part of the evening comeson top of prime-time ratings that remain excel-lent, especially for the reality game PékinExpress, the virtually unmissable Nouvelle Star,UEFA Cup football and US series like Bones orCalifornication.

In March 2008, M6’s ratings over the day as awhole were slightly up on the previous month,at 10.9 per cent in March, compared with 10.7per cent in February.

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Un dîner presque parfait


Mediengruppe RTLDeutschland scoresdown the lineThe channels of Mediengruppe RTLDeutschland scored 33.2 per cent of the 14- to49-year-old viewer market in March 2008, put-ting them well ahead – again – of theProSiebenSat.1 group, which attracted 29.3 percent.Germany - 2 April 2008

RTL Television was once again the clear No.1among 14- to 49-year-olds in March. With amarket share of 15.8 per cent, the channel out-performed ProSieben (12.1 per cent), Sat.1(10.9 per cent), Vox (7.4 per cent) and ZDF (7.1per cent). In the total audience ranking, RTLTelevision scored 11.7 percent, putting it thirdbehind ZDF (13.4 per cent) and ARD (12.5 percent).

RTL Television’s highlights in March includedthe two Formula 1 races in Australia andMalaysia with a 52.2 per cent and 49.6 per centmarket share respectively, and the first twotheme shows of Deutschland sucht denSuperstar with market shares of up to 29.7 percent among 14- to 49-year-olds. Viewership ofthe classic quiz show Wer wird Millionär? (WhoWants to Be a Millionaire?) peaked at 7.86 mil-lion. The US series aired on RTL also wereaudience magnets in March: Dr.House waswatched by up to 32.2 per cent of 14- to 49-year-olds. On 25 March, Monk set new recordswith 4.13 million viewers overall and 2.93 mil-lion viewers in the young demographic, whichtranslates to a strong 28.7 per cent marketshare among young viewers.

Vox closed the month with a market share of7.4 per cent in the 14- to 49-year-old demogra-phic. March’s most popular programs includedthe celebrity show Prominent!, which scored aremarkable 13.1 per cent of the market, as wellas Das perfekte Promi Dinner (The PerfectCelebrity Dinner), which reached a new high at12.1 per cent, Das perfekte Dinner which pea-ked at 16.4 per cent, and Unser Traum vom

Haus (Our Dream House) with up to 11 percent.

RTL II averaged a 6.2 per cent share of the 14-to 49-year-old viewer market in March. The rea-lity show classic Big Brother scored big inaccess primetime and in its weekly live shows.The daily summaries aired at 19:00 did excee-dingly well, scoring market shares of up to 10.0per cent, while the live shows drew up to 8.4per cent of viewers. Primetime action and sus-pense was provided by top series such asHeroes (the first season was watched by anaverage 9.8 per cent of viewers) and Law &Order: New York with market shares reaching7.8 per cent.

The news channel N-TV had a very good firstquarter. With market shares of 0.8 per cent inJanuary and February and 0.9 per cent inMarch, N-TV has markedly grown its marketshare among viewers 14 and up. N-TV hasgrown its viewership year on year as well, from5.15 million viewers in March 2007 to 6.43 mil-lion in March 2008. In the 14-to 49-year-old tar-get demographic, N-TV showed significantyear-on-year growth, scoring 0.8 per cent ofthe market in January, February and March. N-TV’s interactive offering N-TV plus also set anew record, recording almost 600,000 viewsand nearly 220,000 Unique Visits in March.

The children’s channel Super RTL scored 20.5per cent of the market share in its target demo-graphic of 3- to 13-year-olds and a 2.5 per centshare in terms of total audience.

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Monk


Five is growing largerThe British RTL Group channel Five has recentlyhad seven consecutive weeks of year-on-yearaudience share growth for the first time since2002.United Kingdom - 2 April 2008

With the introduction of Neighbours earlier thisyear and a revamp of its News, Five has alrea-dy made headlines this year. Thanks to that, thechannel has now reported share growth in eachweek (compared to the same week a year befo-re) for the last 7 weeks.

In terms of the audience group Individuals, Fivehas achieved an average audience share of 5.6per cent per week over the past seven weeks,which is a 3 per cent rise on the same periodlast year. Apart from the introduction ofNeighbours which increased Five’s ratingsmore than proportional, this is thanks to greatacross-the-board performances from program-

mes as diverse as UEFA Cup football, Ice RoadTruckers, Breaking into Tesco, I Own Britain’sBest Home, NCIS and needless to say, the re-launched evening News. The News which isanchored by Natasha Kaplinsky since mid ofFebruary has increased its share by 50 per centcompared to last year.

But it is not just the main channel that is perfor-ming well. The digital channel Five Life, whichis going to be renamed as Fiver, recorded ano-ther best-ever weekly share of 0.65 per cent(Individuals) in multi-channel homes just lastweek.

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Natasha Kaplinsky

Neighbours


An exceptional Wednesday eveningOn 26 March, the long-standing mainstream channel RTL-TVI, the children’s andsports channel Club RTL, and the trendy youth channel Plug TV all achieved tremen-dously high audiences in French-speaking Belgium.Belgium - 2 April 2008

Overall, RTL Belgium attained a market shareof 43.7 per cent, making Wednesday (from17.00 to 23.00) the best of the season whichstarted back in September 2007.

On RTL-TVI, the special edition of the 19.00news programme Journal wrested a marketshare of 44.4 per cent (equivalent to 719,900viewers). Broadcast at 19.45, the informationmagazine Coûte que Coûte managed a marketshare of 27.4 per cent (497,600 viewers). Afterthat, two episodes of the US series NCIS:Enquêtes spéciales closed the evening withratings of 24.8 per cent and 27.6 per cent res-pectively.

On Club RTL, 347,400 viewers (a 19.1 per centmarket share) tuned in to watch the friendlyfootball match between Belgium and Morocco.Scoring a market share of 22.9 per cent in thetarget group of men aged 18 to 54, this gameproved to be the most popular friendly playedby Belgium’s national team, the Red Devils,since August 2007.

Finally, the unmissable hit show Nouvelle Star,broadcast on the alternative channel Plug TV,attained a market share of 8.5 per cent(161,700 viewers).

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The Magic Roundabout makes a big come-back on M6 KidThis celebrated animated series for children, created by Serge Danot, was first airedway back in 1964. Over 500 episodes were made, and the show has been translatedinto 28 languages. Today the series enjoys cult status around the world. On2 April, Dougal the dog and his friends made a big comeback on M6.France - 3 April 2008

The 2008 version of The Magic Roundabout is aFrench-English co-production (by Silver Fox inLondon and Action Synthèse in Marseilles), realisedentirely in 3D. The mammoth task of producing 52new 11-minute episodes began back in July 2006, andtook until February 2008. A feature film is also plannedfor 2009.

Today's lucky young viewers can pay a visit to the MagicGarden on the M6 Kid website.

Visit

www.m6kid.fr


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Mariah Carey to appear live on Deutschland sucht den SuperstarOn Saturday, 5 April, Mariah Carey will coach the eight contestants in Deutschland suchtden Superstar (German version of Idols) for their performance and also present her latestGermany - 1 April 2008

UFA up for no fewer than five Bavarian TV AwardsOn 31 March, Bavaria’s media minister announced the nominations for the 20th year ofBavarian TV Awards. No fewer than five UFA productions have been nominated.Germany - 1 April 2008

Market leader RTL Nederland notches up its best monthsince April 2004 March 2008 was an excellent month for RTL Nederland, which achieved a market share of32.7 per cent in the 20-49 target group.The Netherlands - 3 April 2008

Deutschland sucht den Superstar storms the ChartsThe finalists in the reality show Deutschland sucht den Superstar have sung their way intothe German charts with their jointly recorded album Fly Alone.Germany - 2 April 2008


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Three Awards for FremantleMedia BelgiumFremantleMedia Belgium triumphed at De Nacht van de Vlaamse Televisiesterren (The Nightof Flemish Television Stars) Awards on Sunday night, picking up three trophies for their dailydrama Sara.United Kingdom - 3 April 2008

Three major commissions for Talkback ThamesTalkback Thames wins three major new BBC factual feature commissions. BBC One com-missioned Accidental Heroes, Life or Death (working title) will be produced for BBC Daytimeand Would like to meet again was commissioned by BBC Two.United Kingdom - 31 March 2008

Three Royal Television Society awards for Talkback ThamesTalkback Thames won an impressive three awards at this year's Royal Television SocietyProgramme Awards Ceremony which took place at the Grosvenor house on 18 March.United Kingdom - 28 March 2008


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People

Michael Hajek to leaveRTL CreationGermany - 28 March 2008

After nine years in Cologne, Michael Hajek is tostep down as Managing Director of RTLCreation on 30 June this year to work indepen-dently.

From 1 July 2008, Michael Hajek (47), CreativeManaging Director at RTL Creation, will be wor-king with RTL on a slightly different basis andhas signed a contract with the channel to act asCreative Consultant for the newly establishedhajekworks.com for the next few years.

Michael Hajek says: ‘‘I am delighted to be wor-king with RTL in this new phase of my career inmarketing, promotion and design. Working asan independent creative consultant with hajek-works.com will enable me to put my know-howand experience in these areas to good use –not just for the benefit of RTL but also for otherproject partners.’’

RTL Television’s CEO, Anke Schäferkordt, said:‘‘Over the past few years, Michael Hajek andhis team have worked on many of RTL’s suc-cessful campaigns. Michael’s creativity hasbeen the driving force behind both on- and off-air marketing for our viewers. In his new role hewill continue to play a major part in RTL’s mar-keting activities.’’

Michael Hajek joined RTL in July 1999, first asHead of On-air Marketing and subsequently,from April 2000, as Managing Director of Houseof Promotion, a wholly owned subsidiary ofRTL Television. After House of Promotion beca-me RTL Creation, Hajek worked first asCreative Director and later as CreativeManaging Director, a position in which he wasalso responsible for the channel’s marketing,promotion and design activities. Before joining

RTL, Hajek worked in various creative manage-ment positions including with VIVA and ORF.

Thomas Kreyes will remain in his post and willbecome RTL Creation’s sole ManagingDirector, with responsibility for marketing, pro-motion and design activities at RTL inGermany.

Michael Hajek


People

Luc Marteling to joinRTL Lëtzebuerg’s management team aseditor-in-chief of RTLNewmediaLuxembourg - 31 March 2008

33-year-old Marteling, who has a degree incommunication studies, will take up his newpost as editor-in-chief of RTL.lu, Luxembourg’snumber one website, on 1 June 2008.

Luc Marteling’s arrival in this strategic job is asign of the firm commitment of RTL Lëtzebuerg(RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg)to breathe new life into the RTL News portallaunched last September. It also underscoresthe importance the group attaches to theInternet and in particular to news broadcastingvia its dedicated website RTL.lu which is visitedby an astonishing 59.1 per cent ofLuxembourg’s Internet users.

RTL Lëtzebuerg’s head of news Marc Linsterwelcomes the arrival of Luc Marteling, whom hedescribes as a “seasoned professional withinthe Luxembourg media industry”.

Speaking of the new editor-in-chief’s arrival, theCEO of RTL Lëtzebuerg Alain Berwick said:“This newly created post will not only enhancethe quality of news on RTL.lu but will alsostrengthen synergies between our three com-ponent media – radio, TV and Internet.”

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Luc Marteling

http://backstage.rtlgroup.frhttp://backstage.rtlgroup.comhttp://backstage.rtlgroup.de

PublisherRTL Group

45, Bd Pierre Frieden

L-1543 Luxembourg

Editor, Design, Production

RTL Group

Corporate Communications and Marketing

3 april 2008 concentrated creativity - rtl group · concentrated creativity ... they were really...

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