creating events - rtl groupdie fluchtstarring maria furtwängler was also enormously successful with...

United Kingdom

Tony Cohen about FremantleMedia’s future

Spain

Antena 3 launches video-on-demand service

Belgium

Mint leaves the airwaves

Germany

RTL Interactive integrates subsidiaries

week 43

23 October 2008

Creating EventsTeamworx celebrates its 10th anniversary

2Creating Events

COVER:Montage with screenshots from Teamworx’s most popular programmes

the RTL Group intranetweek 43

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A new definition of eventtelevisionAfter ten years, Teamworx has more than 140productions, is the European market leader inevent productions, has amassed numerous suc-cesses at award presentations and internationalfilm festivals, and achieved remarkable interna-tional distribution rates. In a word, it is one ofthe leading producers in German television.Germany - 23 October 2008

The successful company was founded on 21October 1998 by Nico Hofmann, ArianeKrampe, and Wolf Bauer. “Teamworx was bornafter a long conversation with Wolf Bauer,”recalls Teamworx CEO Nico Hofmann. “Wedeveloped the concept of bringing young, crea-tive talent together to make high-quality televi-sion.” Since its founding, Teamworx has conti-nually expanded its product portfolio, whichtoday includes ‘event’ TV movies and fictionalprogramming as well as series and miniseries.“We wanted to set up a young company in thetruest sense of the word, and give a lot of talen-ted people the opportunity of expressing theircinematic ideas,” explains Hofmann. “BerndEichinger, for whom I was working at the time,had taken a similar approach for the big screenand has very successfully produced films withSönke Wortmann and others.”

Teamworx has shaped important trends with itssophisticated event productions, and has had aformative influence on the German TV landsca-pe. Not only were many of the productionshuge audience favorites, they have also wonprestigious German and international TV andfilm awards – some of them repeatedly, like DerTunnel, Der Tanz mit dem Teufel – DieEntführung des Richard Oetker, Die Sturmflut,Die Luftbrücke – Nur der Himmel war frei,Stauffenberg, Toter Mann, Familienkreise, DieFlucht and Die Mauer – Berlin ‘61. “Onemile–stone was Der Tunnel, which helped us toestablish large-scale event movies for televi-sion,” says Hofmann. “Familienkreise by StefanKrohmer also opened up an entirely new genrein television plays.”

One of the biggest successes in the fledglingcompany’s history is the anti-war dramaDresden, which won a German TV Award in2006 for “Best TV Movie.” The two-part moviedrew 12.68 million viewers, a new record forfictional TV productions, and thus became themost-watched TV movie on German televisionsince 1992. The historical two-part miniseriesDie Flucht starring Maria Furtwängler was alsoenormously successful with television audien-ces and critics alike. Over 12.5 viewers wat-ched the film when it aired in 2007, and it recei-ved a number of prizes, including the GermanTV Award, the Audience Bambi 2007, the DivaAward as “TV Movie of the Year” and “Best TVMovie” at the Shanghai Television Festival2007.

Teamworx not only produces outstanding fic-tional programming, but has also made a namefor itself in high-end image films. Bertelsmann,for instance, commissioned Teamworx to pro-duce The Spirit about the BertelsmannEssentials and the image films Catching theStars – which was watched by over two millionpeople at the Hannover Expo in 2000 – andWorld of Passion. Teamworx also producedThe Journey for RTL Group and the image filmJust in Time for Deutsche Post AG, which tookfirst prize for up-and-coming talent at theBusiness Film Awards in 2006. In January2008, Teamworx further strengthened its imageand commercial film operations by setting upthe new division Teamworx Commercial.Apart from developing and producing its ownmaterials and formats, Teamworx is committedto next-generation talent in the arts and spon-sors up-and-coming film- and TV makers. Nico

Nico Hofmann


Hofmann has lectured at the Baden-Württemberg Academy of Film since 1995 as aprofessor in the “Scenic Film” department, andin 2000 jointly called into being the First Stepsaward for young filmmakers with BerndEichinger. The prize aims to help young direc-tors get started in their career and gave talen-ted filmmakers like Stefan Krohmer (GrimmeAwards in gold, 2002 and 2004), SvenTaddicken (nominated for the Students Oscar2000), Christoph Stark and Sven Bohse anopportunity to get their ideas on the screen.

“One challenge for the next few years will be tofind a new definition of event television. Wemust find more unpredictable and relevantmaterial, the kind picked up on by DasMillionenspiel by Tom Toelle and Smog byWolfgang Menge have taken on,” saysHofmann, looking to the future. “We have alrea-dy set out down this path with our Afghanistan

film Willkommen zuhause and our planned filmabout Scientology dropouts,” says Hofmann. “Iwant to really get into the family structure evenmore than before and find a personalised nar-rative perspective. And with projects like DieGrenze and Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter, wetake a closer look at German history from anentirely new perspective.”

Projects currently in the preparation and pro-duction process include Der Vulkan, HelmutKohl – Der Film, Unser Mütter, Unsere Väter,Grzimek, Rommel, Die Grenze, Hindenburg andmany more.

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Die Patin – The GodmotherBroadcast14 December 2008, RTL Television, 20:1515 December 2008, RTL Television, 20:1517 December 2008, RTL Television, 20:15

Willkommen zuhause – Welcome HomeBroadcast21 January 2009, ARD, 20:15

Coming up on TV:


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Successful Teamworx productions (a selection):

Das Wunder von Berlin (ZDF – 2008) – TheMiracle of BerlinRatings8.01 million viewers, 21.5 per cent total audienceshareAwards & FestivalsNominated for German TV Award 2008 – Best Film;Montreal World Film Festival 2008; German-Ukrainian Film Week 2008

Die Flucht (ARD – 2007) – The EscapeRatingsPart 1: 13.55 million viewers, 29.5 per cent total audiencesharePart 2: 12.16 million viewers, 20.7 per cent total audienceshareInternational distribution41 countriesAwards & FestivalsDiva 2008 – Best TV-Movie;Bavarian TV Award 2007Camera – Holly Fink;German TV Award 2007Supporting Role – Gabriela M. Schmeide, Music –Enjott Schneider, Production Design – Knut Loewe,Wiebke Kratz;Jupiter 2008;Audience Bambi 2007;Shanghai Television Festival 2007 – Best TV-Film

Dresden (ZDF – 2006)RatingsPart 1: 12.68 million viewers, 32.6 per cent total audiencesharePart 2: 11.25 million viewers, 31.2 per cent total audienceshareInternational distribution95 countriesAwards & FestivalsGerman TV Award 2006Best TV FilmDiva 2007 – Best TV-Movie;Jupiter 2007 – Best TV-Film;Bavarian TV Award 2006Young Talent Award


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Die Sturmflut (RTL Television – 2006) – TheStorm TideRatingsPart 1: 11.59 million viewers, 38.9 per cent audience sharein the 14 to 49 age groupPart 2: 11.20 million viewers, 39.2 per cent audience sharein the 14 to 49 age groupInternational distribution59 countriesAwards & FestivalsDVD Champion 2006

Der Tunnel (Sat1 – 2001) – The TunnelRatingsPart 1: 7.31 million viewers, 19.8 per cent total audiencesharePart 2: 6.76 million viewers, 19.6 per cent total audienceshareInternational distribution71 countriesAwards & FestivalsGerman TV Award 2001Best FilmGolden Camera 2002Lead – Heino Ferch;German Camera Award 2001;Editing/Scenic Peter R. AdamBavarian TV Award 2001Best Director – Roland Suso Richter, Best LeadActor – Heino Ferch;Jupiter 2001 – Best Film;Cologne Conference – Producer’s Prize


Breaking new groundThe finale of Latin American Idol aired live to all 24 countries in Latin America on 9 October, making it the only show in Spanish television history ever to air simultaneously to all territories.Latin America - 20 October 2008

FremantleMedia Latin America has thus wrap-ped up another season of the continent’s firstand only multi-territory Pan-Latin production.The finale of Latin American Idol finale also seta new record in the TV industry by becomingthe show with the most votes for any program-me, scoring 3.6 million votes in a single night,during which Margarita Henriquez fromPanama emerged as the winner of the 2008season.

The finale also included exclusive specialappearances, live via satellite, by the presi-dents of the two finalists’ home countries,Panama (Martin Torrijos) and Costa Rica(Oscar Arias).

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Focus on the futureLast week, Tony Cohen, CEO of FremantleMedia, spoke at Mipcom aboutFremantleMedia’s future.United Kingdom - 21 October 2008

“In the last few weeks every new day hasbrought a new financial headline. We are notinsulated from the recent economic turbulenceand it’s clear that things are going to be toughin the future. But, we need to plan now onmaking sure we can continue to grow the com-pany,” Tony Cohen said. He continued explai-ning the company’s strategy for the futurewhich contains four main elements:

1. Development: FremantleMedia will increaseits investment in development. “This year’sslate is our best ever and we will build on that

by continuing to create grade ‘A’ programmesthat broadcasters want,” Tony Cohen said.

2. Investment: FremantleMedia will increaseinvestment in its distribution, licensing andmerchandising company FremantleMediaEnterprises, as well as its Talent Fund partner-ships in acquisitions and in new ventures likeFremantleMedia Gaming.

3. Network: The company will continue to builda unique, creative and commercial global net-work, which is a combination of production andenterprise companies around the world.

4. Execution: “We will continue to be obsessi-ve about the quality of our productions in bothdrama and entertainment,” Cohen explains.

Tony Cohen concluded by pointing out that2008 has been an outstanding year so far bothcreatively and commercially. He said:“FremantleMedia continues to produce thehighest rated shows in the world. We havenumber one shows in every major market, whe-ther it is the USA, UK, Germany, France, TheNetherlands, Italy, Australia or elsewhere.”

Tony Cohen


New video on-demand serviceAntena 3 presents its new video portal antena3videos.com. The site not only featuresthe broadcaster’s programmes and series, but also gives users the option of interac-ting via various social networks, including Facebook.Spain - 21 October 2008

The new website is designed as an ‘on-demand’ service and will celebrate its launchby premiering the fourth season of the popularseries El Internado. Antena 3 thus combines itsaudiovisual online content on a single platform.Users can now see all Antena 3 content at aglance. In addition, they can share theirthoughts about the content using social net-works such as Facebook. A simple tool evenmakes it possible to send friends not the wholeclip, but just a small excerpt. Even thoughusers don’t need to register for the new portal,they can set up their own personal TV channelby compiling their own list of favourites.Antena 3 plans to add more features in themonths ahead.

The portal will gradually be filled with content,but already offers episodes of the Spanishseries Física o Química, Lalola, Cozadores de

hombres, Lex and ElInternado, as well ashighlights from thenews and magazineshows. Thanks to itsuse of the Flash videoformat, the portal maybe viewed on all themajor systems.

The launch of theantena3videos.com site is part of thebroadcaster’s strategy of making content avai-lable not just on television, but on all availablechannels (analogue TV, digital TV, mobile TVand internet). This not only gives the broadcas-ter a broader base, but also puts it in a betterposition for marketing airtime. Thus, the newportal represents progress for users and adver-tisers alike.

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visit

antena3videos.com

antena3videos.com


Mint leaves the airwavesRTL Belgium’s pop rock radio station stoppedbroadcasting last Friday at 20:00. Belgium - 22 October 2008

In spite of the unfortunate decision, which wasmade for reasons totally beyond its control,Mint celebrated its last hours with dignity.On 17 October, it offered listeners a specialprogramme, in the spirit that had made it “thebest-tasting radio” on the air.

Mint’s listeners were stunned by the news, tosay the least. They still haven’t got over the factthat their favourite radio station has simplydisappeared from the FM band. Some thoughtit was just a bad joke, but it’s the sad truth. Theradio station’s web site was flooded with com-ments.

The decision to pull Mint off the FM airwaveswas made by Belgium’s audiovisual authorities.

During the second call for tender for thesecond urban network launched by the Frenchcommunity government, the CSA decided notto assign a frequency to Mint.

Even so, Mint fought like a lion, and it must besaid that the station was well armed. On its sidewere the recording artists and listeners, whowere unanimous in their praise of Mint’s pro-gramming and style, which are unique to itsgenre. More than 70,000 people signed a peti-tion for Mint to continue to be part of Belgium’sradio landscape, which demonstrates the vis-ceral attachment Belgians had for the station.

Listeners have strongly condemned the CSA’sdecision, and this sense of injustice is equally

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Philippe Delusinne, Managing Director of TVI SA

The Mint Team united in adversity


shared by Mint’s team. For managing directorEric Adelbrecht, in an exclusive interview withBackstage, “It’s a huge disappointment for theteam and for RTL Belgium. It’s a purely politicaldecision that did not take into account the rele-vance of what we were doing, nor our frustra-tion. The overall sentiment is: ‘What a waste!’Indeed, the listeners’ spontaneous reactionsare unanimous, they miss us and are stronglyagainst our demise. That all of them are callingit an injustice surely demonstrates that theCSA’s decision raises a problem… But in spiteof all this, we have to get back on our feet.”

For its last programme, Mint wanted to avoidfalling into pathos. It aired a truly great pro-gramme that brought in many presenters,columnists, journalists and recording artistswho all gave a tip of the hat to the station. Itwas a beautiful moment in radio, and an emo-

tional one, which gave a boost to Mint’s teamand raised morale among the troops. For EricAdelbrecht, the important thing was to “holdone’s head high.” “We’re obliged to turn thepage, with much regret, but we are keeping aclosely-knit team.”

Mint will remain on the Internet, in an “ultra-light” version, offering a pop-rock blend. Theeconomic models of FM and the web are, ofcourse different. Eric Adelbrecht, “We won’t beable to continue to produce shows.” On theother hand, Mint has a real identity, and is apowerful value-added brand. Eric Adelbrechtstill wants to continue to exploit it and is alrea-dy thinking of how to integrate it in other radiostations in the group, like Radio Contact, byoffering a new, innovative and powerful kind ofradio. It’s a lesson about courage, taught byMint’s management and crew, on how to turn

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The final moments of Mint


Integrating subsidiariesRTL Enterprises and RTL Games will be incorporated into RTL Interactive with effectfrom 1 January 2009. Germany - 16 October 2008

The Cologne-based Mediengruppe RTLDeutschland subsidiary, RTL Interactive, willincorporate the licensing and merchandisingbusiness and the console and PC games acti-vities with effect from 1 January 2009. RTLEnterprises and RTL Games with all theiremployees will be completely integrated in theirparent company, RTL Interactive. BirgitHönsch, Managing Director of the two subsi-diaries, has been appointed the new Head ofLicensing and Games and will sit on the mana-gement board of RTL Interactive, along withdepartment head Matthias Büchs(Online/Mobile/Teletext), Matthias Lindenberger(Chief Financial Officer) and Martin Sacht(Media Services), who have sat on the boardsince last year. Marcus Dimpfel, Head ofBusiness Development, completes the mana-gement team.

Marc Schröder, Managing Director of RTLInteractive, comments: “I look forward to wel-coming the complete teams of the two compa-nies headed by Birgit Hönsch to RTL Interactivein January. This clear structure allows us to bet-ter leverage and use our media group’s compe-tencies and expertise, and cooperate more clo-sely with the different departments.” Last year,the subsidiaries RTL Media Services and RTLMobile had already been combined under theRTL Interactive roof. “Our experiences withintegrating the subsidiaries have been excel-lent, and we have achieved positive effects asboth departments continued to grow. I am posi-tive that the integration will help us to continueon the growth path we have set out on,” saysMarc Schröder.

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Marc Schröder, Managing Director of RTL Interactive


L’Expédition RTL sets off for the ArcticOn Tuesday 14 October, at a press conference held for the launch of its new socialawareness show, RTL Radio France revealed the first destination of special corres-pondent Myriam Alma.France - 17 October 2008

Over the last 30 years in Alaska, as in everyother Arctic region, temperatures have risentwo to three times faster than on the rest of theplanet. The summer ice pack has lost 30 percent of its surface area and may disappearcompletely in the next 10to 15 years.

For its first investigativereport, L’Expédition RTLheads north of the ArcticCircle, to areas that havebeen greatly affected, toobserve the melting of theice cap, rising water levelsand population move-ment. Myriam Alma willnotably go to Barrow, thenorthernmost town on theAmerican continent, and aplace that also finds itselfat the centre of the “newArctic war.” As the ice melts,new shipping lanes are being opened to mariti-me transport companies as well as to oil com-panies eyeing the enormous potential of reser-ves located under the Arctic Ocean.

Jean-Louis Etienne, who recently launched apetition to save the Arctic, has agreed to beRTL Radio’s first renowned guest. On 20October at 8:35, he opened the debate on glo-bal warming. In 1986, doctor and explorer

Jean-Louis Etienne was the first man to travelalone to the North Pole. In the spring of 2002he set off on Mission Banquise, a three-monthtour of the polar ice cap aboard the PolarObserver, to conduct a research and informa-

tion programme on globalwarming.

For Axel Duroux,Chairman of the Board ofDirectors of RTL RadioFrance, “ (…) it is not ine-vitable, and if man iscapable of being his worstenemy, he is also capableof finding the path of pro-gress and adaptability.L’Expédition RTL’s mis-sion is to raise conscious-ness and put forwardsolutions and initiatives.(…) With exclusive eyewit-

ness accounts and reports,L’Expédition RTL will be there to explain how itis still not too late to learn how to live together.”

For more information about this programme orto follow the special correspondent’s day-by-day reports, please check the events file onrtl.fr or the weekly editorial newsletter devotedto L’Expédition RTL.

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Myriam Alma


Renewed splendourThe daily series Gute Zeiten – Schlechte Zeitenhas take place against the backdrop of a new,two-storey production set since 20 October. Theshow’s homepage is also being revised.Germany - 22 October 2008

In a matter of three months, Production Studio1 on the Potsdam-Babelsberg grounds wasrenovated and transformed into a two-storeydouble set. A 75-ton platform was integrated,enabling the creation of 22 sets in all. The 360-degree usability of this innovative studioconstruction concept opens up entirely newstaging options: a large part of the studios cannow be used across two levels – a completelyunique feature in Germany. In addition, theGrundy UFA production team will be workingwith a new camera system and an innovativelighting concept from now on.

From 10 November, Gute Zeiten – schlechteZeiten viewers will be treated to some onlinechanges as well, when one of Germany’s mostpopular young-adult websites in Germany,www.gzsz.de, relaunches in a new design, withnew content and applications. In addition to thelatest news on the show and the Gute Zeiten –Schlechte Zeiten cast, fans of the series canlook forward to a new community where eachuser can set up their own page and personali-se it with an avatar and other features.Community members can comment on theshow, share their experiences and becomefriends with other fans. The special feature isthat RTL Online’s editors are also part of thecommunity, with specially labelled avatars. Thisallows fans of the series to directly contact thewebsite’s editors.

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The new set

An office set in the new production studio


RTL Spendenmarathon:Madeleine of SwedenThe 13th RTL Spendenmarathon begins on 20 November on RTL Television. This year, itfocuses on children’s relief projects in Africaand the struggle against child poverty inGermany. Princess Madeleine of Sweden is the mentor of a project in South Africa. Germany - 23 October 2008

Every 26 seconds, a woman is raped in SouthAfrica. The victims are between four monthsand 87 years old. Many boys and girls grow upnever knowing the support and security of afamily. Violence, alcohol and unemploymentdominate the everyday routine of innumerablefamilies. Many children run away from homeand end up on the streets, where they areconsidered easy prey are beatenand abused. Unwanted pregnanciesare commonplace among girls,many of whom are still children.Abortions under life-threateningconditions and rampant HIV infec-tion are among the terrible results.

The World Childhood Foundationhas operated a drop-in centre since1983 that attempts to lower the inci-

dence of child abuse and neglect as well asprovide pre- and postnatal psychological andphysical support for expectant mothers.Princess Madeleine of Sweden is pushing toexpand this centre so that it can offer effectivelong-term help to more children. The RTLSpendenmarathon wishes to support this pro-ject.

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Princess Madeleine of Sweden

Princess Madeleine of Sweden and RTL Charity Director Wolfram Kons survey thesituation of young mothers and their babies in a Cape Town township


Heading toward the USPresidential ElectionRTL Radio France will provide comprehensiveprogramming to help its listeners be a part ofthis decisive moment in international news. France - 23 October 2008

The high point will be the programme RTL, LaNuit Américaine, airing 5 November from mid-night to 9:30 and featuring many notableguests.

Before the election, RTL will feature specialprogramming, with five correspondents onlocation and three programmes on the air: RTLau cœur de l’Amérique (in-depth reports to bet-ter understand the subjects that may tip thescales in the favour of one camp or another),L’Autre Amérique (reports that challenge pre-conceived notions about the US) and MonAmérique à moi (a celebrity or an anonymousindividual describes his or her ideal America).

On election night, from midnight to 5:00, thestation’s special correspondents PhilippeAntoine, Isabelle Dath, Myriam Alma, RémiSulmont and David Glaser will join GeorgesLang to bring listeners the election results livefrom New York. In between reports and analy-ses, listeners will be able to hear the initial reac-tions of the main players in the election.

From 5:00 to 7:00, RTL Petit Matin goesAmerican. Denis Girolami will broadcast livefrom rue Bayard in Paris and host many invitedguests. A special edition of RTL Matin, from7:00 to 9:30, will air live from the Grand HôtelIntercontinental on rue Scribe in Paris, in part-nership with the International Herald Tribune.For two and a half hours, Vincent Parizot andthe entire editorial team will enrich the airwaveswith reports and comments. Many invitedguests will be on hand to comment on theresults, including political personalities, philo-sophers and literary figures such as RamaYade, Bernard Henri-Levy, Douglas Kennedyand Philippe Labro. Editorial specialists AlainDuhamel, Jean-Michel Aphatie and consultantDominique Moïsi will sit at the table and offerup their analyses and comments as well as helpexplain various references.

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Barack Obama and John McCain


Best new radio campaign of the year announcedOn Thursday 16 October, the 4th Amboss prize for creative radio campaigns was pre-sented in Düsseldorf.Germany - 21 October 2008

The 2008 Amboss goes to‘ I m m o n e t - N a c h r i c h t e n ’(‘Immonet News’), a radio cam-paign by Grabarz & Partner. Thelarge Internet property salesportal Immonet has the claim“Immonet.de. Schneller besserwohnen” (Immonet.de – Thefaster way to a better home.)

In all, five teams and their newlydeveloped campaigns made thefinals of the 2008 Amboss,including campaigns for Edeka,Jet Tankstellen, Immonet,McDonald’s and Gruner + Jahr.The five finalist teams had beengiven a production budget ofEUR 10,000 each to turn theirwritten concept into impressiveradio commercials. The fivecampaigns all take differentapproaches, but have one thing incommon: they show that radio advertisingoffers a wide range of creative approaches thatturn commercial breaks into an effective ele-ment in the programming that is well worth lis-tening to.

“It was an excellent event with good modera-tors, entertaining performers and, above all,great campaigns. The creative approach of thefinalists showed that radio commercials can bereal ‘ear-catchers’. People don’t mind stayingtuned in and remember some of the content aswell. We hope that the Amboss will continue toinspire companies and agencies to rely evenmore on original spots and campaigns,” com-ments Gert Zimmer, CEO RTL RadioDeutschland.

The Amboss prize for creativity in radio hasbeen presented annually since 2005. It is orga-nised by the owners of AmbossVeranstaltungs-GmbH – RTL RadioDeutschland, Radio NRW and Radio KombiBayern – to promote creativity in radio adverti-sing and to make radio even more of a focus inthe efforts of creative professionals, advertisersand media planners. The Amboss is sponsoredby twelve radio partners from all over Germany:89.0 RTL, 104.6 RTL, 105'5 Spreeradio,Antenne Bayern, Big FM The new Beat, Big FMHot Music Radio, BLW Bayerische Lokalradio-Werbung, Hit-Radio Antenne, Radio Brocken,Radio Hamburg, Radio NRW and RadioRegenbogen.

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The winners of the Amboss 2008


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Sharing 20 years of expertise Questions Pour Un Champion is one of France’s leading game shows. Now it will hit NorthAmerica – being produced with the help of French expertise.North America - 17 October 2008

A new judge on the German Idol panelVolker Neumüller, a music executive and label boss, will replace actor/musician Max vonThun on the panel of judges for Deutschland sucht den Superstar, alongside MTV modera-tor Nina Eichinger and Dieter Bohlen.Germany - 21 October 2008

Katharina Wackernagel wins Hessian TV Award Last weekend, Katharina Wackernagel accepted a Hessian TV Award for Best Actress forher role in the Teamworx production Mein Mörder kommt zurück (My Murderer Returns).Germany - 22 October 2008

500 episodes of help for animalsMenschen, Tiere & Doktoren is one of Vox’s most popular in-house formats. The channelpresented the 500th episode on Monday 20 October. Germany - 20 October 2008

Mario Barth is the ‘Most Popular Live Act’ The first winner of the 2008 German Comedy Award is in: the Berlin comedian Mario Barthhas won ‘Most Popular Live Act’ for the fourth time running. RTL Television will broadcastthe awards ceremony on 24 October.Germany - 22 October 2008


People

Changes on GTRS teamLuxembourg - 22 October 2008

18GTRS Team

RTL Group announced changes in the GroupTransactions & Reporting Systems departmentto prepare the ground for its future develop-ment.

As a result, Jean-Yves Derore has been appoin-ted Vice President of the Applications GlobalSupport (AGS) and Group Reporting Systems(GRS) teams. In this new role, Jean-Yves willlook to further improve the AGS service levelsof the support desk and implement a customeroriented ‘single point of contact’ for all referen-ced finance applications (SAP, Magnitude). Inaddition, Jean-Yves will continue to lead theGroup Reporting Systems (GRS) team, in char-ge of managing and developing all Magnitudeprojects.

Peter Diepstraten, previously Vice President ofApplications Global Support (AGS), has beenappointed as Vice President of FinancialTransactions Systems (FTS). In this new capa-city, Peter will lead his team to monitor all SAPprojects, and to develop second level supporttowards all SAP customers, and further toensure that internal processes on SAP systemsmeet the increasing compliance requirements.

Additional changes are: Jean-Paul Schmit, willintegrate in his current role of SAPAdministrator and Consultant the FTS teamand Christoph Moritz, Functional Expert, willmove from the GRS team to the AGS team.

The London-based members of GTRS(employed by RTL Group Systems Ltd.) willshift their functional reporting lines as follows:Pierre Levine, Bradley Binns and David Bickleywill report to Peter Diepstraten, Mark Cowelland David Phillips fulfilling AGS missions andtasks will report to Jean-Yves Derore

Vincent Pascaud, Senior Vice President ofGTRS, said: “The GTRS department has beensuccessfully leading large and strategic imple-mentation projects since its creation in 2005and I am confident that this new structure willallow us to deliver a high quality and reactivesupport to our growing customer base, whilekeeping flexibility to further drive projectswithin the group. Bundling the strengths andtalents of our internal experts will also positionus at best for further business opportunities.”

Jean-Marie Bourhis, Deputy Chief FinancialOfficer and Executive Vice President Finance ofRTL Group, said: “The expansion and changeson the GTRS department demonstrates RTLGroup’s commitment to further develop and rollout the financial tools that are key to the moni-toring of the Group’s financial performance.”

“We are in particular happy that the changesare promoting internal key persons, who havesuccessfully proved their strong commitmentto group projects, and whom we trust in toachieve the upcoming challenges.”


People

Jürgen Kerbel joins104.6 RTL Germany - 22 October 2008

Jürgen Kerbel, one of Germany’s best-knowncomedy stars, will leave 94.3 RS2 to joinBerlin’s most widely listened-to morning show,Arno und die Morgencrew.

The inventor of the nationwide hit cover song ofSchni-Schna-Schnappi, will soon be serving upgags as Head of Comedy at Berlin’s humorousmorning show. Arno und die Morgencrew is thehome of the original ‘Crazy Phone’ prank calls.

Jürgen Kerbel, 29, has made a name for himselfin the German comedy scene with over 2,500comedies to date, and has won several awardsfor his work. In 2002, he won an FFN ComedyAward for Best Radio Comedy. In 2005, he wasnominated for the German Radio Award for

authoring/inventing the Star FM comedy Briefan die Mutter, and actually received a 2005German Radio Award for Best Radio Comedy –the pinnacle of his success to date – for theSchnappi cover song.

Kerbel expresses his delight at being part of theArno und die Morgencrew team from now on:“I look forward to working for the most interes-ting radio broadcaster in Berlin-Brandenburg,together with an incredibly creative and innova-tive team. My colleagues at 104.6 RTL have alot of fun with their job, as you can hear foryourself every day on the radio. Hitradio’s qua-lity is evident not only in its listener numbers –it’s also the creative number one in Berlin’sradio landscape,” says Kerbel.

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Jürgen Kerbel, German comedy star

People

Changes in Belgium Belgium - 23 October 2008

Frédéric Herbays, currently programme direc-tor at Bel RTL, will assume his new duties as of1 January 2009 when he joins the televisionmanagement team as Head of Production. Hewill be replaced by Patrick Perret who will beBel RTL’s new Programme Director.

As Head of Production, Frédéric Herbays willbe in charge of animation, support services andthe supervision of all production crews and aswell as in-house programmes produced on theBelgian networks RTL-TVI, Club RTL and PlugRTL. He will report to Head of TelevisionStéphane Rosenblatt. In addition, FrédéricHerbays will serve, alongside Erwin Lapraille,as Assistant to Television Management.

Patrick Perret will become Bel RTL’s newProgramme Director as of 1 January.

Frédéric Herbays, Head of Production

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