Copyright Emerce

Due to a disappointing advertiser market in Europe, RTL Group is posting a five percent drop in revenue in the first half of 2023. The number of streaming customers, on the other hand, increases by 34 percent to six million.

That increase, however, cannot make up for the drop in advertising revenue.

RTL Group saw sales percent to 3.1 billion euros in the second quarter. Profit before exceptional expenses (ebita) halved to 250 million euros. Because of "the high level of uncertainties," the media company's management is lowering its full-year profit forecast by 50 million euros to 950 million euros.

The biggest uncertainties for RTL's business are geopolitical and macroeconomic developments on the one hand and the structural change in viewing behavior on the other.

In the six months to July, the media group invested EUR 1.1 billion in content for broadcast and streaming.

Start-up losses in the streaming business rose by 13 million euros to 87 million euros, mainly due to higher investments in Germany and Hungary. These are expected to amount to some two hundred euros over the whole year.

Subscription business at Videoland and RTL+ saw sales rise 16.9 percent to 152 million euros, or five percent of the total. That is not nearly enough to compensate for declining TV sales.

Strategic investments go to: digital advertising technology, streaming technology and the creation of proprietary data sets. The goal is to serve ten million streaming subscribers by the end of 2026, generating profitable annual sales of one billion euros.

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