RTL grows streaming business; lowers outlook
November 13, 2024
RTL Group has reported that January to September 2024 group revenue stable at €4.2 billion, as higher TV advertising and streaming revenue were offset by lower content revenue from Fremantle. Group revenue was down 1.5 per cent organically.
Group revenue in Q3 2024 for continuing operations was down 5.5 per cent to €1.3 billion, mainly due to lower content revenue at Fremantle and lower advertising revenue.
The German broadcaster reported continued dynamic growth of its streaming services: paying subscribers were up 22.8 per cent year on year to 6.5 million, and streaming revenue increased 41 per cent in January to September 2024.
RTL Deutschland continued to gain TV advertising market share and expanded its audience lead over the main commercial competitor ProSiebenSat1 in the target group to 7 percentage points.
Full-year Adjusted EBITA outlook for 2024 has been confirmed: Adjusted EBITA of around €750 million, with a variance of plus/minus €50 million. Due to the persistent weakness of the German economy and TV advertising market, RTL Group now expects Adjusted EBITA to come in at the lower end of the range. Full-year revenue outlook for 2024 has been revised to around €6.3 billion (previous guidance: €6.6 billion) due to the German TV advertising market and lower growth of the content production market.
Thomas Rabe, Chief Executive Officer of RTL Group, commented: “We are accelerating RTL Group’s transformation in a challenging economic environment. Our streaming services continue to grow dynamically in all key dimensions: number of paying subscribers, viewing hours, subscription and advertising revenue. At the current pace, we are confident to reach the seven million paying subscribers mark by the end of the year and remain on track to reach our long-term streaming targets and thus profitability by 2026. The integration of the newly acquired Asacha Media Group and Beach House Pictures into the global Fremantle network is progressing well. With a strong content lineup in the fourth quarter, Fremantle will significantly increase its full-year Adjusted EBITA.
“Based on our strong operating performance and active cost management, RTL Group confirms its full-year profit outlook. Due to the persistent weakness of the German economy and TV advertising market, we now expect our full-year Adjusted EBITA to come in at the lower end of the outlook range of €750 million, plus/minus €50 million,” concluded Rabe.