RTL Deutschland

Logo of RTL Deutschland

RTL Deutschland is a media company based in Cologne. The company owns the channels RTL Television, VOX, n-tv and the streaming service RTL+, among others. In 2022, the Gruner + Jahr media group was merged with RTL Deutschland. The parent company Bertelsmann already held a majority stake in Gruner + Jahr. The editor-in-chief in charge is Michael Wulf, who began his career at publishing house Axel Springer and will retire in the course of 2024.

Key Facts

Business FormCommercial / For-profit
Legal FormLimited liability company (GmbH)
Business SectorsFunding/investment; voucher marketing; games publishing; charity; tourism

Ownership

Individual Owner
Group / Individual Owner
  • Free float

    17.9% of RTL Group S.A. shares are in free float and freely tradable on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
    17.9

Media Outlets

Other Media Outlets

Other TV Outlets
  • ntv
  • Nitro
  • RTL Super
Other Radio Outlets

  • Antenne Bayern (11.8%)

  • Radio Bob (0.6%)

Other Online Outlets
  • Stern.de
  • ntv.de
  • capital.de
  • rtl.de
  • eltern.de
other_print_titles
  • ART
  • Brigitte
  • CAPITAL
  • GALA
  • GEO
  • Schöner Wohnen
  • Stern
  • Häuser
  • COUCH

Facts

Other Media BusinessesAdvertising
  • Ad Alliance GmbH (100 %)
IT Services
  • RTL Technology GmbH (100 %)
Publishing
  • Gruner + Jahr GmbH (100 %)
Other International BusinessesMedia
  • RTL Group S.A. (Deutschland, Ungarn, Luxemburg, Niederlande, USA, Großbritannien, Vereinigte Arabische Emirate, Schweden, Spanien, Singapur, Portugal, Polen, Norwegen, Italien, Mexiko, Israel, Irland, Indonesien, Indien, Frankreich, Belgien, Australien, Kanada, 100 %)
  • Bertelsmann SE & Co KGaA (weltweit, 76 %)
Founding Year2008
Founder
  • CLT (Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion) and UFA/Bertelsmann
    RTLplus (renamed RTL Television in 1992) was founded by CLT and UFA in 1984. The Bertelsmann Group held 40% of the shares in RTL via UFA Film und Fernsehen GmbH. The Austrian Helmut Thoma became the first director of RTLplus and, together with Bertelsmann's CEO at the time, Mark Wössner, was a driving force behind the introduction of private television in Germany.
Employees7,500
ContactRTL Deutschland
Picassoplatz 1
50679 Köln
Germany
webmaster@rtlinteractive.de
+49 (0)221 - 456-6-0
RTL.com
Tax / ID NumberDE 814 967 412
Revenue€ 2.6 Billion (2023) / USD 3 Billion
Operating Profit€ 321 Million Adjusted EBITA (2023) / USD 350 Million
Advertising (in % of total funding)73 %: € 2.053 Billion (2022) / USD 2.3 Billion (2022)
Executive Board
  • Stephan Schmitter
    CEO of RTL Germany. Schmitter previously made a career at RTL's radio division and eventually moved to the editorial department. Schmitter is also responsible for the streaming service RTL+ and the publishing business of Gruner + Jahr. He has also been a member of the Group Management Committee (GMC) at Bertelsmann since the beginning of 2024. An advisory board that advises the Bertelsmann Executive Board on strategic issues.
  • Matthias Dang

    Chief Commercial, Technology & Data Officer at RTL Germany and Managing Director at Ad Alliance. His career began in 1993 at IP Deutschland, where he rose to the position of Managing Director. Dang studied economics at the University of Mainz and worked part-time at 3sat. He was instrumental in the founding of Ad Alliance. In addition to his media career, Dang was also active as a handball referee and officiated over 480 matches. After more than 30 years at RTL Germany, he announced his retirement in April 2024 to pursue new challenges.

Other Influential People
  • The Mohn family
    The family business was founded in 1835 by Carl Bertelsmann as a small publishing house with a printing press in Gütersloh. Bertelsmann became a global corporation under Reinhard Mohn, who was the fifth generation to manage the company. He founded the book club and the foundation, and expanded the group to over 100,000 employees. After Reinhard Mohn's death, his wife Liz Mohn took over the business, now in conjunction with her son Christoph Mohn. Carsten Coesfeld, a grandson of Mohn, is now being talked about as the next Bertelsmann boss.
Headlines
Active Transparency
company/channel informs proactively and comprehensively about its ownership, data is constantly updated and easily verifiable
Meta DataOperating profit is only stated in an adjusted calculation (adjusted EBITA). Information on the composition of the indicator can be found in the annual report (2022, page 58).
The average exchange rate from the year of publication of the source was used for the conversions from euros to US dollars (2023: 1.08 USD / 2022: 1.05 USD).
The Bertelsmann Foundation's capital shares are attributed to the Mohn family, as the founder has extensive powers and control within the foundation.
Sources