The news machine. week 36. How RTL Group company Enex makes a constant cosmic information flow possible and affordable.

Transcription

1 9 September 2010 The news machine How RTL Group company Enex makes a constant cosmic information flow possible and affordable France M6 breaks audience record with football Germany IP Deutschland shows unusual campaigns Germany UFA helps building political awareness Luxembourg RTL Lëtzebuerg presents its new season line-up

2 Cover: Montage with dish antenna and Enex logo es 2

3 Nic Jakob Being where the news is Nic Jakob, Managing Director of Enex, tells Backstage how he offers news footage and transmission services at good money. Luxembourg - 9 September 2010 What is Enex? European News Exchange (Enex) is a European non-profit organisation for the exchange of footage. We are located on the Kirchberg site in Luxembourg and were founded in 1994 to meet RTL Group s broadcasters need to pool resources and reduce the high cost of satellite broadcasting. Our prices are very competitive, as low as one fifth the market price in some cases, depending on the location of the event and the number of broadcasters involved. Already in 1995, we started to expand beyond the Group s channels, offering our services to other broadcasters. Today, we have 34 full and seven associate members. Associates can take part in footage exchange but they don t have access to the satellite. Our members include RTL Television, RTL II, Vox and N-TV in Germany, M6 in France, Alpha TV in Greece, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg and RTL Klub in Hungary. But we are also open to other channels, such as Sky News in the UK, TBS in Japan, SIC in Portugal, TV4 in Sweden and Channel 2 in Israel, to name a few. CBS has been contributing US footage to the exchange since 2005, and today we provide more European footage than Associated Press and Reuters. Enex offers its members a pooling service for live coverage of major events What tools do you make available to your members? Our service revolves around two Eutelsat satellites located at 16 degrees east and 10 degrees east, on which we have 18 channels. Our satellites have a vast footprint, ranging from Iceland to Afghanistan and from Scandinavia to North Africa. Our partners contribute videos to the daily Enex Picture Exchange. They transmit their footage via satellite to Luxembourg, where the coordinators produce feeds and write dope sheets which are the information accompanying the footage. This information is then published 3

4 Enex dish antennas on the roof of RTL Group s headquarters on the Enex homepage. There are seven feeds at fixed times, plus flashes for breaking news. In general, the video has international sound and no inserts, and our partners mainly contribute domestic footage, but also give each other access to footage from outside Europe. Our second key tool is the internet. We use Newslink, a software package we developed in-house, to exchange footage over the internet. The server for this digital platform is based here, on our site in Luxembourg. All of our members have access to it and can download any footage they want at the click of a mouse. How do you deal with breaking news? We offer our members a pooling service for live coverage of major events, such as natural disasters, elections, major sporting events and more. In those cases, the local partner is on-site with its Satellite News Gathering (SNG) vehicle which is a mobile satellite uplink. At Enex, we then free up one channel on the satellite, dedicating it solely to the event in question. Our members can simply help themselves to whatever they want. In addition to satellite-related cost savings, Enex generates other synergies, as such free pooled access to fixed feedpoints and SNGs. This cuts costs and ensures rapid response and flexibility during big events, often resulting in a bid edge during breaking news. Clearly, having a partner on location when big stories break makes it possible to go live very fast. How do you deal with the increased capacity HD demands? High Definition indeed is the current challenge. The craze for this new technology is huge. While it offers better image quality for viewers, we have Enex staff at work 4

5 to deal with the fact that HD consumes enormous bandwidth. For us, it s a juggling act: we have to manage the space available on our satellites as best we can. In December, we ll have access to a new satellite, due to be launched in October aboard an Ariane rocket. We expect it to be operational by early December. Anything else we may expect in future? Looking a bit further ahead, one project I d like to implement is the creation of a platform for buying and selling television documentaries. A Satellite News Gathering vehicle Nic Jakob (59) has been in charge of Enex since its creation in Nic joined RTL Group in 1984 as a journalist for RTL Plus, where he held numerous positions that took him to Luxembourg, Cologne, Berlin and Brussels. As head of sports at the German channel, he was also the first journalist to provide live commentary on a European Cup football match broadcast by RTL Plus. Nic also headed up the international news service, presented the channel s television news and directed Good Morning Germany. In 1997, Nic contributed his expertise to the launch of RTL Klub in Hungary, supervising the launch of the channel s news department. Before joining RTL Group, Nic was editor-inchief of La Revue, a Luxembourg weekly magazine. Nic is a citizen of Luxembourg and studied linguistics at university. 5

6 For the first time RTL Digitaltext allows high-resolution images and video content to be played on the text-based offer TV Innovation Drivers At the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA Consumer Electronics Exhibition) that took place in Berlin from 3 to 8 September, commercial radio and television stations presented many new services and gave important impetus to the consumer device market. Germany - 3 September D, HD, Hybrid TV, digital text, Web radio, apps the list of cutting-edge technical terms was long and at times incomprehensible when the Berlin trade show for consumer electronics opened. Their benefit to viewers and listeners was more important: more choice, better picture quality, and a more vibrant TV experience. And these offers also gave set manufacturers important ideas. Many of the latest generation of high-resolution, Internet-enabled devices featured at the show first become real to people in this way, said Jürgen Doetz, President of the Association of Private Broadcasting and Telemedia (VPRT). On the topic of high-definition television (HDTV): commercial TV companies steadily growing HD range of offerings including free-to-air TV channels such as RTL HD and Vox HD were on display at the exhibition in brilliant image quality, and paved the consumer device industry s way to mass-market HDTV. The pay-tv channel Sky Deutschland has also just announced that the first 3D offering in Germany featuring highlights from sport, film, documentaries and entertainment programmes will launch from October Several commercial television companies also launched hybrid offerings in the new HbbTV (Hybrid Broadband Broadcast TV) standard just in time for this year s IFA. This new standard allows the new RTL Digitaltext, for example, to combine the easy handling of conventional teletext with the functionality of the online world on the TV set. For the first time RTL Digitaltext enables high-resolution images and video content to be played on the text-based offer for example, short news and entertainment clips and commercials. RTL Digitaltext opens up entirely new possibilities, especially for programme highlights such as Das Supertalent (Got Talent) or Bauer sucht Frau (Farmer Wants A Wife). The Red Button function on the remote control provides a special feature for viewers and advertisers. It allows for combining television programming with interactive services such as games or voting so that in future, audiences can become even more immersed in the TV experience. Advertisers also get new opportunities to promote their products. A number of German commercial broadcasters including the news channel N-TV presented their innovations at the IFA exhibition and reported from it. From 3 to 8 September Super RTL transformed an entire hall into a world of adventure for children and families, with over 1,200 m 2 of spectacular shows and imaginative worlds based around TV programmes, children s favourites such as Bob the Builder and lots of celebrities. 6

7 Alain Simons Wallonia s charms revealed During the Fêtes de Wallonie, RTL-TVI is broadcasting mini-programmes each day that reveal the hidden charms of Wallonia and its inhabitants while countering stereotypes in a positive way. Belgium - 3 September 2010 They are Walloons and proud of it. Starting Monday 6 September at 19:30, host Alain Simons is taking RTL-TVI viewers to meet these Walloons who are unique to their kind. They are talking about their work, their hobby, and what makes them different from the other tribes of Belgium. They are also introducing the audience to their own favourite little corner of Wallonia. With this positive programming and through these 10 portraits, RTL-TVI offers its viewers the chance to discover a Wallonia that is enterprising, dynamic and open to the world. RTL Belgium is a sponsor of the Fêtes de Wallonie, which will be held this year from 11 to 20 September in the Wallonian capital of Namur. This happy folkloric celebration will feature three days of festivities, with concerts, traditional dance and commemorations of all kinds. 7

8 Logo of Du Hast die Macht! UFA helps building political awareness UFA and the Robert Bosch Foundation jointly launch a media initiative called Du hast die Macht! (You ve Got The Power), to promote the political education of teens. Germany - 6 September 2010 The political opinion of teenagers is both sought after and important. The new Du hast die Macht! initiative is designed to give teenagers a platform for political participation. From the beginning of September to December 2010, media messages will call on teens to get politically involved on the duhastdiemacht.de website. The aim is to promote democratic awareness among teens and strengthen their willingness to participate in the political process. Du hast die Macht! strategically relies on forms of communication preferred by teens: the Internet, social networks and above all, television. The basic idea is: by teens for teens. In the project, teens themselves will build awareness for political issues among their peers and encourage them to get politically involved. The main element of the project is a website specially designed by a four-strong team of youth editors, which will be kept stocked with content prepared for a teenage audience, with professional support from UFA. The political opinion of teenagers is both sought after and important The Du hast die Macht! media initiative has already attracted numerous celebrity supports from the TV and music scene, including Raúl Richter (GZSZ cast member and a candidate on the RTL TV show Let s Dance), Senna Guemmour (member of the girl-group Monrose and TV presenter), and the celebrated German rock band Revolverheld. These celebrity mentors will assist the teenagers with various promotions in the months ahead. check out www. duhastdiemacht.de 8

9 Everything for music W9, the number one channel in DTT with viewers under 50, announces the start of the new season with no fewer than eight new music shows. France - 7 September 2010 W9 s new season is, first of all, an occasion to take stock of past successes: after being the first DTT channel to broadcast a football match in 2006, the first to join Médiamat National to have its audience shares measured and the first to achieve an audience of 1.5 million viewers in 2009, W9 once again reached new levels last season by being the first DTT channel to successfully broadcast a big national music audition (X Factor), as well as the first DTT channel to broadcast a major daily reality show (Dilemme). M6 s little sister on DTT, W9 is looking like a grown up with more than 58 million individuals receiving it, this represents nine out of 10 French viewers. In June 2010, the channel could boast of posting the highest ratings increase among the French channels in one year, a 0.6 point rise with a total audience share of 3.0 per cent nationwide in France. W9 also confirms its number one position with viewers under 50. Since its creation, W9 has enjoyed a high level of popularity and has a very positive image with viewers. In June 2010, a new Harris Interactive survey (online survey of 1,000 individuals between the ages of 15 to 60 eligible for DTT service), revealed that W9 is the favourite new DTT channel for 25 per cent of interviewees, ranking it far ahead of its competitors. And so, for this new season, Thomas Valentin, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of M6, sets the tone: The two watchwords for this season will be innovating and accelerating. W9 has always been considered the most innovative and creative DTT channel. Strengthened by this image, we have hoped to pursue this editorial line by offering no fewer than ten new programmes this season, notably in the music genre, says Frédéric De Vincelles, Deputy Managing Director of W9. W9 will offer a music game show, Taxi Cash, presented by Alexandre Devois, as well as a big casting programme that aims to find out who can best sing and dance like Michael Jackson. Besides this show, the accent this year will be placed particularly on young talent with Je veux signer chez AZ, an audition organised by Valery Zeitoun on the Web, and Talent tout neuf, capturing private concerts given in a flat. In pursuing its policy of modernity and innovation, in again reinforcing the wealth and diversity of its programmes, while maintaining its good humour and simplicity, W9 affirms its ambition more than ever: to entertain its viewers, concludes Frédéric de Vincelles. 9

10 Andy Schleck Number one in the hearts of Luxembourgers Proud of its status as number one in the Grand Duchy, all media included, RTL Lëtzebuerg announces a new season marked by innovation thanks to HD and by mobility. Luxembourg - 7 September 2010 Every day, RTL Group s Luxembourg family reaches 82 per cent of Luxembourgers. RTL is a complementary and closely knit family, strengthened by a long journalistic tradition. RTL is also a family bubbling with ideas and truly on the move: we never stop pushing the boundaries and investing in new areas. For the start of this new season, we have set our sites on Apple s latest development, the ipad. Gone is the time when we could only be watched from the family living room. Attitudes have changed since then, technology has made giant strides forward and new needs have appeared, says RTL Lëtzebuerg CEO Alain Berwick. The content of RTL.lu with a special focus on videos has been tailored to the ipad. On the television side, the title of the brochure for the new season instantly sets the tone: The start of the 2010/11 season will be in high definition, or will not be In fact, on 3 July, in the presence of the Minister of Communications and Media, François Biltgen, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg officially began broadcasting in HD in Luxembourg. Since then, a portion of RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg s programming is benefitting from this advanced technology that offers the viewer image quality five times superior to what they had before. In this way, HD increases the emotional power of television, thereby reinforcing the viewing experience. That is why, in spite of the important financial investments HD presupposes, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg did not for a moment hesitate to offer its audience this new way of living television. Alain Berwick RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg is the favourite television channel of Luxembourgers. On the national news side, the communal elections of 2011 will be the major event of the new season. Conscious of its mandate to provide a public service, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg will give significant media coverage to this political event, on its televised news programmes as well as on shows dedicated to the event. By offering live coverage of many important sporting events, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg is also the quintessential sports channel. All the major cycling races will be broadcast, live and in HD, on RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg. For football aficionados, the channel will broadcast Champions League matches as well as football fans favourite show Goal, on Monday nights, in collaboration with the Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Football. 10

11 Fernand Mathes Olivier Catani RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg likes to surprise its audience and is offering them three entirely new programmes. The first, a docu-reality show called Success Story will head out in search of entrepreneurs hoping to start up their new business. After an initial selection stage, only three individuals will stay in the race. The lucky three contestants who are voted in will each be awarded a nest egg of EUR 15,000. From the flourishing of a good idea to its concrete realisation and first profits, it s a long road strewn with pitfalls. After a very positive initial test last season, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg decided to make En neit Doheem part of its programme schedule on Tuesdays, in the second part of the evening. On this often very funny show, individuals searching for a property to buy visit a flat or a house, and the camera is there to surprise them while they shamelessly criticise the current owner s décor. Another new show this season is the green docu-reality Ethesch korrekt. The concept is simple: take four contestants representative of today s society and ask them to adopt, for an entire month, a lifestyle that is 100 per cent ethical and 100 per cent in balance with nature. Some entertainment programmes launched last season were highly successful and are naturally so back again. Presented by Olivier Catani, the discovery magazine PISA de Wëssensmagazin is precisely one of these shows that hit the bullseye. Conceived in a way so viewers can learn while having fun, PISA de Wëssensmagazin has brilliantly succeeded in charming children and parents alike by answering questions such as: Why is the sky blue? and What s the weather like on Mars?. Last year, the final edition of Wann s de eppes kanns, the show that searched for new home-grown talents, went beyond all expectations when 25,000 text messages were sent in a single evening, a record for a country the size of Luxembourg. Much appreciated by viewers, the programme was also closely followed on the web with no fewer than two million videos consulted. The third season of the talent show is planned to go on air at the start of 2011 with a weekly broadcast on Tuesday evenings. RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg inaugurates the new 2010/11 season by reinforcing the position of news in its programme schedule. In looking at it more closely, one can see that, in comparison to last year s schedule, we will broadcast several additional hours of news each week. The figure is sizeable and the entire editorial team is standing ready to meet this big challenge. It s true that we really take our public service mandate to heart, says Fernand Mathes, Station Manager at RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg, and that our position as Luxembourg s number one radio station pushes us to always outdo ourselves and bring our listeners the essential, whether it is news, shows for relaxation, or sport. 11

12 IP Deutschland unveils showroom for unusual campaigns It s curtain up for a new section of the IP Deutschland website: The Colognebased ad sales house has set up a showroom for showcasing successful advertising campaigns. Germany - 9 September 2010 Visit www. ip-deutschland.de/ showroom The showroom on IP Deutschland website Trailers, brief profiles containing all the key campaign facts, image material and video clips of the commercials in question provide a sampling of the broad range of campaigns created by IP Deutschland. The spectrum ranges from individually developed special ads to extensive cross-media campaigns. Florian Ruckert, Head of Marketing at IP Deutschland, says: The showroom gives our partners best-practice insights into cross-media campaign creation and management. As a multimedia campaign archive, the showroom serves as a valuable decision-making aid for media planners. Its user-friendly structure underscores the fact that a focus on service is at the centre of all our offerings. The showroom is targeted at advertising customers and agencies looking for inspiration from past campaigns. Trade journalists and anyone interested in unusual campaign implementations can also use it for convenient, targeted research thanks to a search feature that upon request can break down the matches by industry, genre advertising format and time of the campaign. A particular highlight of the showroom are trailers that present individual cross-media campaigns in detail and has experts explain their effectiveness and impact. Each such trailer can be downloaded as a PDF file or recommended to others by . The IP Deutschland showroom thus serves as a multimedia service portal to which the latest sample campaigns will continually be added. 12

13 Audience record thanks to football With 8.1 million viewers for the Bosnia-Herzegovina France match, M6 set a new audience record in 2010, naturally ranking the channel number one with the entire audience on Tuesday 7 September s evening. Karim Benzema scored the first goal for the joy of coach Laurent Blanc.

14 Speedy Nitro In less than two weeks after its launch, Antena 3 s new DTT channel managed to achieve a 1.0 per cent audience share on 1 September the steepest and most powerful start ever achieved in the history of Spanish TV. Spain - 3 September 2010 The time is right for a brand-new style The new season came with lots of changes at RTL 7, the only men s channel in the Netherlands: On 6 September viewers discovered its new revamped style. Netherlands - 6 September 2010 Huge DSDS party in Cologne s Mediapark Thousands flocked to the Mediapark in the glorious sunshine on 4 September to audition for the new season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar and admire their DSDS stars live on stage. Germany - 7 September 2010 Twenty years and still so popular On 6 September, the much awaited new season of Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden returned on RTL 4 after a summer break reaching an audience share of 24.6 per cent among 20 to 49 years old viewers. Netherlands first and longest-running soap will celebrate its 20th anniversary on 1 October this year. Netherlands - 8 September 2010 Access to attractive films RTL Television and the French production firm Studio Canal have signed an output deal for Germany, with effect from January Germany - 9 September 2010 RTL II now in Roller furniture stores RTL II is further expanding the distribution of its furniture collection in cooperation with Germany s biggest furniture discount chain, Roller. Germany - 9 September

15 Henning Nieslony People Henning Nieslony Germany - 7 September 2010 Henning Nieslony has been appointed Executive Assistant at IP Deutschland with immediate effect. In this capacity he will support the company s Managing Director Martin Krapf. After earning a degree in media business from the Rheinische Fachhochschule Köln (Rhenish College in Cologne) in 2009, Henning Nieslony (25) began his career at IP Deutschland. As a Business Development Manager in the Interactive department, Nieslony was in charge of developing the portfolio strategy as well as analysing and assessing the marketing potential of new forms of advertising, portals and strategic partnerships. His predecessor Marion Peter is now Head of the Business Development Interactive division at IP Deutschland. 15

16 Publisher RTL Group 45, Bd Pierre Frieden L-1543 Luxembourg Editor, Design, Production RTL Group Corporate Communications and Marketing