RTL Group now has more than 6 million paying streaming subscribers

RTL Group announced its reviewed results for the six months ending June 30, 2023, revealing a continued strong growth of its streaming services RTL+ and Videoland, as paying subscribers were up 34.1% to 6 million. Streaming revenue was up 16.9% in the first half of the year.

To strengthen its leading market positions, boost its growth businesses and drive transformation, RTL Group maintained its investments in content, streaming, tech & data at a high level in the first quarter of 2023. In fact, during the period, the group spent €1.1 billion on content for its broadcasting and streaming activities, on the high level of the first half of 2022.

Meanwhile, group revenue was down 5.1% to €3.1 billion, in comparison with the €3.3 billion the group reported in the same period of 2022. This, according to the company, was due to challenging TV advertising markets, in particular in Germany. Furthermore, group revenue was down 4.3% organically, and Adjusted EBITA was down to €250 million (H1/2022: €501 million).

“The market environment in the first half of 2023 was particularly challenging, with geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties in addition to the long-term structural shifts in video viewing. The RTL Group team remains focused on bringing our strategy to life: strengthening our core business, growing our streaming and content businesses, and building alliances and partnerships,”  said Thomas Rabe, Chief Executive Officer of RTL Group.

“The half-year results came in broadly in line with our expectations. Although we are seeing first signs of market stabilization in Germany in particular, we have adjusted our outlook for the full year 2023. RTL Group now expects an Adjusted EBITA of around €950 million after streaming start-up losses of around €200 million,”  Rabe added.