RTL H1 revenue down despite streaming gains
August 8, 2025
RTL Group has reported a 3.2 per cent drop in its H1 2025 sales. The European broadcasting group saw revenue fell to €2.78 billion in the first half of the year. The sales decline was partly offset by higher streaming revenue, which increased 27 per cent on the year and totalled €235 million in the six-month period.
The group’s adjusted EBITA fell 7 per cent to €160 million in the January-June period, but beat analysts’ consensus of €153 million.
RTL Group’s total advertising revenue was flat at €1.4 billion, of which €1.01 billion was TV advertising revenue, €230 million was digital advertising revenue and €157 million was radio, print and other advertising revenue.
RTL Group’s global content business Fremantle generated revenue of €905 million in the first half of 2025, down 5.4 per cent year on year. This was mainly attributed to lower revenue from the US and phasing effects, partly offset by the acquisition of Asacha Media Group in March 2024. The revenue decrease in the US was largely expected as the first half of 2024 benefited from a spin-off of America’s Got Talent.
Streaming revenue was up 27 per cent to €235 million, driven by a higher number of paying subscribers, increased subscription prices in
Germany and rapidly growing advertising revenue on RTL+ in Germany and M6+ in France.
RTL confirmed its full-year outlook for revenue of around €6.45 billion and adjusted EBITA of around €780 million.
“In the first half of 2025, we made key steps to accelerate the transformation of RTL Group. We grew our streaming revenue by almost 30 per cent, renewed our successful distribution partnership with Deutsche Telekom until 2030 and announced the acquisition of Sky Deutschland. Following a long regulatory review, we closed the sale of RTL Nederland to DPG Media,” commented CEO Thomas Rabe.
“Our shareholders will benefit from the sale via an expected dividend of €5 per share, payable in 2026. Over the past five years, we have focused RTL Group’s portfolio on our biggest business units. We have generated proceeds from disposals of more than €2.7 billion with high cash returns to our shareholders. We are confident to significantly increase our operating profits in the coming years, driven by improved macroeconomic conditions in Germany, streaming profitability and synergies from the Sky Deutschland acquisition, when approved by the regulators,” added Rabe.
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