RTL Group has reported that its group revenue for the first 9 months of 2025 was down 2.2 per cent to €4.1 billion, attributed to lower TV advertising revenue and lower content revenue from Fremantle; digital advertising revenue was up 31.7 per cent.

Q3 group revenue was stable at €1.33 billion; with digital advertising revenue up 40.2 per cent.

RTL reported continued growth for its streaming services: paying subscribers were up 17.4 per cent year on year to 7.6 million, and streaming revenue up 26.6 per cent in January to September 2025. RTL is aiming for 8 million paying subscribers by the end of 2025, and expects streaming start-up losses to be reduced by more than 50 per cent to around €50 million for the full year 2025 (2024: €137 million).

Due to the decrease of the German and French TV advertising markets, RTL Group now expects Group revenue of €6 billion to €6.1 billion and Adjusted EBITA of €650 million for the full year 2025 (previous guidance: Group revenue of ~€6.45 billion and Adjusted EBITA ~€780 million, +/- 5 per cent). Full-year Total Group profit is expected to be approximately €1 billion.

RTL Group noted that it expects dividend from the sale of RTL Nederland to DPG Media of €5 per share, to be paid in May 2026. The regulatory approval process of the Sky Deutschland acquisition is progressing, and is expected to close in the first half of 2026.

Thomas Rabe, outgoing CEO of RTL Group, commented: “The market environment remains challenging, with a reduction of TV advertising revenue in our core markets and an accelerated shift from linear TV to streaming. All streaming performance indicators – revenue, paying subscribers and viewing time – continue to point in the right direction. With 7.6 million paying subscribers at the end of September, we are confident to pass the 8 million mark by the end of this year. In 2025, we will reduce streaming start-up losses by more than half to around €50 million and thus remain firmly on track for a profitable streaming business in 2026.”

“The German and French TV advertising markets have not gained momentum in the second half of the year as expected. For this reason, and despite additional gains in TV advertising market share in Germany and strict cost management, we are revising our Adjusted EBITA guidance for 2025 from around €780 million to €650 million.”

“Short-term challenges do not change our medium-term Adjusted EBITA target of €1 billion. This is based on our strong market positions, streaming profitability from 2026 onwards, synergies from the acquisition of Sky Deutschland of €250 million, significant cost reductions and AI benefits. We are well positioned when the markets regain momentum. And once we have received regulatory approvals for the acquisition of Sky Deutschland, we will integrate the business with RTL, realise the targeted synergies and further boost our streaming business,” he concluded.

Other posts by :

1. Musk delays Moon landing until 2027
2. Hughes Satellite facing cash crunch
3. Major banks support AST SpaceMobile
4. Fitch downgrades DirecTV debt
5. BBC: You’ll miss me when I’m gone
6. Some new US Starlink subs face $1,000 start-up fee
7. Project Kuiper beating OneWeb
8. OQ Tech gets Luxembourg 5G-by-Sat concession
9. Roskosmos: Heads roll, launch project scrapped

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Business, Results

Tags: germany, RTL, streaming