week 06 / 11 February 2016

DIGITALTALENTS

How Groupe M6 is expanding its online footprint

North America BroadbandTV is now the largest multi-platform network

Croatia CEO Henning Tewes’ interview with Croatian daily Jutarnji

Luxembourg Media Awards 2016 co-produced by RTL Lëtzebuerg

week 06 / 11 February 2016

DIGITALTALENTS

How Groupe M6 is strenghtening its digital talent pool

North America BroadbandTV is now the largest multi-platform network

Croatia RTL Croatia CEO Henning Tewes gives his first interview to the press

Luxembourg Media Awards 2016 co-produced by RTL Lëtzebuerg

Cover Screenshot from the video Paris Is Kissing

on YouTube channel Dot Move

PublisherRTL Group

45, Bd Pierre FriedenL-1543 Luxembourg

Editor, Design, ProductionRTL Group

Corporate Communications & Marketing

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QUICK VIEW

GROWING VERTICALLY Groupe M6 p.4-9

Company becomes the largest

multi-platform network BroadbandTV

p.12

CEO Henning Tewes gives interview to

Croatian daily Jutarnji RTL Croatia

p.10-11

Media Awards 2016 held in Luxembourg RTL Lëtzebuergp.13

UFA holds a Drama Day event UFAp.14

Big Picturep.15

SHORTNEWS

p.16

PEOPLE

p.17-18

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GROWING VERTICALLY

France – 11 February 2016

Groupe M6

With the aim to strengthening its position in short-format content, M6 Web has recently established M6 Digital Talents, a unit dedicated to digital talent development and video production. To mark the recent launch of their two

new YouTube channels, Backstage takes its readers through the video world of Groupe M6

Launched on 7 February 2016, Vloggist is the most recent YouTube channel of M6 Digital Talents

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The goals of M6 Digital Talents are to identify the best talents on the internet and then lead the development and growth of their own channel, with some falling under the Groupe M6 brand. Mainly driven by the success of the comedy channel Golden Moustache, Groupe M6 YouTube channels currently have nearly 4 million subscribers and achieve 55 million video views per month. In addition to the humour vertical, Groupe M6 has expanded into other promising verticals: beauty with Rose Carpet, music with Cover Garden, tutorials/do-it-yourself with MinuteFacile and gaming with No Pain, No Game. Groupe M6 kicked off the year by further strengthening its online diversification, launching two new brands: Dot Move (dance) and Vloggist (beauty/fashion).

Launched on 11 January 2016, Dot Move intends to get the internet dancing by providing dance-related content. Professional dancers, amateur dance enthusiasts and non-expert YouTubers provide creative, fun and poetic content inviting a broad audience to investigate the world of choreography. This recipe has worked particularly well with its video Paris Is Kissing. Relayed extensively via social networks and YouTube, the video went viral achieving 9 million video views across all platforms in the first week of its launch.

The latest addition to M6 Digital Talents’ network is Vloggist, which was launched on 7 February 2016 and has already attracted nearly 100,000 video views. This new channel, comprising five of the most influential vloggers on the web, promises consumers they will “Experience trends differently.”

Next >

Dot Move’s Paris Is Kissing has achieved 9 million video views in the first week of its launch

DECIPHERING THE INDUSTRY JARGON

– YouTuber –a creator who makes content

for the YouTube platform

– Vlogger –a creator who makes video content for the internet and uploads it on a variety of different video platforms

– Vertical –verticals on YouTube are the equivalent

of thematic channels on TV

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Groupe M6 is currently among the pioneers in France with regard to the development of digital activities, as it goes beyond the video buzz and offers advertisers solid value proposals. M6 Digital Talents’ aim is to form strategic partnerships by bringing together talented YouTubers with recognised brands. This model wins over advertisers, because it enables brands to address young people directly through very original social media ways. For Groupe M6 launching a YouTube channel is first a question of brand creation. What is also important is that it becomes a talent laboratory for the group. Nicolas Capuron, Marketing Director at M6 Web and Director of M6 Digital Talents says: “The combination of know-how about creating content for Groupe M6 and the powerful audience of social media platforms guarantee success with the viewing public and advertisers.”

In order to promote its online talents to the wider public, Groupe M6 has co-produced Video City, a key industry event held in Paris on 7 and 8 November 2015. Based on VidCon in the United States and co-organised by M6 Digital Talents the event was the first of its kind in France and attracted near 30,000 fans who came to meet their favourite video creators.

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Nicolas Capuron

Look and feel of Rose Carpet YouTube channel of M6 Digital Talents

Poster of Video City

THE POWER OF GLOSSOne example of successful brand content comes from the girl-oriented channel Rose Carpet. Major make-up brand Gemey-Maybelline has entrusted a second season of the programme T’as pas du Gloss? to Rose Carpet in 2016. This programme is produced exclusively by staff at Rose Carpet and presented by one of France’s most famous YouTubers, EnjoyPhoenix.

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Comedy goldThe Golden Moustache comedy lab launched in 2012 was born of a simple idea, namely to create an autonomous structure within M6 Digital Talents so that creative talents could bring projects to fruition quickly while at the same time benefiting from the resources and synergies of a major media group, such as Groupe M6. In 2015, it confirmed its status as the top comedy label, generating around 400 million video views.

Accessible via its Goldenmoustache.com platform and the eponymous YouTube channel, Golden Moustache is continuing to grow and win over advertisers eager to stand out by how they communicate their message. The commercial solution offered by Golden Moustache entails selling conventional advertising space, but also – and above all – by engaging in very intensive brand content activity. Positioned like an agency, Golden Moustache has produced and aired content for many brands that sought to latch onto its comic potential, ranging from Fanta to Warner to Microsoft, SFR and L’Oréal. It was the same team who created a buzz in the first place with a parody ad for Nicolas Hulot for COP 21, which proved so popular that for a while it knocked the activist’s online petition servers offline.

In 2015, Golden Moustache reinvented the rules of feature films by launching the first French movie made especially for internet: Les Dissociés (The Dissociated). Produced by Golden Moustache and directed by the content creators group Suricate, Les Dissociés was simultaneously released on the Goldenmoustache.com platform and YouTube channel free of charge on 24 November 2015. Alongside the online launch, the film was also successfully previewed on a tour of ten French cities. The success was immediate with more than two million views only two weeks after its launch.

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TOPPING THE LISTSWith Golden Moustache’s and M6 Unlimited’s Vivelle Dop and Nicolas Hulot ads, Groupe M6 was the only media group in the top ten most popular 2015 YouTube ads in France. Watch the ads here.

Have you ever

wondered what it

feels like to wake

up one morning

in someone else’s body?

Suricate did.

Click here to watch

how it feels like.

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A ‘VERTICAL’ TOUR OF M6 DIGITAL TALENTS

VERTICAL: GAMING

NO PAIN, NO GAIN (NPNG)

NPNG pulled off the tour de force by bringing

together a unique group of the best professional

players of various e-sports games. Each

week, these talented YouTubers produce video

tutorials about their favourite game and issue

challenges to amateur players on YouTube.

Subscribers: nearly 60,000

Video views: more than 2,1 million

Most popular video: Gotaga vs Zack

Nani (over 223,000 video views)

VERTICAL: HUMOUR

GOLDEN MOUSTACHE

Date of creation: November 2012

Subscribers: nearly 2.2 million

Video views: nearly 400 million

Most popular video:

Suricate - Sex in Video Games

(13.7 million video views)

Facebook fans: nearly 1.2 million

VERTICAL: MUSIC

COVER GARDEN

A collective of young talents discovered on video

platforms or hit programmes revisit pop hits,

occasionally accompanied by guest stars.

Cover Garden is produced live for Starbucks café,

Video City Paris, and other events and venues.

Subscribers: more than 200,000

Video views: 10.5 million

Most popular video: Crazy in love Beyoncé by

Corintin & Tiwayo (700,000 video views)

VERTICAL: BEAUTY

ROSE CARPET

This channel, which boasts some of the most

influential talents in the beauty domain on

YouTube presents beauty and fashion tutorials

twice a week, DIY tips and product reviews.

Subscribers: nearly 650,000

Video views: more than 55 million

Most popular video: Les 10 astuces de

Marie pour détourner votre mec des jeux

videos (over 1.3 million video views)

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VERTICAL: DIY

MINUTEFACILE

MinuteFacile covers around ten topics, including

cooking, interior decoration, beauty, and

high-tech. The service is positioning itself as

France’s leading website for practical videos

covering all aspects of daily life. With nearly

9 million videos views per month on the site

as well as through its content distribution

partners, its YouTube channels and Dailymotion,

MinuteFacile presents the widest range

of premium ‘how to’ videos in France.

Subscribers: nearly 500,000

Video views: more than 115 million

VERTICAL: DANCE

DOT MOVE

Launched in January 2016, the channel

successfully rose to the challenge of

getting the internet dancing by producing

its first viral video, Paris is Kissing.

Subscribers: nearly 66,000

Video views: nearly 620,000

Most popular video: Paris is Kissing (10

million video views, across all platforms)

VERTICAL: STYLE

VLOGGIST

Launched on 3 February 2016, Vloggist

showcases the real-life style of five fashion

vloggers. For its launch, Vloggist teamed

up with the deluxe brand Lancôme to

form an exclusive partnership lasting

several months. This partnership, set up

by M6 Publicité and Optimedia, will enable

Lancôme to specifically target connected

urban women aged between 25 and 35.

Video views: nearly 100,000

A ‘VERTICAL’ TOUR OF M6 DIGITAL TALENTS

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On Sunday 7 February 2016, Henning Tewes, CEO of RTL Croatia, talked to the Croatian daily Jutarnji about the Croatian media landscape, RTL Croatia’s programming strategy and the company’s goals over the coming years. Croatia – 9 February 2016

Henning Tewes began the interview by analysing the Croatian media landscape: “Croatia has a very rich television landscape. (…) Croatians watch a lot of TV compared to other countries in Europe, on average almost five hours per day. They enjoy local productions of all genres, of light entertainment and of big evening shows. They like news and magazine shows, and of course Croatians love sports.” Asked about what differentiates RTL Croatia, he said: “We operate three free-TV channels and three pay-TV channels. In terms of audiences and what we achieved we had the highest growth of all groups in the year 2015. We increased our audience share by roughly 10 per cent against 2014. Our new TV season from September on started very well and we achieved a 15 per cent growth in comparison with the same period year the before in the commercial target group of people aged 18 to 49.”

Responding to a question about the broadcaster’s programming strategy, Tewes said: “If you look at the RTL Televizija logo you see a red, yellow and blue square. The red stands for entertainment, which includes daily light entertainment and big evening shows like The X Factor or Big Brother. The yellow is for information. We have increased our news output substantially over the last year. The most visible sign of how important news is for us is the successful launch of RTL Direkt with Zoran Šprajc. It’s the first time that a channel has a prominent news show in prime time in Croatia and we are very proud of it. Sport also forms part of our

informative programming. We again broadcast the European Handball Championships this year, where our Croatian team won third place. During the matches of the Croatian team up to 1.2 million people were watching our channel, a spectacular success. I am happy to announce we also acquired the handball rights for 2017 and 2018.”

“I AM VERY PROUD OF RUNNING THIS COMPANY” RTL Croatia

Henning Tewes

RTL Televizija’s logo

Next >

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As for the blue in the logo, he said that it represents series: “We have invested in series in the past and we will continue to do so. We currently have a team around Jelena Veljaca preparing a new series for us to launch in September.”

Regarding RTL 2 and RTL Kockica, he said: “RTL 2 is younger, urban and trendy (…) and features a lot of American premium series. Finally, we have Kockica, our channel for children, which we are very proud of because it is a free channel watchable for kids all over the country, not just for those who have pay-TV at home. We broadcast a great

mixture of premium cartoons and our own domestic production made just for kids of this country. It is a feel good channel that also features some classic series in the evenings, like Alf and The Simpsons, which can be watched by the whole family.”

Speaking about the company’s digital strategy, he said: “Online is important because RTL Croatia viewers have a great affinity to the internet, which means we want to deliver our content to them regardless of the platform. We re-launched our online news, Vijesti.hr. Over past six months we have grown from the 11 to number 7 of the most visited news websites in Croatia and of course we are aiming higher. We also re-launched our programme web site in order to give the viewers again more entertainment on the shows they love. Our catch-up service, RTL Sada, is also re-launched. Sada is unique in Croatia because it is the only service for online video in the country that allows advertisers to reach online audiences in a protected, environment of guaranteed premium quality.”

Asked about how RTL Group evaluates RTL Croatia, he said: “They realise how challenging the last few years have been for many companies in Croatia and they look with more confidence to the next phase of our development. In addition to our audience growth, we have also improved our financial results and we aim to continue on this path – this is important for both, the management team and for our shareholders. I would like to add: personally, I am very proud of running this company. This is a great team with many talented people and a great spirit.”

Concluding, he said: “While I am happy with the growth, I am not happy yet with where we are. I think our potential is even bigger. In 2016 and 2017 we want to continue the growth that we had last year. Will this be easy? No. But we have great creative teams and a great passion for television in our company. This passion is the basis of everything we do.”

Henning Tewes: “During the matches of the Croatian team up to 1.2 million people

were watching our channel”

RTL Croatia’s catch-up service, RTL Sada, is also re-launched

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Latest figures confirmed by ComScore validate BroadbandTV’s leadership position in the global online video ecosystem. BroadbandTV is now the largest multi-platform network (MPN) worldwide. North America – 5 February 2016

On 4 February 2016, BroadbandTV (BBTV), the fastest growing MPN in the world*, unveils that it is the largest MPN globally. According to ComScore’s December 2015 worldwide desktop video report**, BroadbandTV achieves nearly 319 million worldwide unique viewers, 30 per cent more than its competitor Maker Studios, a growth of 152 per cent year over year.

The report also shows 2.7 billion total worldwide desktop video views in its network. BBTV now leads the MPN market in unique views, total impressions, and total minutes watched. According to Google Analytics, BBTV now totals 14 billion monthly impressions as of January 2016, for both mobile and desktop.

In addition to leading the MPN market, BroadbandTV has one of the largest overall video audiences worldwide, following only Google, Facebook, Sohu, and LETV.

“We’ve put ourselves at the centre of the communities and conversations that millennials are engaging with, powered it with our scalable technology and solutions, and built media brands that will shape the future of online video and entertainment,” comments BroadbandTV Founder and CEO Shahrzad Rafati. “We’ve created one of the largest and most scalable video ecosystems, and we’ve done so with a fraction of the capital that other players have raised.” And continues: “BBTV’s core foundation in technology has allowed us to stand out from the competition as tech now powers all aspects of the online video ecosystem, from content production, distribution, marketing to monetisation, it allows creators to achieve success at scale. Despite our numerous achievements we are just getting started, there is much more to come.”

Read more here.

SECOND TO NONE BroadbandTV

Shahrzad Rafati

*Video Metrix, ComScore Audience Duplication Report, Worldwide Data, September 2014 - December 2015**Video Metrix, ComScore Audience Duplication Report, Worldwide Data, December 2015

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The communications sector comes together under one roof

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The winners of Media Awards 2016, a Luxembourg-based competition co-produced by RTL Lëtzebuerg and media company Maison Moderne and now in its third year, were announced at an evening event on 3 February. Luxembourg – 5 February 2016

Twenty-six prizes were awarded in all to18 advertisers and 14 agencies, the evening being honoured by the presence of Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel and attended by 850 people, including many communication professionals. Designed to reward the best creative advertising in the Grand Duchy market, the competition was divided into six categories: Cross Media, Internet, Press, B2B Press, Radio and TV/Cinema. Headed this year by Eric Hollander, founder of the Air Brussels agency, the jury were tasked with picking the winners from over 210 submissions. They selected 56 projects, and a total of 26 prizes were awarded: one Coup de Cœur, nine Bronze, six Silver, six Gold and four Prix du Public, voted for online.

The ceremony was hosted by Nathalie Reuter (RTL Lëtzebuerg journalist), supported by Thierry Raizer (Editor in Chief of Paperjam.lu). The IP Productions agency won a Bronze Award in the TV/Cinema category for the ‘Time to stop time’ for the Institut de Beauté Grain de Sable.

Read more about the Media Awards 2016 at www.media-awards.lu.

AWARDS FOR THE BEST IN THE COMMUNICATIONS SECTOR

RTL Lëtzebuerg

Alain Berwick, CEO RTL Lëtzebuerg, in discussion with Luxembourgish Prime Minister Xavier Bettel

Click to watch a relevant video of RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg’s magazine Trendmag

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On 1 February 2016, UFA organised OneUFA Drama Day, where a group of 30 university students met UFA producers. In addition to meeting representatives from UFA Serial Drama, as they have every year since 2013, this year the students had an opportunity to get an overview of all UFA units. Germany – 11 February 2016

“Experience doesn’t mean that someone is better,” said UFA Fiction Producer Dedina Dettmers as she welcomed the group of young film and media students from Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf. Dettmers gave the group an insight into their productions, including their current project The Specialists – on behalf of the victims. She also described the professional challenges producers face in their everyday work.

After Dettmers’ presentation, two representatives from UFA Show & Factual from Cologne and Berlin spoke about the development of new shows and documentary formats. The students also heard Andreas Fuhrmann, Head Writer at UFA Serial Drama, speak about their potential careers and his own professional experience. “Here you have to leave your ego behind,” he said, and described his experience of UFA’s Writers Room.

In between lectures, the group were given a tour of the adjacent outdoor sets and studios of Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten (Good Times, Bad Times) to get a real insight into the world of television production.

Janna Bardewyck, Project Manager Human Resources at UFA Serial Drama, summed up the event: “I am very pleased that we have been able to offer this event since 2013, and this year across all UFA units. The participants were impressed by UFA’s diversity of genres and its units and it was nice to see the interest shown in some of the formats. The passion with which we work here is impressive!”

Eight hours, four lectures, one tour and countless questions later, the participants got together again with the speakers and UFA staff. Many other questions were asked and email addresses were exchanged with the hope that the students will one day become UFA employees.

STUDENTS GO BEHIND THE SCENES AT UFA UFA

Snapshots from the OneUFA Drama Day event

The group of students participating in the OneUFA Drama Day event

#RTLGivesBack

Is it the worst answer ever?In a recent interview, Family Feud Host Steve Harvey told The Huffington Post the worst answer he ever heard on Family Feud when a contestant needed to come up with

“another way people say mother”.

CLICK TO WATCH WHAT

HAPPENED AND JUDGE

FOR YOURSELF!

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Golden game on W9 W9 On Sunday 7 February 2016, W9 broadcast live and for free the 50th Super Bowl game. During halftime, the public enjoyed a show by Coldplay, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars. The game won a total audience share of 11.6 per cent. France – 8 February 2016

The golden camera goes to… UFA Fiction The award ‘Goldene Kamera’ was presented on 7 February 2016 in Hamburg. UFA Fiction production Deutschland 83 won in the category ‘Best German Mini-Series’ and moderator Günther Jauch received the audience award for ‘Most Popular Showmaster’. Germany – 8 February 2016

Comedy Gold FremantleMedia UK UKTV’s flagship comedy channel Gold has announced a brand new scripted comedy to its growing slate of originals: The Rebel. The series is produced by Retort, the FremantleMedia UK label specialising in scripted comedy. United Kingdom – 8 February 2016

Quadruple win at Spanish Oscars Atresmedia On Saturday 6 February 2016, Atresmedia Cine won four awards at the 30th Edition of the Premios Goya for two of its original film productions: ‘Best Original Song’ and ‘Best Art Direction’ for Palmeras en la nieve; ‘Best Film Editing’ and’ Best Sound’ for El desconocido. Spain – 9 February 2016

A mouse conquers the world FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment has announced significant broad free-to-air TV sales for its top rating and critically acclaimed series Danger Mouse in key regions including France, Australia and the Middle East. United Kingdom – 10 February 2016

SHORT NEWS

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PEOPLE

IP NETWORK:PEOPLE NEWS

IP Network Luxembourg – 10 February 2016

IP Network has announced the appointment of Daniel Bischoff as Marketing Director IP Network effective 1 March 2016. He will report directly to Stéphane Coruble and be appointed to the Executive Committee.

Daniel Bischoff will head the Global Marketing department and be responsible for developing the marketing strategy, marketing offer, trade and market research for all media (TV, radio and digital). Bischoff has been head of Strategic Marketing at IP Deutschland since 2013. He was previously Managing Partner and Strategy Director at Mediacom in Dusseldorf.

At the same time, the Communications department will expand its area of responsibility under Carine Jean-Jean as Communications Director. She will be responsible for IP Network’s branding, external communications, PR, press relations, editorial coordination publications (Television International Key Facts, brochures, etc.) and also internal communications, reporting directly to Stéphane Coruble. She will also join the Executive Committee.

Jürgen Schneider, will expand its sales territories. He remains International Sales Director responsible for Central Europe, but from now on he will also head the coordination and development of the APAC region.

From left to right: Daniel Bischoff, Carine Jean-Jean and Jürgen Schneider

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PEOPLE

PHILIPPE REY

RTL Radio France – 11 February 2016

At the suggestion of Editorial Director Jean-Philippe Baille, Deputy Chairman of the Board and Director of News Jacques Esnous has promoted Philippe Rey to the post of Deputy Editorial Director at RTL Radio (France).

Philippe Rey, 51, began his career at Radio France in 1988, after studying journalism at the IUT in Bordeaux. In 1990 he then switched to RMC to present the station’s morning show. Five years later, he became Editor-in-Chief of local TV channel Télé Toulouse. In 2000, he was recruited by the Canal Plus Group and appointed Editor-in-Chief of I-Télé before being promoted to Deputy Editorial Director.

Philippe Rey joined the editorial team at RTL Radio in September 2014 as Editor-in-Chief in charge of daytime activities.

Philippe Rey

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