Looking Back: RTL Deutschland Had A Good Year In Streaming, TV
RTL Deutschland looks back on a successful year in streaming and linear television. RTL+ was the number one streaming service among Germany’s 14- to 49-year-olds and 14- to 29-year-olds, and also recorded the largest absolute growth in usage among total users and in the 14 to 59 and 14 to 49 target groups. Together, RTL Deutschland’s linear TV stations significantly extended their lead over ProSiebenSat.1 in all relevant target groups, and RTL Deutschland owns 18 of the Top 25 program brands in commercial streaming.
RTL Deutschland looks back on a successful year in streaming and linear TV. In sports, fans were treated to thrilling moments from the Men’s European Soccer Championship, the Europa League, and the NFL. In entertainment, two editions of the “Dschungelcamp” jungle show generated plenty of buzz and excitement, while well-known formats such as “Let’s Dance,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?,” and “Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten” continued to regularly thrill millions of viewers. Another highlight was the sensational comeback of entertainment all-rounder Stefan Raab on RTL and RTL+. In the news sector, RTL and NTV impressed audiences with reliable and comprehensive reporting in an eventful news year.
“2024 was an extremely important year for us in terms of content and strategy,” says Inga Leschek, Chief Content Officer RTL Deutschland. “So we’re more than pleased that our team managed to clearly set the course for success and growth in both the streaming and the linear business. Thanks to our fantastic content, RTL+ made strong gains in streaming in 2024, and RTL in particular is growing significantly – despite a year of major sporting events in the competitors’ program lineup.”
RTL+ sets usage records
According to RTL Deutschland, RTL+ set new usage records across all the relevant target groups last year. The leading German streaming service generated 597 million hours of usage – up 68.1 percent over the previous year. With 443 million hours of usage among 14- to 49-year-olds (up 63 percent from the previous year) and 151 million hours among 14 to 29-year-olds (up 26 year-on-year), RTL+ was the clear number one of all providers measured by Arbeitsgemeinschaft Videoforschung (AGF). Among total users and in the 14 to 59 and 14 to 49 target groups, RTL+ recorded the largest absolute growth of all streamers surveyed by AGF. In October, having clocked 52 million hours of usage, RTL+ also achieved the highest usage volume of all providers among 14- to 49-year-olds since measurement began in January 2023 – and in a year of major sporting events, no less.
In the video-on-demand segment, RTL+ reported that its usage volume among 14 to 59-year-olds was more than three times higher than that of its competitor Joyn – and almost four times as high in the younger target groups of 14- to 49-year-olds and 14- to 29-year-olds. The Vox offering on RTL+ had its most successful year to date, increasing its usage volume among 14- to 59-year-olds by 23.2 percent year on year. In addition to video content, RTL+ audio usage also grew: Audio stream starts – music, podcasts and audiobooks – increased by 225 percent compared to the previous year.
Most popular program brand: ‘Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!’
In streaming, 18 of the year’s 25 most popular commercial program brands were from RTL Deutschland. The top program brand was “Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!,” followed by “Das Sommerhaus der Stars – Kampf der Promipaare.” In RTL Deutschland’s ranking of TV and streaming program brands, “Soccer: UEFA EURO 2024” came first in “Individual format/series” with 47.47 million viewers, followed by “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” with 43.81 million viewers, and “Martin Rütter” with 41.57 million viewers. “RTL Aktuell” topped the ranking of regular program brands with 48.70 million viewers, followed by “Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten” with 45.25 million, and the “NTV Nachrichten” news with 44.46 million viewers.
RTL Deutschland significantly grew its lead over ProSiebenSat.1 across all relevant target groups in 2024. The broadcasting group attracted 21.5 percent of the total audience market, 7.3 percentage points more than its Unterföhring-based competitor’s 14.2 percent. Among 14- to 59-year-olds, RTL Deutschland achieved an annual market share of 26.3 percent, 6.3 percentage points more than ProSiebenSat.1; among 14- to 49-year-olds, its annual market share was 27.7 percent (P7S1: 22.3 percent).
RTL grew, too – despite major sporting events on other channels
RTL Deutschland was the only major commercial TV station to make year-on-year gains across all relevant target groups in a year of major sporting events including the European Men’s Handball and Soccer Championships in Germany and the Summer Olympics, which were largely broadcast by its public-service competitors. The station scored 9.6 percent among 14- to 59-year-olds (up 0.2 percentage points year-on-year), 8.1 percent of the overall audience (up 0.2 percentage points), and was the only station in Germany to exceed the ten percent mark with 10.1 percent among 14- to 49-year-olds (up 0.1 percentage points). As a result, RTL recorded its strongest year in four years in the 14- to 59 and 3+ target groups, and its strongest year in three years in the 14 to 49 demographic.
The most successful RTL program of the year in terms of total audience was the top-notch international match between Germany and the Netherlands on March 26, which attracted a total of 10.93 million viewers, corresponding to a market share of 40.6 percent. Stefan Raab’s comeback on RTL and RTL+ was not only the hot topic of the year – the entertainer was the most searched-for personality of the year on Google in Germany – Stefan Raab also easily matched RTL’s broadcasts of the European Soccer Championship on TV: The “Clark Final Fight” landed in third place among 14- to 49-year-olds as the most-watched RTL program of the year (3.03 million viewers, market share: 51.7 percent), only just behind the international match between Germany and the Netherlands (3.36 million people, market share: 53.6 percent) and the European Championship quarter-final between the Netherlands and Turkey (3.84 million people, market share: 57.8 percent).
Given the high news intensity of the year, NTV grew across all relevant demographics and also did especially well among younger target groups: The news brand’s annual total audience market share was 1.2 percent (up 0.1 percentage points on the previous year), 1.3 percent among 14- to 59-year-olds (up 0.1 percentage point); among 14- to 49-year-olds, NTV achieved a new all-time record of 1.6 percent (up 0.2 percentage points). RTL Deutschland’s multichannel offerings also set a new record: RTL Up achieved a new all-time best with a market share of 2.2 percent among 14- to 59-year-olds (up 0.1 percentage points year-on-year).
