‘See More, Hear More, Read More’ – Introducing RTL+
RTL+ will offer music, podcasts, audiobooks and premium magazines, as well as movies and series, under the heading “mehr sehen, mehr hören, mehr lesen” (“see more, hear more, read more”). In the first half of 2022, RTL+ is to be expanded into Germany’s largest digital entertainment platform. A new, proprietary AI-based technology is designed to guarantee user-friendliness.
RTL Deutschland yesterday renamed its TV Now streaming service “RTL+” and intends to significantly step up investments in the service in the years ahead. In a press release, RTL Deutschland said that it plans to develop RTL+ into Germany’s first comprehensive media subscription service in the first half of 2022. Subscribers would then have access not only to movies and series, shows, documentaries, sports and information, but also to an extensive music offering, exclusive podcasts, a well-stocked audiobook library, and high-end digital magazines. the RTL+ motto: “see more, hear more, read more.”
“In the first half of 2022, we will expand RTL+ into a cross-media entertainment platform that includes video, music, podcasts, audio books and e-magazines,” Bertelsmann Chairman and RTL Group CEO Thomas Rabe said yesterday at the presentation of RTL Group’s financials for the first nine months of the year. “We are creating Germany’s first cross-media champion and offering our viewers the most diverse spectrum of high-quality entertainment and independent information.” Compared to 2021, he said, annual invest in programming will triple to around €600 million by 2026. The plan, Rabe added, is to increase the number of paying subscribers to RTL+ and to Videoland in the Netherlands to ten million by the end of 2026; to increase RTL Group’s streaming revenue to one billion euros; and to achieve profitability for the two services by 2026.
The new German entertainment platform, which bundles all digital media genres, establishes a new generation of streaming services: RTL Deutschland says RTL+ will be the first “one app, all media” offering on the market. RTL+ thus simplifies the use of streaming for people of all ages who would like to enjoy comprehensive information and entertainment with a single registration, without having to sign too many contracts. Subscribers will be able to use the wide range of content simply, intuitively, and individually. To this end, RTL Deutschland has invested in the development of AI-based technology. A recommendation algorithm guarantees that suitable content is always suggested across all media genres, based on intelligent text, audio, and video analysis. In this way, RTL+ is also creating a cross-media entertainment experience that uses technology to ensure that users not only find the content that interests them, but also learn about supplementary content.
With 2.4 million paying subscribers and as many as seven million unique users per month, RTL+ reports that it is already Germany’s leading streaming provider. Its upcoming merger with Gruner + Jahr on January 1, 2022, will give RTL Deutschland premium video, audio, podcast, and magazine content. For audiobooks, RTL+ cooperates with the German-language Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe, which, like RTL Deutschland, is part of Bertelsmann. In music, RTL Deutschland has entered into a partnership with Deezer, one of the leading international audio streaming services.
“RTL+ makes streaming easier than ever,” say Matthias Dang and Stephan Schäfer, the two co-CEOs of RTL Deutschland, in a joint statement. “With a single subscription, our customers gain access to a world of entertainment that is unique in its diversity. Series, movies and sports, documentaries and news, music, podcasts, and audiobooks, as well as high-end magazines – they can watch more, listen to more and read more to their heart’s content: see more, hear more, read more. RTL+ also represents a real innovation for the international media market. Thanks to close interaction with our audience, we know that a great many people have been waiting for this kind of an offer: diverse and easy to use at the same time. For us, this brings together in one offer what we are currently developing strategically: The first fully integrated media company in Germany that aims to grow and expand its leading market positions with positive entertainment and independent journalism across all media genres.”
RTL Deutschland is also continuing its successful partnership with Deutsche Telekom for this purpose: Since the end of 2020, the TV Now streaming service has been an integral part of Magenta TV. Telekom has introduced a new portfolio of rates for this, and has integrated TV Now Premium into its Magenta TV Smart and Smart Flex rates at no additional cost. This will continue to apply after TV Now has been renamed RTL+. The next step will follow in 2022: Telekom will integrate RTL+’s new entertainment platform into Magenta TV – exclusively and at a discount for its customers.
RTL+ at a glance
See more: RTL+’s entertainment lineup currently includes more than 50,000 hours of programming in various genres, both fictional/drama and nonfictional, e.g. documentaries and live soccer. RTL+ also offers a rapidly growing number of high-quality original productions. For example, the fiction highlight “Ferdinand von Schirach – Glauben” starring Narges Rashidi and Peter Kurth, which recently won an award at the prestigious “Canneseries” series festival, started yesterday. The series “Faking Hitler” starring Lars Eidinger and Moritz Bleibtreu, and “Sisi” starring Dominique Devenport and Jannik Schümann follow on November 30. In addition, the live streams of all 14 RTL Deutschland TV channels will be available on RTL+.
Hear more: Going forward, RTL+’s offerings will also include music, audiobooks, audio plays, and podcasts. To this end, RTL+ has agreed partnerships with Deezer, one of the leading audio streaming services, and the German-language Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe. In addition, it will feature Audio Now’s extensive and exclusive podcast offering, and music from RTL’s radio stations.
Read more: As RTL+ expands in the year ahead, subscribers will also be able to read digital editions of high-end magazines from the Gruner + Jahr portfolio directly on their screens for the first time, giving them access to a wide range of content from news to finance, entertainment, and food, from living and lifestyle topics to family-related content and sports.
