RTL Group S.A. ("Radio Télévision Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate office in Cologne, Germany.

[3] The company, in its present form, was established by Bertelsmann, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), and Pearson plc in 2000.

[5][6] RTL Group is one of a total of eight divisions of Bertelsmann: It is responsible for more than a third of its revenue and a large share of its operating profit.

[13] Following a legal dispute with RTL/CLT,[14][11] Bertelsmann announced plans to merge the television businesses of UFA to form the joint venture CLT-UFA in April 1996.

[21] The two companies joined forces to create RTL Group, Europe's leading network of television channels and radio stations with a global content business,[22] which was rebranded FremantleMedia in 2001 (now called Fremantle).

[26][27] The existing shell of Audiofina,[28] which was already a listed company, was used to simplify the administrative effort involved in the stock market launch.

[6] Bertelsmann's initial aim was to acquire full ownership of RTL Group to reduce administrative costs, but this plan failed in 2007 due to uncertainties in Luxembourg law.

[34][35][36] The conglomerate responded by altering its strategy, and in 2013, it sold a minority interest in RTL Group on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange[37][38] to finance the growth of Bertelsmann and especially its digital transformation.

[39] Media reports responded positively to the secondary listing of RTL Group and the resulting availability of shares open to external investors.

[42] Since April 2019, Thomas Rabe, chairman and chief executive officer of Bertelsmann, has also simultaneously been at the helm of RTL Group.

[43] Under his management, the company is pursuing the objective of strengthening its core businesses, establishing local streaming services and further developing advertising technologies.

[44] Fostering its alliances and partnerships with other companies in the European media industry also plays an important role in the current strategy of RTL Group.

[47] The key indicators of the RTL Group are (as at the financial year ending 31 December):[48] In the 2022, the revenue mainly came from advertising (40.5% television, 2.7% radio), content production (22.6%), digital activities (17.1%) and platform businesses (6.1%).

The second-largest shareholder is Silchester International Investors, a British investment company based in London, which has a stake of around 5%.

Martin Taylor is the chairman of the board of directors; the other members are Carsten Coesfeld, Thomas Götz, Elmar Heggen, Immanuel Hermreck, Bernd Hirsch, Bernd Kundrun, Guillaume de Posch, Thomas Rabe, Jean-Louis Schiltz, Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, James Singh, Alexander von Torklus and Lauren Zalaznick.

[57] Bertelsmann initially planned to sell the complex and lease it back in 2017[58] but ultimately decided to delay the transaction for an indefinite period.

[2] RTL Group operates television channels, radio stations, streaming platforms, content production, a range of digital services and advertising sales.

[61] In January 2022 the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets stated that it could not approve the merger as of yet and that further investigation to the consequences of price, quality and innovation was necessary.

The company, which operates in 27 territories, creates, produces and distributes content for broadcasters of RTL Group (including TV channels and streaming platforms) and other clients, for example Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.

In June 2021, it was announced that RTL Belgium would be sold for €250 million to DPG Media and Rossel, pending regulatory approval.

[76] Thomas Rabe, chairman and chief executive officer of Bertelsmann, has responded to this criticism by campaigning for the deregulation of the highly competitive television market to enable the establishment of national alternatives to the "giants of Silicon Valley".