Broadcaster RTL bets on streaming shift as M&A activity picks up in Europe

By Cian Muenster and Bartosz Dabrowski

(Reuters) -European broadcaster RTL Group plans to speed up its business transformation, betting on the planned Sky Deutschland acquisition to drive streaming growth and offset declines in TV advertising and demand for traditional media, it said on Friday.

RTL has been expanding its streaming platforms and strengthening its content production in response to evolving consumer habits and competition from digital rivals, including Netflix and Amazon's Prime Video.

Over the past five years, it has generated more than 2.7 billion euros ($3.1 billion) by disposing assets not aligned with this strategy.

"I believe there will inevitably be further handovers and licensing in Europe," CEO Thomas Rabe told reporters in a call after RTL published its half-year results. 

"We are no longer competing nationally or locally, but rather with global platforms." 

During the first half of 2025, RTL renewed its distribution partnership with Deutsche Telekom until 2030 and agreed to buy Sky Deutschland.

Rabe said RTL was in talks with the European Commission, which is responsible for reviewing the proposed merger that would combine Sky's sports and streaming offerings with RTL's news and entertainment brands.

The deal is part of an increasingly active M&A landscape in European media. 

RTL's German rival ProSiebenSat.1 on Wednesday abandoned its resistance and recommended its shareholders accept the latest public takeover offer from Italy's MFE-MediaForEurope.

"We have submitted initial documents to the Commission and have also received initial questions," he said. The regulatory approval and closing of the transaction are expected in 2026.

Takeovers in the TV industry have repeatedly failed in Germany and other European countries due to objections from regulators who fear the dominance of individual broadcasting groups.

RTL's half-year revenue fell 3.2% to 2.78 billion euros ($3.24 billion), missing analysts' consensus, weighed down by lower revenue from ads and content production.

That decline was partly offset by 27% growth in streaming revenue that reached 235 million euros.

($1 = 0.8585 euros)

(Reporting by Cian Muenster and Bartosz Dabrowski in Gdansk, additional reporting by Joern Poeltz and Canan Sevgili, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)