Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 30, 2026
2 min readLast updated: March 30, 2026
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RTL has submitted commitments—likely including outsourcing advertising sales—to address EU competition concerns over its €150 million Sky Deutschland acquisition. The EU Commission’s provisional decision deadline is 22 April 2026.
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, March 30 (Reuters) - European broadcaster RTL has offered to address competition concerns over its Sky Deutschland acquisition, EU antitrust regulators said on Monday, seeking early approval for the deal.
The deal would help RTL, which is majority-owned by German media group Bertelsmann, to compete with U.S. heavyweights Netflix, Disney and Amazon Prime in Germany. Sources told Reuters last week that RTL was poised to offer concessions.
Acquiring Sky Deutschland would give RTL local access to Sky's premium sports rights, including Bundesliga and Premier League soccer as well as Formula 1 motor racing. It would also provide access to Sky's WOW streaming service.
"We can confirm that the parties have submitted commitments. The provisional deadline for the Commission to take a decision is now April 22," a European Commission spokesperson said in an email without disclosing details of the remedies.
Reuters was unable to reach an RTL spokesperson for immediate comment.
A possible concession to address competition concerns could be an offer by RTL to outsource advertising sales to third parties, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters last week.
RTL has 52 TV channels, six streaming services and 40 radio stations in Germany, France, Hungary and Luxembourg.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, additional reporting by Klaus Lauer in Berlin; editing by Sharon Singleton and David Goodman)
RTL has offered remedies to address competition concerns raised by EU regulators over its Sky Deutschland acquisition, likely involving commitments such as outsourcing advertising sales.
The provisional deadline for the European Commission to make a decision on the RTL and Sky Deutschland acquisition is April 22, 2026.
The main concern is that the merger could reduce market competition, particularly in advertising sales, which may lead to commitments from RTL to work with third parties.
A European Commission spokesperson confirmed via email that RTL and the parties involved have submitted commitments.
A likely concession involves RTL offering to outsource advertising sales to third parties to mitigate competition concerns.
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