RTL Group cuts 2025 profit outlook as TV ad market weakens

RTL Group revised its monetary outlook for 2025 on November 18, 2025, decreasing full-year adjusted EBITA steering from roughly €780 million to €650 million. The Bertelsmann-owned media firm attributed the downgrade to weaker tv promoting markets in Germany and France, which did not achieve momentum through the second half of the yr as initially anticipated.

The Luxembourg-based leisure firm reported income of €4,118 million for the primary 9 months of 2025, down 2.2 % from €4,209 million throughout the identical interval in 2024. Third-quarter income remained secure at €1,337 million in comparison with €1,338 million within the earlier yr, in line with the quarterly assertion. Full-year income expectations had been diminished to a variety of €6.0 billion to €6.1 billion from earlier steering of roughly €6.45 billion.

Thomas Rabe, Chief Govt Officer of RTL Group, acknowledged difficult market situations whereas emphasizing streaming efficiency. “The market surroundings stays difficult, with a discount of TV promoting income in our core markets and an accelerated shift from linear TV to streaming,” Rabe acknowledged within the quarterly announcement. The German and French TV promoting markets didn’t recuperate within the second half as administration anticipated, regardless of further market share positive factors in Germany and strict value administration measures.

Conventional tv promoting income declined as viewing patterns continued shifting toward streaming platforms. RTL Group expects TV promoting income within the second half of 2025 to say no by excessive single-digit percentages, a dramatic reversal from August 2025 steering that projected 2 to three % progress.

The streaming enterprise demonstrated progress throughout all efficiency indicators. Income, paying subscribers, and viewing time continued trending positively regardless of broader market headwinds. RTL Group reached 7.6 million paying subscribers on the finish of September 2025, representing progress towards an 8 million subscriber goal by year-end.

The corporate diminished streaming start-up losses from €137 million in 2024 to roughly €50 million in 2025, greater than halving these prices. Administration maintains its goal of attaining streaming profitability in 2026. Streaming income reached €403 million in 2024 in comparison with €283 million in 2023, with projections focusing on roughly €750 million by 2026 and an anticipated 9 million subscribers.

RTL+ operates in Germany and Hungary whereas M6+ serves France. The providers pursue aggressive progress methods as European streaming adoption accelerates. Content material spending every year elevated from €338 million in 2024 with targets approaching €500 million by 2026, supporting unique programming growth.

The monetary revision displays broader challenges throughout European television advertising markets. RTL Deutschland operates main free-TV channels together with RTL Tv and VOX alongside information channel ntv. Groupe M6 manages French tv properties together with the M6 channel, 6ter, and W9. Mixed, these items generate substantial promoting income from conventional linear tv broadcasting.

Rabe emphasised the corporate’s medium-term monetary targets stay unchanged regardless of short-term challenges. “Quick-term challenges don’t change our medium-term Adjusted EBITA goal of €1 billion,” he acknowledged. The corporate bases this projection on robust market positions, streaming profitability from 2026 onwards, and anticipated synergies from the Sky Deutschland acquisition totaling €250 million.

RTL Group confirmed its acquisition of Sky Deutschland in June 2025 for €150 million. The transaction awaits regulatory approvals, after which administration plans to combine the enterprise with RTL operations and understand focused synergies. The mixed entity would strengthen streaming capabilities throughout German-speaking markets the place conventional TV viewership has declined substantially.

The corporate introduced expectations for Whole Group revenue of roughly €1 billion for the total yr. Dividend coverage stays unchanged, with RTL Group planning to distribute not less than 80 % of adjusted full-year web outcome to shareholders.

Fremantle, RTL Group’s content material manufacturing arm, continues focusing on an adjusted EBITA margin of 9 % by 2026. The manufacturing firm maintains medium-term income targets of €3 billion, together with acquisitions of small and medium-sized manufacturing corporations and partnerships with artistic expertise. Fremantle operates in 28 nations and produces greater than 11,000 hours of programming yearly for each RTL channels and exterior purchasers together with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

The broader business context exhibits traditional television advertising faces structural decline as viewing habits shifts. Related tv promoting spending is projected to achieve $33.35 billion in 2025 globally, with streaming TV advertising expected to surge 19.3 percent whereas linear TV faces 3.4 % decline.

RTL Group’s promoting expertise infrastructure consists of Advert Alliance in Germany and RTL AdAlliance for worldwide gross sales. The platforms mixture stock throughout a number of channels and digital properties, competing with programmatic advertising platforms which have gained market share.

Administration emphasised the corporate’s readiness to seize progress when markets recuperate. “We’re nicely positioned when the markets regain momentum,” Rabe acknowledged. The corporate maintains investments in synthetic intelligence advantages alongside value discount packages focusing on operational effectivity enhancements.

Bertelsmann holds roughly 76.28 % of RTL Group shares, with the remaining roughly 24 % buying and selling publicly on Luxembourg and Frankfurt inventory exchanges. The inventory is included in Germany’s MDAX index as of March 2022.

Trade dynamics proceed favoring streaming platforms over conventional tv, notably amongst youthful demographics. RTL Group’s twin technique of sustaining conventional broadcasting whereas constructing streaming capabilities displays widespread business adaptation to altering consumption patterns.

The revised steering represents a 16.7 % discount from earlier expectations, demonstrating the magnitude of tv promoting market weak spot in core European territories. RTL Group operates in markets the place streaming has overtaken traditional TV viewing, essentially altering the aggressive panorama for promoting income.

Timeline

Abstract

Who: RTL Group, Europe’s main leisure firm working 52 tv channels, six streaming providers, and 40 radio stations, led by CEO Thomas Rabe. Bertelsmann owns 76.28 % of the corporate.

What: RTL Group diminished its 2025 adjusted EBITA steering from roughly €780 million to €650 million whereas reducing income expectations to €6.0-6.1 billion from €6.45 billion. The corporate reported 7.6 million streaming subscribers and diminished streaming losses to roughly €50 million.

When: The quarterly assertion was revealed on November 18, 2025, masking the primary 9 months of 2025 from January via September. The revised steering addresses full-year 2025 expectations.

The place: The monetary revision primarily displays market situations in Germany and France, RTL Group’s core promoting markets. The corporate operates streaming providers in Germany, Hungary, France, and Luxembourg whereas sustaining tv and radio operations throughout a number of European nations.

Why: Tv promoting markets in Germany and France declined extra severely than anticipated, with second-half TV advert income anticipated to fall by excessive single-digit percentages as a substitute of rising 2-3 % as beforehand forecast. The accelerated shift from linear tv to streaming essentially altered promoting income patterns throughout 2025.