RTL2 Fernsehen
RTL2 Fernsehen GmbH & Co. KG is the operating company of the private TV channel RTL Zwei. This makes RTL Zwei one of the few TV channels that is not majority-owned by a large media group. RTL Zwei was created in 1992 through a co-operation between various shareholders (CLT, UFA, Tele München, Heinrich Bauer Verlag, Burda and FAZ). Due to the requirements of the anti-trust authorities, this group of founders had to be as balanced as possible and no-one was to achieve sole control. In the meantime, FAZ has left the joint venture, the shares of CLT and UFA have been merged by RTL Group and Tele München has been absorbed into Leonine Studios. RTL - and therefore Bertelsmann - is now the largest shareholder with 35.9%. The channel became known for reality formats and casting shows for a young target group. Nevertheless, the channel offers a full programme, i.e. it serves different age groups and also has an information and news programme. However, the main news programme, RTL Zwei News, is no longer produced in-house, but by a joint newsroom at RTL Germany. The channel can be received in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and also serves the different markets in the advertising blocks.
Business Form
private
Legal Form
Limited partnership with a GmbH as the personally liable general partner (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft, in short: GmbH & Co. KG)
Business Sectors
Entertainment; Marketing
Tele München Group
Tele München is a media company for the production and licensing of films and series. Since its takeover by the US investment company KKR in 2019, Tele München has operated under the Leonine brand. In April 2024, a renewed takeover of Leonine by the French media conglomerate Mediawan was announced. If the antitrust authorities approve the takeover, Leonine would become the German branch of a group of 85 production labels in 13 countries. The US investor KKR also holds shares in Mediawan.
Other Online Outlets
RTL2.de
Media Business
Music label
El Cartel Music (100%)
Artist Management
La Familia Artists (100%)
TV marketing
El Cartel Media (100%)
General Information
Founding Year
1992
Affiliated Interests Founder
The company was founded as a joint venture by several partners. This was necessary in order to fulfil the requirements of the licensing authority (Hessische Landesanstalt für Privaten Rundfunk). The aim was to prevent one shareholder from gaining too much power. Even though Bertelsmann does not appear by name among the founders, the media group is the driving force.
Employees
265 (2022)
Contact
RTL2 Fernsehen GmbH & Co. KG
Lil-Dagover-Ring 1
82031 Grünwald
Phone: +49 89 64 185 - 0
Website: unternehmen.rtl2.de
E-Mail: website-management@rtl2.de
Tax/ ID Number
DE 167 400 442
Financial Information
Revenue (Financial Data/ Optional)
€ 305 Million / USD 320 Million (2022)
Operating Profit (in Mill. $)
€ 43 Million / USD 45 Million (2022)
Advertising (in % of total funding)
84%: € 256 Billion / USD 267 Billion (2022)
Management
Executive Board
is CEO of RTL Zwei and previously had a career at the TV channel ProSieben. He started there as an editor in the early 1990s and became Head of Programmes in 1999 after holding several positions. This was followed by various positions as Managing Director within the Group (kabel eins, Sat. 1, ProSieben) and a position on the Executive Board of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. Bartl left the Group in 2012 and joined rival broadcaster RTL Zwei as Managing Director in 2014. He is also Co-Managing Director of the company's own TV marketing company El Cartel.
is Managing Director - CFO/COO at RTL Zwei. She shares the management with Andreas Bartl. Prior to her current position, she was Deputy CFO and COO of RTL Zwei and has been responsible for the channel's controlling since 2012. Prior to that, she worked at El Cartel Media, the broadcaster's marketer, and started her career at SevenOne Media in Pricing & Inventory Management.
has been Managing Director of El Cartel, the marketer of RTL Zwei, since June 2019. Previously, Karrer had been Deputy Managing Director since January 2018 and Head of Media Sales & Services at El Cartel since 2013. He began his career in 1999 as Key Account Manager at Sport1 and later worked for Discovery Networks as Director Ad Sales.
has been Chief Strategy & Data Officer at RTL Zwei since May 2020 and heads the ‘Data & Innovation’ division. Ehrler began his career in 2009 as a dual student at RTL Zwei and subsequently worked in Controlling and Business Development. He completed a Master's degree in Business Innovation and Management Consulting and was a management consultant from 2017 before taking over as Head of the Insights & Data Analytics department in 2018.
is Head of Channel Strategy & Content Distribution at RTL Zwei. He is also Head of Consumer Marketing as well as Music and Event Cooperations. The media economics graduate has been with the company since 2008, initially in Controlling and from 2010 as Head of Programme Planning. In 2014, he took over the management of the Programme Planning division and, since 2018, also the company's digital strategy.
Further Information
Meta Data
The average exchange rate for the year in question was used to convert the figures into USD.
