RTL sees Q1 operating profits up 8.7%

Top European network boosts revenue 2%

By Scott Roxborough
BERLIN -- Leading European TV network RTL Group left its main competitor, ProSiebenSat.1, in the dust in the first quarter, boosting revenue by 2% to 1.34 billion euros ($2.08 billion) and upping operating profits (EBITDA) to 188 million euros ($291 million), a 8.7% hike.

The growth came mainly from RTL's core German channels and offset drops in it channels in France (M6) and in the U.K. (Five). RTL boss Gerhard Zeiler has recently reshuffled management at Five, bringing back former CEO Dawn Airey, who was at competitor ITV, as the channel's new chairman and CEO (HR 4/29).

RTL's numbers match up favorably with ProSiebenSat.1, which saw operating profits drop off a cliff in the first quarter, falling 25% to 88.5 million euros ($137 million).

While RTL stock dipped sharply in the second half of 2007, it has since recovered and remains stable near 80 euros ($123). ProSieben shares have nose-dived, losing 60% of their value against last year and currently hovering around 10 euros ($15).

With a touch of understatement, and maybe a bit of schadenfreude toward its competitor in the German market, RTL said it had "no reason to be pessimistic" about future performance this year.

RTL sees Q1 operating profits up 8.7%

Top European network boosts revenue 2%

By Scott Roxborough
BERLIN -- Leading European TV network RTL Group left its main competitor, ProSiebenSat.1, in the dust in the first quarter, boosting revenue by 2% to 1.34 billion euros ($2.08 billion) and upping operating profits (EBITDA) to 188 million euros ($291 million), a 8.7% hike.

The growth came mainly from RTL's core German channels and offset drops in it channels in France (M6) and in the U.K. (Five). RTL boss Gerhard Zeiler has recently reshuffled management at Five, bringing back former CEO Dawn Airey, who was at competitor ITV, as the channel's new chairman and CEO (HR 4/29).

RTL's numbers match up favorably with ProSiebenSat.1, which saw operating profits drop off a cliff in the first quarter, falling 25% to 88.5 million euros ($137 million).

While RTL stock dipped sharply in the second half of 2007, it has since recovered and remains stable near 80 euros ($123). ProSieben shares have nose-dived, losing 60% of their value against last year and currently hovering around 10 euros ($15).

With a touch of understatement, and maybe a bit of schadenfreude toward its competitor in the German market, RTL said it had "no reason to be pessimistic" about future performance this year.

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DENVER -- New figures from NPD Group suggest that the Amazon DRM-free digital music service is doing more to grow the overall digital music market as opposed to simply stealing customers from iTunes.

The research group says only 10% of Amazon customers had previously bought music from Apple's iTunes service. While many tagged the Amazon service as an "iTunes killer" when it first launched, the music industry's hope all along was never to cannibalize iTunes sales but rather encourage new digital buyers. NPD's data suggest exactly that is happening.

"The fact that Amazon's early growth does not appear to be at the expense of Apple iTunes is a healthy indication that the digital music customer pool can expand into new consumer groups who have not yet joined the iTunes community," said NPD analyst Russ Crupnick in a statement.

NPD says Amazon is now second only to iTunes in the a la carte digital download category (for those keeping score). The company did not disclose how many users Amazon has attracted in total, however it did say iTunes volume is 10 times that of Amazon.

Some interesting demographic breakdown has emerged between the two services as well. NPD says 84% of Amazon customers are male, compared to 44% of iTunes, but only 3% of Amazon customers were teens, compared to iTunes' 18% (the latter attributed primarily to the popularity of iTunes gift cards.)

NPD says Amazon's growth is likely more due to existing Amazon customers adopting the new service rather than due its lower pricing or DRM-free policies.

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