Warner Bros. Entertainment unveiled on Wednesday that it has signed a major, multi-year volume deal with leading European commercial broadcaster RTL Group to supply WB films and television series for RTL’s German TV operations and streaming service, RTL+.
The deal, which starts from the first quarter of this year, will see RTL take German rights to such Warner and HBO Max series as And Just Like That, Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries and The Big Bang Theory. The deal will also give RTL Deutschland exclusive free-TV rights in the territory for upcoming WB, films as well as access to the studio’s vast film and series library. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
On the features side, the Warner Bros-RTL deal includes rights to the studio’s mega franchises, including Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, as well as DC superhero franchises Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Batman.
RTL is doubling down on streaming in an attempt to carve out an online market position alongside global players, such as Netflix and Amazon, in the German market. By 2026, the RTL Group has said it will be spending around €600 million ($682 million) annually on content for RTL+ and is targeting a total of 10 million paying subscribers, in both Germany and the Netherlands (where RTL operates Dutch SVOD service Videoland).
Warner Bros., which has extensive and lucrative pay-TV and free-TV deals in Germany, has not yet announced plans to launch its own streaming service, HBO Max, in the territory.
