RTL Group posts a decline of 3.8% as streaming grows

European media conglomerate RTL on Thursday reported a 3.8% year-on-year revenue decline to 6.018 billion euros for the full fiscal year 2025, with strong growth on the streaming side and digital advertising, while revenues from its content business in Fremantle suffered.

RTL’s adjusted EBTIDA (earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation) was €661 million ($763 million), while total group profit rose to €1.03 billion, largely driven by the sale of Dutch media network RTL Nederland.

Streaming revenues rose 26.3% to €509 million ($587 million), thanks to a significantly higher number of paying subscribers that rose 19% to 8.1 million, higher subscription prices in Germany and fast-growing advertising revenues on RTL+ in Germany and M6+ in France, according to an RTL statement.

The group is preparing to further strengthen its streaming business through the planned acquisition of pay-TV service Sky Germany, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026 pending approval by the European Commission.

RTL has also expanded partnerships with distribution and platform partners including Deutsche Telekom, Amazon and Warner Bros. Discovery covering HBO Max in Germany.

Fremantle revenue fell 9.4% to €2.043 million ($2.359 million). This was mainly due to lower revenues from the entertainment sector, especially in the US and the UK. RTL noted in its previous earnings report that the U.S. revenue decline was “largely expected,” as the first nine months of 2024 had benefited from NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” spinoff “Fantasy League,” which ran for an eight-episode season.

Fremantle scored several successes in 2025, with “Bugonia” from its Element Pictures shingle nominated for four Oscars and several high-profile productions for international streaming platforms, including “Maxton Hall” and “Hotel Costiera” on Prime Video and “Sullivan’s Crossing,” “Evil Influencer” and “The Monster of Florence” on Netflix. In September, Fremantle announced the green light for a ‘Baywatch’ reboot by Fox Television Network. The show is co-produced by Fremantle North America and Fox Entertainment with a straight-to-series order for 12 episodes in the first season.

Thomas Rabe, CEO of RTL Group, commented: “The market environment in 2025 remained challenging, with a significant decline in TV advertising and an even faster shift from linear TV to streaming. Against this backdrop, RTL Group has further accelerated its transformation by reallocating resources to streaming, combined with extensive cost savings across our core businesses.”