France
M6 broadcasts HDTV
United Kingdom
Mark White named Managing Director of Five
Luxembourg
RTL Group with sound results after nine months in 2008
US elections in retrospect
Clear water for every childHow RTL 4 showcases Unicef’s campaign for a whole week
week 45
6 November 2008
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week
COVER:Ismael (13 years) from Burkina Faso who is at the centre of the current Unicef campaign “Clear water for every child”
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“A big TV station has aresponsibility to society”All next week, the audience’s attention will bedrawn in many different ways to Unicef’s newcampaign “Clear Water for Every Child.”The Netherlands - 5 November 2008
The background of this campaign: around theworld, 884 million people have no access toclean drinking water. Even more people – 2.5billion – have to make do without basic sanita-ry facilities like a latrine or WC. This is a majorcause of child mortality, with one child dyingevery 20 seconds as a result of drinking dirtywater. Unicef has set out to ensure that all chil-dren have access to clean water and sanitaryfacilities, by building wells, collecting rainwater,constructing sewers and sim-ple by hygenic sanitary facili-ties. As these projects arequite expensive, RTL 4 alsoinvites its viewers to donatefor Unicef.
The special theme week willkick off on Sunday 9November with Life &Cooking, when a Dutch fami-ly learns how to cope whenits water supply is cut off.RTL Boulevard will then keepthe ball rolling by spotlightingthe campaign on every work-day of the following week,culminating in the broadcastof an extra late-night show onFriday 14 November: RTLBoulevard For Unicef. Thisspecial edition of RTLBoulevard will focus onUnicef and its work and pro-jects for children around theworld. It will show the projectsand the organisation itself from different angles,including what celebrities do for Unicef, forexample as ambassadors or special represen-tatives.
The 15 November edition of Ik Hou Van Hollandwill feature Unicef ambassadors Monique vande Ven (at the mixing desk) and Edwin Evers(on drums), and between reports on typicallyDutch topics, the programme will give air timeto the UN children’s rights organisation. Thechannel’s final contribution to its Unicef themeweek will air the following day when WinstonGerschtanowitz presents Postcode LoterijMiljoenenjacht. During the show, Winston
Gerschtanowitz will presentinitial results of ‘Unicef Week’.
The campaign will not merelybe covered in RTL 4’s pro-gramming. RTL 4 and Unicefwill also issue joint state-ments, in which the childrenor grandchildren of Dutchcelebrities like Beau vanErven Dorens, Peter van derVorst, Monique van de Ven,Paul van Vliet and Robert tenBrink will show just howstrange it seems to us to drinkwater directly from nature.
“The unique aspect of ourpartnership with Unicef is thatwe’re not just supportingthem with a single program-me but instead create atten-tion for the organisation allweek in several well-establi-
shed programmes,” saysErland Galjaard, Programme
Director of RTL 4.
Erland Galjaard explains: “We think a big TVstation like RTL 4 has a responsibility to socie-
Erland Galjaard
Poster of the campaign
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ty to bring relevant problems to the attention ofits audience, as well as to help with the solu-tions. Or help the people who deliver thosesolutions. Unicef is well known worldwide, it’s abig brand like RTL. They are known for addres-sing relevant issues, like in their latest cam-paign, ‘Schoon Water Voor Elk Kind’ (ClearWater for Every Child). Together we hope tobuild awareness for this problem. We offerUnicef airtime in a unique way and hope it willhelp them to achieve their goals.”
Each year, as Christmas nears, charity organi-sations apply for airtime on one of the bigchannels – usually in one programme or a spe-cial edition of a show. This time, RTL 4 was ableto give Unicef campaign and its goals maxi-mum exposure without having to make bigchanges to its programming. With that muchwider on-air coverage than a single show couldhave possibly given the organisation. AndUnicef is not the only charity organisation to
enjoy the support of RTL 4: “Over the next fewweeks up until Christmas we will work withseveral charity organisations, though mostly ina single programme or series, for example DeVoedselbank, Kids Rights, the Stichting andfinally Plan Nederland,” says Galjaard.
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Other social responsibility projects at RTL Group (a selection):
RTL SpendenmarathonThe ‘Stiftung RTL – Wir helfen Kindern e.V.’ (RTL Foundation – We Help Children) charity is nowin its thirteenth year. For the past twelve years, RTL’s Senior Director Charity Wolfram Kons andhis team have organised an annual telethon to raise funds for children in need, and have collect-ed EUR 63 million in donations to date. The most important feature of the RTL Spendenmarathonis that every cent donated goes to aid children in need, because RTL Television shoulders alladministrative, personnel and production costs. One hundred percent of every donation is usedto support the selected children’s relief projects in Germany and all over the world. Each year,the RTL Foundation undergoes a voluntary review to renew its charity seal from the GermanCentral Institute for Social Issues (DZI).
Idol gives backFaced with the format’s immense popularity, the producer and jury member Simon Fuller felt amoral duty to use the show’s tremendous pulling power for a good cause. Hence the productionof a special programme entitled Idol Gives Back, to raise funds to combat poverty in both theUnited States and in Africa, focussing in particular on underprivileged and impoverished kids onboth continents. As Backstage reported Idol Gives Back had managed to raise an unbelievable76 million dollars for the poor and destitute in 2007, bagging an Emmy Award for that exception-al achievement.
TélévieFor the past 20 years, Belgian television viewers have donated to the Télévie campaign, initiat-ed by RTL-TVI to raise money for the FNRS Foundation through various events and an annualTV gala. The foundation is dedicated to research projects for leukaemia and cancer. The Téléviecampaign was extended to Luxembourg in 2002, and in 2008 raised a record EUR 8.1 million.Since 1989, Télévie has generated donations totalling nearly EUR 93 million for FNRS.
Winston Gerschtanowitz
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Sound results after nine months in 2008Bucking a tougher economic climate, RTL Group generated sound results in theperiod January to September 2008: operating profit (EBITA) increased slightly to EUR 577 million (2007: EUR 568 million).Luxembourg - 6 November 2008
Particularly strong performances fromMediengruppe RTL Deutschland andFremantleMedia compensated for significantnegative effects such as the slowdown in seve-ral advertising markets, the major programmeinvestment for the European football cham-pionship 2008 at Groupe M6 in France andrestructuring charges at RTL Nederland.
Revenue in the reporting period was stable atEUR 4,052 million (2007: EUR 4,039 million).Stripping out the effects of the portfolio chan-ges, underlying revenue at constant exchangerates came to EUR 4,095 million. The net cashposition at 30 September 2008 amounted toEUR 755 million (30 June 2008: EUR 588 mil-lion) with an operating cash conversion of 125per cent (2007: 122 per cent).
TV advertising market conditions were verymixed in the reporting period with Germanyand the Netherlands reporting positive growth.Elsewhere, net TV advertising markets weredown year-on-year with Spain and Francereporting the most severe decline. RTL Group’soperations continued to outperform the mar-kets in many countries, most notably inGermany and France (TV and radio).
The outlook for the full year 2008 remainsunchanged: despite the current economic cli-mate and continued low visibility on the adver-tising markets, RTL Group remains cautiouslyoptimistic about achieving its financial targetsin 2008.
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Operational highlights
In September 2008 RTL Group announced the acquisition of a 66.6 per cent majority share holding in Alpha Media Group, Greek’s No. 3 broadcasting company; the transaction is expected to close in November
Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland remains clearly ahead of its main commercial competitor ProSiebenSat1 – in terms of both audience share in the 14–49 target group and advertising market share; good start into the new season 2008/09
Combined total audience share of Groupe M6’s channels were up in the reporting period despite accelerated audience fragmentation in France; the family of channels strategy has paid off
FremantleMedia’s strong performance continues to be driven by international prime time hit formats such as Idols, Got Talent, Hole in the Wall and The X Factor which had its strongest season debut ever in the UK; FremantleMedia acquired a 19.99 per cent equity stake in Beyond International, one of Australia's leading television and film producers
At the end of September, RTL Nederland announced a new organisational structure to focus on TV, radio and new media; the unit plans to outsource the technical support services of its Broadcast Operations division
The social network Wer-kennt-wen.de is on a clear growth path: with more than 4.6 million registered users and 3.63 billion page impressions per month it is ranked No. 3 in the offi cial German online ranking (IVW)
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America has picked itspresident......and RTL Group’s channels reported exhaustively on the world’s big political event – a retrospective.Germany / France / Belgium / The Netherlands - 5 November 2008
In Berlin, some 1,000 guests from politics, busi-ness, media and society dropped byBertelsmann’s Berlin premises for the big USelections party during the course of electionnight. The party was jointly hosted by the TVchannels RTL Television, N-TV and CNN, theAmerican Academy and the American embas-sy.
After a welcome by N-TV moderator HeinerBremer, US Embassy envoy John M. Koenig,and Dr. Gary Smith, Director of the AmericanAcademy, guests were treated to a varied pro-gramme with a live talk as well as numerous livefeeds and expert commentaries. Many gueststook the opportunity to share their thoughtswell into the early morning hours against abackdrop of Jazz and an American buffet. RTLTelevision, N-TV and CNN’s election coveragewas broadcast to numerous screens throu-ghout the building, and in a special pollconducted on the premises, 95 per cent ofguests “voted” for the Democratic candidate.
From 0:30, RTL Television and N-TV jointlybroadcast the US elections. Between 0:30 and3:00, the average market share in the targetdemographic was no less than 17.7 per cent,putting the two channels well ahead of ZDF andARD. Total audience share was 13.3 per cent.RTL Nachtjournal, which had already startedcovering the elections at midnight, scored 17.7per cent of the 14 to 49 viewer market.
From midnight till 4:30, the special correspon-dents of RTL Radio France, led by GeorgesLang, closely covered the US presidential elec-tions live from New York. Philippe Antoine, per-
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Guests included the former director of the public broadcasterWDR, Fritz Pleitgen, and his son
Bertelsmann Unter den Linden all aglow with election fever
RTL Radio studio in New York
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manent correspondent of RTL Radio in the US,Isabelle Dath, journalist in politics, DavidGlaser, reporter in the streets of Manhattan,Rémy Sulmont from the headquarters ofBarack Obama in Chicago, Myriam Alma, clo-sely following McCain in Arizona, covered theoutcome of these historic elections and gavethe floor to American analysts invited to com-ment live on the results.
From 7:00 till 9:30 , Vincent Parizot presentedRTL Matin live from the Grand HôtelIntercontinental in Paris, in cooperation with theembassy of the United States and theInternational Herald Tribune. During two and ahalf hours, the entire editorial staff, gatheredaround Vincent Parizot, contributed live reportsand comments. At 7:50, Jean-Michel Aphatieinterviewed Bernard Kouchner, French ForeignSecretary, who delivered his very first com-
ments on the result of the elections. At 8:35, theauditors had the opportunity to talk with thespecialists of the news department, Jean-Michel Aphatie and Franz-Olivier Giesbert. Themorning programme continued with interviewsand comments by numerous prestigiousguests.
The news programme Le Journal de 19 heureson RTL-TVI, which delved deep into the USelections, drew 45.8 per cent of the early-eve-ning viewer market, far more than the public TVchannel La Une's news, which scored 31.8 percent.
The RTL 4 special Obama vs. McCain, whichwas broadcast starting at 22:30, reached362,000 viewers and a market share of 12.4 percent in the target group of 20 to 49 year oldshoppers.
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Politician Michael Naumann and director Volker Schöndorft (right) discussing the results
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Documentary on Russell and RossZig Zag Productions is producing Russell & Ross: What the F*** Was All That About? –an hour-long documentary – for Five. United Kingdom - 3 November 2008
The documentary, which was broadcast onWednesday 5 November at 22:00, examinedthe impact the controversy about several prankcalls made by two of the UK’s most high profi-le entertainers. As well as an exclusive inter-view with Georgina Baillie – the 23 year-old atthe eye of the most high profile media storm ofthe year – the programme also featured contri-butions from some of Brand’s former collea-gues and a host of others including: TheSatanic Slut dance troupe, Max Clifford and exheat editor Mark Frith. It also featured previous-ly unseen footage of Georgina Baillie in actionas she performs with her four-piece burlesquedance group, Satanic Sluts Extreme.
The media frenzy surrounding the pair stemsfrom Russell Brand’s BBC2 Radio show whichaired the now infamous pre-recorded segmentwith Jonathan Ross on 18 October. The fall-outforced Brand to resign from the BBC and resul-ted in a three month unpaid suspension forRoss.
Georgina Baillie is the granddaughter ofAndrew Sachs the 78-year-old actor bestknown for playing Manuel in Fawlty Towers.
Russell & Ross: What the F*** Was All ThatAbout? is a Zig Zag production for Five. It wascommissioned by Five’s Head of FactualEntertainment, Steve Gowans.
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High quality broadcastSince last week, M6 is available in High-definition, free-to-air in DTT.France - 5 November 2008
Twenty-seven transmitters have been put intooperation to cover 40 per cent of the metropo-litan population. Beginning 31 May 2009, newtransmitters will make it possible for more than60 per cent of the population to access pro-grammes that are broadcast in HD. In the cove-rage area, viewers equipped with a DTT-HDadaptor will find all of M6’s flagship program-mes in unparalleled sound and image quality.
M6’s principal evening programmes are alreadybroadcast in HD: news and documentary pro-grammes (Capital, Zone Interdite, E=M6, Accèsprivé, Un dîner presque parfait), French fiction
(Merci, les enfants vont bien !, Les Bleus,Caméra Café), international fiction (NCIS,Desperate Housewives, Journeyman) andentertainment shows like Nouvelle Star.
M6 is in the process of developing all of its faci-lities for HD, including technical means ofreporting and post-production as well as newbroadcast control rooms and production stu-dios. M6 supports this development with avoluntarist policy so that HD can come intogeneral use in the coming years and a becometechnology that is accessible to all.
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Cooking made easy From now on, amateur chefs can cook their way very close to professional chefdom,thanks to the “visual cookbook” on kochbar.de.
Germany - 31 October 2008
The cooking portal kochbar.de, which linkspopular Vox cooking shows and an extensiverecipe database with interactive communityfeatures, has partnered with RTL Living, thedigital channel for lifestyle and enjoyment, topresent a “visual cookbook” where professio-nal chefs show viewers, step by step, how toprepare delicious dishes. It doesn’t get anyeasier than this: all of the contemporary cuisinerecipes in the visual cookbook are covered inone-minute videos and are very simple to fol-low – providing a perfect excuse to throw a din-ner party for friends and family.
Cooking enthusiasts can alsobrowse kochbar.de’s manyrecipes for all occasions andfrom all continents, watchvideos of the popular cookingshows Das perfekte Dinner andSchmeckt nicht, gibt’s nicht, andaccess the recipes. They also havethe option of interacting with the siteby posting their own recipes and sharingthoughts with other amateur chefs in the com-munity.
visit
www.kochbar.de
www.kochbar.de
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Eyes & Ears Award forRTL Television and N-TVRTL Creation’s big Easter campaign to promote the blockbuster King Kong and N-TV’sanniversary trailers were awarded.Germany - 3 November 2008
The cross-media campaign about the world’smost famous ape went live in February 2008.On air measures included a 20-second teaserspot, content trailers and head promos,accompanied by commercial break openersand the station ID featuring King Kong and awhite hare cast in the role played by NaomiWatts.
The campaign’s mood-setting measures in par-ticular created a big-screen feel. From 10March, oversized wooden crates were placedin Cologne (Media Park), Berlin (UCI ZooPalast) and Munich (airport) bearing the slogan‘We’re letting him out on Easter Sunday!’ On 17March RTL Television proceeded to ask thepeople of Cologne for their help. Flyers onlampposts in the cathedral city appealed forinformation about an escaped gorilla. A tramwith a gorilla’s hand clenched around it alsorode through Cologne.
Bjorn Klimek, Creative Director ofPromotion/Advertising RTL Creation: “Winningfirst place in one of the main ‘Eyes & EarsAwards’ categories is a great affirmation of ourwork. The integrated campaigns are a key mar-keting tool for the RTL Television brand. TheKing Kong campaign is not just about the sin-gular event of the TV premiere; the communica-tion focused more on the link between thebroadcasting slot and the broadcaster. Wewant to corner the major seasonal events,Easter and Christmas, for RTL Television.”
N-TV received an award in the category “On-AirPromotion Campaign” for their anniversary trai-lers. The awarded trailers for N-TV’s anniversa-ry last year starred politicians like AngelaMerkel and Joschka Fischer and sport starMichael Schumacher, as well as companies likeDaimler and institutions like the EuropeanUnion with their most notable moments in thepast 15 years.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of theEyes and Ears Awards to honour the best pro-duction achievements. They are sponsored byEyes & Ears of Europe, the European associa-tion for design, promotion and marketing ofaudiovisual media.
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King Kong
Montage of the wooden crate in Cologne
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Winner of the prixRoland-DorgelèsRTL Radio France’s icon of political journalism,Jean-Michel Aphatie, was awarded the prixRoland-Dorgelès 2008 in the Radio categorylast Friday by Christine Albanel, France’sMinister of Culture and Communication.
France - 4 November 2008
This prize honours professionals in the audiovi-sual industry who contribute to the reputationof the French language. RTL Radio’s vice edito-rial director and chief of the political depart-ment Michel Aphatie hosts L’invité every mor-ning at 7:50 on RTL Radio. On Sundays he pre-sents Le Grand Jury RTL, a not-to-be-missedmeeting in which French political leaders anddirectors of large corporations have an hour todevelop and argue their ideas.
This prize, which has the support of theMinister of Culture and Communication, wascreated in 1997 at the initiative of theAssociation des Ecrivains combattants.Founded in 1919, today it brings together some500 literary figures.
Jean-Michel Aphatie
Spanish Television AwardJorge Fernández’ name is connected to two entirely different yet equally successfulAntena 3 formats, and because he masterfully covers the span he has received thePremio Ondas 2008. Spain - 4 November 2008
Fernández won the renowned television award,which was presented for the 55th time, in thecategory “Best television host”. The presenta-tion gala will take place on 20 November at theGran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. This year,the jury had to review a total of 800 submis-sions and candidates from 26 countries for thePremio Ondas.
Jorge Fernández, whose universalism determi-ned the jury’s decision, has been the host of Laruleta de la suerte since April 2006. During day-time on Spanish television, the quiz is the mostfrequently watched show in its genre. It drawsan average of 1.2 million viewers and a marketshare of 25.8 percent. The second format hos-
ted by the Basque, Esta casa es una ruina, is noless popular: the show’s most recent episodeon 8 October achieved a new record in absolu-te and in relative numbers according to theSpanish station. More than 3.76 million viewersgave Jorge Fernández a strong market share of23.6 percent, more than ever before.
With regard to the Premio Ondas, Fernándezhas many predecessors at Antena 3. Mostrecently, the station won the sought-after tele-vision award last year in two categories: forbest television series of the year with ElInternado, and for best radio programme withPonte a prueba.
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RTL Spendenmarathon:Inka BauseThe 13th RTL Spendenmarathon begins on 20November on RTL Television. This year, it focu-ses on children’s relief projects in Africa andthe struggle against child poverty in Germany.TV presenter Inka Bause supports the construc-tion of the world’s first centre for children’s palliative care in Datteln, Germany. Germany - 5 November 2008
There are approximately terminally ill 22,000children and teens in Germany. Their life is oneof constant, severe pain. These children’sordeal often lasts many months and years andresults in great, sometimes chronic psychologi-cal and physical strain for their families. Nearlyall children – toddlers with tumours or school-children or teens with metabolic, nervous orrespiratory disorders – suffer severe pain espe-cially during the final stages of their life.
Inka Bause, 39, is committing her efforts to theconstruction of the world’s first centre for chil-dren’s palliative care, to be built on the groundsof the Vestische Children’s and Youth Clinic inDatteln. The TV presenter travelled to Datteln tolook at the construction plans with Dr. BorisZernikow and learn more about the urgency ofthe project. Apart from the Lichtblicke (Gleamof Hope) ward where the terminally ill childrenand their families are given medical and othercare, the centre for children’s palliative care willinclude flats for the parents, as well as offeringsfor the young patients’ brothers and sisters.Bause also visited little Simon and his familywhile she was in Datteln. Simon suffers from adegenerative disease of the brain. For him andhis family, the centre for palliative care wouldbe a big help in emergencies.
Inka Bause says, “The visithere made a deep impres-sion on me. In particular,I admire Simon’s parentsfor how they are dealingwith this tragic situation.I am also deeply impres-sed with the energy andcompetence Dr. Zernikowand his team bring toaddressing the concerns of thefamilies!”
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Inka Bause with Simon
Part III of the
Spendenmarathon
series
Inka Bause visiting Simon and his mother
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Results for January to September 2008 Grupo Antena 3 reported declining turnover and profits in a tough market environment.Spain - 31 October 2008
Grupo Antena 3’s revenue for the first ninemonths of 2008 declined by 14.9 per cent toEUR 624.9 million (2007: EUR 734.4 million).One major culprit here was a flat TV ad salesmarket in Spain: it shrunk by 11.3 per centduring the reporting period. The company’soperating result (EBITDA) amounted to EUR136.8 million (2007: EUR 222.9 million), yieldingoperating profit margin of 21.9 per cent.
Antena 3’s viewer market share in the key 16 to54 target demographic dropped to 16.7 percent (2007: 18.1 per cent). Despite the decline,
the changes to its afternoon and access primetime programming, during which slots Antena 3airs the telenovela Lalola among other things,have already borne fruit. In both slots, Antena 3has already improved its total audience ratingsby an average 2.1 percentage points.
The strategy of building families of channelshas paid off: The Spanish RTL Group holding’stwo digital channels, Antena Neox and AntenaNova, continue on a growth course and havenearly tripled their viewer market share over thepast 12 months.
Groupe M6 revenues almost stable Groupe M6 reported near-stable revenues for the period January to September 2008,with consolidated sales of EUR 980.2 million – a decrease of 0.3 per cent comparedwith the same period last year.France - 4 November 2008
Advertising revenues of the group – includingthe main M6 channel, the company’s digitalchannels and other media – rose by 2.9 percent whilst revenues for other activities (diversi-fication and audiovisual rights) decreased by4.5 per cent.
Revenues of the M6 main channel were down0.8 per cent in the reporting period. These reve-nues were achieved in difficult market condi-tions, worsened by a rapidly deteriorating eco-nomic environment in the third quarter. Overthe first nine months of 2008, against a back-drop of declining ad spendings, the M6 channeloutperformed the market and gained marketshares in relation with its successful ratings.
Over the first nine months of 2008, the digitalchannels’ revenues were up 29.3 per cent,mainly driven by W9, Téva and Paris Première.W9 confirmed its status as a major growth dri-ver in the buoyant market of digital terrestrialtelevision (DTT): the channel once again impro-ved its ratings and reached a national audienceshare of 2.1 per cent in October, nearly twicelast year’s figure. Diversification and audiovi-sual rights activities posted a 4.5 per centdecrease in revenues, mainly related to theslowdown in household consumption.Meanwhile, the interactive activities maintainedtheir growth trends: M6 Web revenues amoun-ted to EUR 62.8 million, up 18 per cent.
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The German TV market in October Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland channels attracted 33.5 per cent of young German vie-wers in October 2008, keeping them well ahead of their competitors in the ProSiebenSat1group, who scored 30.7 per cent.Germany - 4 November 2008
The most successful monthM6 broke three records in October 2008, earning an audience share of 11.2 per cent inthe 4+ age group. First, it recorded its best month for 2008 (outside the exceptional resultin June linked to Euro 2008), then it beat its own audience record in the early-eveningtime slot and, finally, it is the only major network to see an increase in a strategic time slot(noon-midnight).France - 4 November 2008
The Spanish TV market in October In all, Antena 3 kept its performance stable in October with an average market share of15.8 per cent. The digital channel Antena Neox successfully defended its leading position.Spain - 5 November 2008
British TV culture comes to North America FremantleMedia Enterprises and the Acorn Media Group have signed a deal on the distri-bution of over 30 British drama and mystery series.United Kingdom - 5 November 2008
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People
Mark White namedManaging Director ofFiveUnited Kingdom - 5 November 2008
Mark White, Five’s Executive Director of Sales,has been promoted to the new role ofManaging Director.
The promotion follows White’s recent six monthperiod as Interim CEO during which he oversawa number of key projects, including a completerefresh of Five’s on and off air identity.
Dawn Airey, Five’s Chair and Chief Executive,said: “Mark has made phenomenal contributionto Five over the last decade and more, and I ampleased to be able to formalise his position asmy right-hand man. In his new role asManaging Director he will work closely with mein restructuring and revitalising Five.”
Mark White added: “Five is full of talented peo-ple and I’m thrilled to be given the chance tomanage across the business ensuring we maxi-mise every ounce of potential in the company.”
White joined Five in 1996 as Sales Controllerbecoming Deputy Sales Director in 2000 andthen Executive Director of Sales in 2004, over-seeing the launch of the broadcaster’s digitalchannels, Five US and Five Life, in 2006. He isa Director of Thinkbox, the Chairman ofClearcast, as well as representing Five onnumerous industry committees. Prior to FiveWhite worked in a variety of Sales roles atThames TV and was part of the launch team ofUK Gold.
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Mark White, Managing Director, Five
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People
Changeover at IPDeutschlandGermany - 5 November 2008
Oliver Aust, 42, has been appointed Head ofAdvisory Boards & Tools in the Media Research& Services department at airtime sales agent IPDeutschland, with effect from 1 January 2009.
In his new capacity, the media researcher willrepresent IP Deutschland’s research policyinterests on various boards and committees.Aust succeeds Claudia Dubrau, who will takeover as managing director of the OnlineResearch Workgroup (AGOF) on 1 February2009. Florian Ruckert, head of marketing at IPDeutschland, says: “I would like to take thisopportunity to express a warm thank-you toClaudia Dubrau for her untiring efforts andexcellent work, and wish her all the best for hernew tasks at the AGOF.”
Aust, a sociologist by training, has worked inmedia research for 14 years. After stints at DAPMedia Service in Frankfurt and Concept MediaPlus in Munich he most recently worked ashead of the media research unit at Mediaplus,Munich.
Ruckert comments: “We are pleased to havewon an experienced media researcher for ourteam in the person of Oliver Aust. As a bonafide methods expert, he will represent our inte-rests on the media research advisory boardsand continue Claudia Dubrau’s long years ofsuccessful work.”
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Oliver Aust, Head of Advisory Boards & Tools, IP Deutschland
People
Sebastiaan Berkvens appointed ManagerCRM at RTL Nederland The Netherlands - 3 November 2008
In his new capacityhe will focus ondeveloping cross-media loyalty sche-mes whereby RTLNederland will offer awide range ofactions, events andadvantages to its vie-wers, listeners andusers of interactivemedia. The newManager CRM will bedeployed within theNew Media business
unit, reporting to itsdirector.
Since 2005 Berkvens had worked for ArvatoServices, which advises and supports custo-mers regarding distribution, service centresand customer relations management. As themanager responsible for data and loyalty servi-ces there, he headed up a team of businessconsultants and acquired extensive experiencein setting up new business models based onsuccessful database marketing.
Bert Habets, CEO of RTL Nederland, had thefollowing to say about the appointment ofSebastiaan Berkvens: “As the market leader,RTL Nederland is investing in innovation in newbusiness and the development of loyalty sche-mes. By optimising our customer relations mar-keting, we can finally offer all RTL clients a tai-lor-made proposal. So I’m very happy to welco-me Sebastiaan on board. He will play an impor-tant role here“.
Sebastiaan Berkvens, ManagerCRM, RTL Nederland
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PublisherRTL Group
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