RTL may take over children's channel Super RTL completely
RTL may take over the German children's and family channel Super RTL, previously operated jointly with the Walt Disney Company, in its entirety. The German Federal Cartel Office cleared the merger of the stations on Friday.
RTL already holds 50 percent of the shares and wants to buy the remaining 50 percent from the previous co-shareholder Disney. The Super RTL program has been on the air since April 28, 1995. RTL also wants to use the move to support its own growth in the streaming market.
"RTL Group's acquisition of Disney's stake in Super RTL does not lead to a significant deterioration in the conditions of competition," Antitrust Office President Andres Mundt said, according to the statement. It is true that RTL, together with ProSiebenSat.1, has a considerable market position in television advertising. But the takeover would not decisively improve this position. The departure of competitor Disney from Super RTL could "also have the effect of promoting competition to a certain extent.
In addition to Super RTL and its offshoot Toggo Plus, these include Disney Channel, ARD and ZDF's KiKA and Nickelodeon. According to market researcher AGF Videoforschung, Super RTL had a market share of 13.0 percent of the children's target group aged 3 to 13 in 2020, and 17.5 percent together with Toggo Plus. KiKA came in at13.2 percent, Disney Channel at10.8 percent and Nickelodeon at4.7 percent. (SDA)
