The secret ingredients

3 December 2009
week
The secret ingredients
Rainer Wemcken on why daily soaps are such a hit
with audiences
Luxembourg
France
RTL Group presents carbon
footprint
M6 is recognized for efforts in
diversity
Germany
France
RTL Creation creates
Christmas campaign
RTL Radio supports
the Restaurants du Coeur
49
week
4
COVER:
Rainer Wemcken, Managing Director of Grundy UFA
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the RTL Group intranet
week 49
“Long and easy – that is
our goal”
Rainer Wemcken
Whether it’s Lenny and Emily getting into their
first knock-down, drag-out fight, Till being kept
away from Wolfgang’s funeral, Celine
developing feelings for Richard, Manu worrying
about losing her job over a slap in the face,
Sebastian making up with Lydia or Oliver
instigating a quarrel between Alisa and
Christian – the ‘think tank’ behind the plot
twists is always the same. What began in 1992
with the perennial favourite Gute Zeiten –
Schlechte Zeiten (Good Times, Bad Times) is
now implemented in seven productions in
Potsdam-Babelsberg, Cologne, Berlin and
Budapest. Grundy UFA produces six daily
series for the German TV market – Verbotene
Liebe (ARD), Alisa – Folge deinem Herzen
(ZDF), Eine wie keine (Sat 1), Alles was zählt,
Unter Uns, Gute Zeiten – Schlechte Zeiten (all
three for RTL Television) and Barátok közt for
RTL Klub in Hungary.
Right now Grundy UFA has triple cause for
celebration: on 4 December RTL Klub will
broadcast the 5,000th episode of Barátok közt,
while Unter Uns celbrated its 15th anniversary
on 28 November and Verbotene Liebe aired its
3,500th episode in early November. This shows
that the soaps are not only popular, but that
their success is reliable and long-lived. “That is
the art we’ve mastered,” says Rainer
Wemcken, Managing Director of Grundy UFA in
an interview with Backstage. “The longer a
series runs, the easier it becomes to market –
and that is our goal.” To achieve this, the series’
makers must take particular care to avoid
lapsing into a routine. “Although we are
essentially involved in industrial series
production here, creativity is demanded on a
daily basis,” explains Wemcken.
Grundy UFA has been producing series and
daily soaps for over 17 years now, which makes
them the leader in this sector. Backstage spoke
with Rainer Wemcken about the secret to their
success.
Germany - 3 December 2009
In September, the team of Barátok közt celebrated the production
of the 5,000th episode
Claudelle Deckert, Anna Julia Kapfelsperger und Isabell Hertel
celebrating Unter uns’ 15th anniversary
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the RTL Group intranet
This is important for another reason as well.
There are now ten daily series in the German TV
market alone. Most of them air during access
prime time, that means between 17:30 and
20:15. “Naturally, there is a danger of
oversaturation,” explains Wemcken. “That’s
why we place such an emphasis on the various
particularities of our formats. Verbotene Liebe,
for instance, is deliberately a bit unrealistic.”
Producing and preserving the uniqueness of all
the different soaps over time requires not only
a well thought-out plan, but also a highly
motivated team and smoothly functioning
logistics – and Grundy UFA has all but
perfected the process of industrial series
production. “Of course there is no secret
formula that tells you exactly how everything
works,” jokes Wemcken. “We’re not a beverage
factory, where you have a specific recipe that
spells out how it’s done.” Each soap has its
very own style, a recurrent theme and its own
way of telling the characters’ stories. “The most
important thing is to use the characters to tell
stories that interest people while also exploring
problems that preoccupy people,” Wemcken
explains. “To do so you have to stay close to
your target audience, pick up on trends and
even set trends yourself sometimes.”
week 49
As a result, the soaps are always shifting and
changing – new topics are constantly being
discovered, new problems addressed.
Sometimes a cast member leaves the soap, or
a new person joins the cast, which opens up
new narrative options for the authors. In 1992,
Gute Zeiten – Schlechte Zeiten launched with a
large cast and an accordingly large number of
plot strands. “Nowadays we will usually focus
on a single strong character at the beginning of
a series, like Manu Berlett in Eine wie keine or
Diana in Alles was zählt. The other characters
and the plot are then developed over time,”
says Wemcken.
The nearly 18-year history of daily soaps in
Germany is evident in the evolution of the
narrative structure, but also in changes that
have occurred in production over recent years.
Production timing is still very tight – every day,
at least one new episode has to be completed
for each of the seven series. New technology
standards in particular have opened up greater
creative freedom. HD technology gives the
footage a more cinematic overall look and it
has also greatly simplified post-processing.
“This means that we are producing even faster
now than we used to,” reports Rainer
Wemcken. “For Unter Uns, we now produce
eight episodes a week instead of just five as in
the past.”
The entire production process
for an episode – from the initial
idea to the day it is aired –
takes about three months on
average. First, a larger plot
spanning several months is
determined. This overarching
plot is then broken down into
weekly strands and then into
daily episodes, after which it is
shot. Finally, these plot strands
are cut apart, combined with
other and edited into an
episode. “That is precisely
what distinguishes us, apart
from the shooting itself – the
industrial standards we bring
to
production,”
says
Wemcken. Also, he explains,
there is now more of an
emphasis on better care and
training for the cast members.
“We now have a lot more
coaches than ten years ago.”
Shooting of Verbotene Liebe
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the RTL Group intranet
And soaps are now at home in the online realm
as well. “Daily soaps are among the most
requested formats on the broadcasters’ various
catch-up and video-on-demand sites,”
Wemcken is happy to report. “On RTL Now for
instance, users can preview the upcoming
episode for a small fee – and plenty of people
actually do so.” Grundy UFA also develops
Web series that are not exactly like soaps but
do have similarities. The Pietshow, which the
week 49
company produces for the German social
networks StudiVZ and MeinVZ, is one of
Germany’s most popular Web series,
generating over three million video views to
date. The series has even been nominated for a
Digital Emmy. “Given the Pietshow’s success,
we are obviously entertaining some ambitions
in this area. But you always need a partner for
the financing, too,” says Wemcken. “But we
have nothing new planned at the moment.”
Grundy UFA in Figures (as of 1 December 2009)
Gute Zeiten – Schlechte Zeiten (Good Times, Bad Times; RTL Television)
Launched: 1992
Number of episodes: 4380
Average audience share (14 to 49 – Oct 2009): 21.0 per cent
Unter Uns (RTL Television)
Launched: 1994
Number of episodes: 3729
Average audience share (14 to 49 – Oct 2009): 16.6 per cent
Verbotene Liebe (ARD)
Launch: 1995
Number of episodes: 3516
Average audience share (total audience – Oct 2009): 11.8 per cent
Alles was zählt (RTL Television)
Launch: 2006
Number of episodes: 817
Average audience share (14 to 49 – Oct 2009): 16.2 per cent
Alisa - Folge deinem Herzen (ZDF)
Launch: 2009
Number of episodes: 183
Average audience share (total audience – Oct 2009): 15.1 per cent
Eine wie keine (Sat.1)
Launch: 2009
Number of episodes: 12
Average audience share: Not available, yet.
Barátok Közt (RTL Klub)
Launch: 1998
Number of episodes: 4994
Average audience share (18 to 49 – Oct 2009): 40.4 per cent.
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the RTL Group intranet
week 49
Presenting the carbon
footprint
RTL Group employees in Luxembourg got
together to learn more about our organisation’s
carbon footprint and to discuss measures to
reduce CO2 emissions linked to our activity.
Luxembourg - 2 December 2009
In a year where
facts matter, and
bearing in mind
that “No one can
do everything, but
everyone can do
something,”
the
second edition of
RTL
Group’s
‘environMINDday’
mainly centred on a
presentation of the
results
of
the
carbon footprint
measurement
project
initiated
and conducted by
Dr. Achim Schorb, from the IFEU in Heidelberg, Marco Schank Deputy Minister of Sustainable
Development in Luxembourg and Elmar Heggen, RTL Group CFO and Head of the Corporate Centre
the
environMIND
(from left to right)
team starting in April
GHG
emissions are always related to the
2008. This project was born out of growing
company’s
core operations. This is especially
interest expressed by many of RTL Group’s
true
for
RTL
Group. As a service provider and a
subsidiaries and was first conducted here in
broadcaster,
energy consumption is by far the
Luxembourg before being rolled out to the rest
largest
proportion
of GHG emissions. Power
of the Group.
consumption is in direct relation with
broadcasting operations and server demands.
Establishing a carbon footprint is a very
The footprint is influenced by our day-to-day
complex process since it relates to the total of
activities but also by the size (9,191 employees)
all greenhouse gases (GHG) produced in a
and profile of our workforce. This also explains
company’s day-to-day operations. For this in
that business travel caused by air, rail or car
depth analysis of tracked data, RTL Group’s
travel is also a key factor in the carbon
carbon footprint coordinator Tun Van Rijswijck
footprint. “People working as TV or radio
was assisted by Dr. Achim Schorb from the
journalists or employed in the TV production
Institute for Environmental Research (IFEU) in
are constantly on the move. That’s why
Heidelberg. 73,000 tons per year is the overall
business travel also significantly affects our
figure of GHG emissions by RTL Group in 2008.
carbon emissions,” said Tun Van Rijswijck
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the RTL Group intranet
during the presentation of the detailed slides
presenting calculations per employee.
Although RTL Group can not be seen as a
major polluter, the company has also to take
actions to reduce its footprint. Dr. Achim
Schorb: “Knowing where and how you
generate greenhouse gases is the first step to
reduce them”.
Opening the second environMINDday Elmar
Heggen, Chief Financial Officer and Head of
the RTL Group Corporate Centre, welcomed
employees to the Grand Studio, expressing
that “RTL Group is committed to effectively
combining
economic
success
and
week 49
environmentally responsible behaviour. Since
last year, our site has become a great deal
greener. All of our many initiatives show that
RTL Group is committed to protecting the
environment.” Marco Schank, Luxembourg’s
Deputy Minister of Sustainable Development,
congratulated RTL Group on its initiative,
noting its proximity to the Copenhagen summit,
“which must not and will not be a failure,” as he
put it.
Transitioning from theory to practice, and in
order to promote exchange and interactivity, a
discussion panel was held after the
presentation of the carbon footprint.
See
prese the full
ntatio
n on
B
acks
tage
CO2 emissions account for 69,616 tons whereas the overall figure of GHG emissions amounts to 72,783 tons
in the RTL Group carbon footprint
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the RTL Group intranet
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Anything but silent
RTL Creation has designed this year’s
Christmas campaign for RTL Television around
the free-TV premiere of 7 Zwerge – Der Wald ist
nicht genug.
Germany - 27 November 2009
Advertising from 7 Zwerge – Der Wald ist nicht genug
This Christmas, the seven dwarves will
ensure that Christmas Eve is anything
on
e spots
but silent – accordingly, the campaign
See th
age
Backst
slogan is “Von wegen stille Nacht!“
(Not Exactly Silent Night!). The on-air
campaign began on 29 November with
10 trailers, 26 different commercial
separators and two station IDs featuring the
seven stars of the film. From 15 December, the
on-air promotion will be enhanced out with
Citylight posters, mega light boards and info
screens in a number of big cities. In addition,
the star-studded parody has been advertised in
all the major TV listings and popular magazines
since 2 December.
RTL Television will be serving up a veritable
holiday feast of programming for its viewers: in
addition to the free-TV premiere of 7 Zwerge –
Der Wald ist nicht genug (7 Dwarves – The
Woods Are Not Enough) on 25 December, top
comedian Atze Schröder will present his
Comedy-Adventskalender (Comedy Christmas
Countdown) on 23 December at 20:15.
On Christmas Eve at 20:15, RTL will
show
the
international
co-production
Die Jahrhundertlawine (The Avalanche Of The
Century) starring Désirée Nosbusch and
Vincent Perez. The highlight on December 26
will be the Hollywood blockbuster King Kong
directed by Peter Jackson.
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the RTL Group intranet
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Quiz to go
German fans of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
can now play the quiz on their iPhone and iPod
touch devices.
Germany - 3 December 2009
Wer wird Millionär? on iPhone
Users simply have to download the new Wer
wird Millionär? app from Apple’s App Store and
have Internet access. The free app lets users
play the latest questions asked in the TV show.
In addition, there are several thousand original
questions from past shows, similar to the online
training camp at RTL.de, and including the
celebrity specials. If you don’t know an answer,
you can use a ‘lifeline’, just as contestants do
on the show. The multiplayer mode lets
quizzers match their wits against real
opponents. Whenever new questions have
been added, the “Push Notification Service”
automatically notifies the game’s users.
Background information on the TV show is also
included, along with tips on how to apply as a
candidate. The new app made its debut in the
German App Store last weekend and went
straight to number one in the ranking of most
frequently downloaded free apps.
For people who would like to be able to play the
quiz whenever and wherever they want, there
will soon be the option of buying a new Wer
wird Millionär? app for a one-time fee. The paid
app allows for playing the quiz even if there is
no Internet connection. Both applications were
developed by the RTL Interactive Mobile team
in cooperation with 2 Way Traffic, the company
that holds the international rights to Who Wants
To Be A Millionaire?
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the RTL Group intranet
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“An everyday challenge”
Smaïn, new judge on the show
La France a un incroyable talent
Formed in 1997, Club Averroes brings together
almost 400 professionals around the issues of
diversity in the French media. Available since
Wednesday 25 November, the Club’s 2009
annual report has the objective of highlighting
those policies that are exemplary while pointing
those that are less so in terms of diversity.
While certain policies on the part of the
competition have been judged insufficient,
Club Averroes praises Groupe M6’s efforts in
this area.
Indeed, for Groupe M6, “the media, as
companies, have a particular social
responsibility. As such, the question of
representing diversity is extremely important for
the entire group.” This declaration was hailed
by Club Averroes in its report, which also
mentions “that it is indeed notable that since its
creation in 1986, when programming was
dominated by music, representing French
society has always remained a normal policy in
Groupe M6.”
This is how Groupe M6 defines its commitment
to promote diversity on its television screens,
a must for a company that intends to remain
close to its audiences’ concerns.
France - 27 November 2009
The report goes on to say that the promotion of
diversity by Groupe M6 is carried out on every
level: “It’s true for fiction, for early-evening
entertainment, for judges, presenters and
journalists.” It also highlights “the exemplary
role of reporting in magazine shows” like
Capital.
Karine Le Marchand is the new presenter of the society magazine
Générations Famille
Examples cited in the Club Averroes report:
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
In fiction: Léa Parker with Sonia Rolland, Les Tricheurs, Les Bleus, Scènes de ménage
For judges: Mya Fry for Popstars, Moïse for Nouvelle Star, Aziz Senni and Smaïn
for La France a un incroyable talent
For presenters: Charlie and Lulu
For journalists: Aïda Touihri, Karine Lemarchand
For the subjects in its magazine shows: Capital
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the RTL Group intranet
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Talking about human
relations
An all-new information programme, Générations
Famille, aired on M6 is presented by the newly
recruited Karine Le Marchand.
Karine Le Marchand, Editor-in-chief and presenter
France - 1 December 2009
Générations Famille deals with
the main concerns and larger
Watch
social questions that confront all
the vid
families. Health, education,
Backst eo on
age
sexuality, work, housing – all
these subjects have direct
consequences on the lives of
couples as well as the relationships
between parents and children or among
different generations. The magazine consists
of a 52-minute documentary followed by an
in-studio discussion led by Karine Le Marchand
with witnesses and experts to decipher,
enlighten and find solutions.
“We are going to follow witnesses for months
and then have them join us in the studio (…) We
will try to understand how whatever is going on
in their lives can affect us as well,” says Karine
Le Marchand, who is Editor-in-chief and
presenter of the show, in a short video that
explains the concept of Générations Famille in
a few minutes.
The first episode of Générations Famille, which
aired on 30 November 2009 at 20:40, dealt with
eating disorders, which affect 10 per cent of the
French population.
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the RTL Group intranet
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Restaurants on air
As partner of the Restaurants du Cœur, RTL Radio France is rallying to help launch
the 25th winter campaign with a special day of broadcasts.
France - 30 November 2009
The Restaurants du Cœur (Restaurants of the
Heart) is a French charitable organisation, the
main activity of which is to distribute food
packages and hot meals to people in need.
Internet users will find a special section
dedicated to the Restaurants du Cœur
campaign at RTL.fr.
On 30 November during RTL Matin, Vincent
Parizot welcomed Olivier Berthe, president of
the Restaurants du Cœur. Then, from 12:30 to
14:30, RTL Midi was on air live from the Rueil
Malmaison distribution centre. This special
edition featured RTL journalists Elizabeth
Martichoux and Jérôme Godefroy, on the
ground and in the heart of the action as they
met volunteers, people who benefit from the
activities of the Restaurants du Cœur and
those who run the centres. Reports,
testimonies and other interviews continued
throughout the day.
12
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week 49
Awards in November
Autumn began with another shower of awards
for RTL Group companies. Jessica Schwarz won
a ‘Bambi’ for her performance in the Phoenix
Film production Romy, and Super RTL won
several awards.
Jessica Schwarz as Romy Schneider
Luxembourg - 1 December 2009
At the ‘Bambi’ awards on 26 November in
Potsdam, Jessica Schwarz accepted the
Bambi as this year’s Best German Actress for
her performance in Romy, a Phoenix Film
production about the acting icon Romy
Schneider. The ‘Bambi’ is regarded as one of
Germany’s most important media awards. It
was presented for the 61st time this year.
N-TV was named a ‘Superbrand’ again this
year, after having won the title once before in
2007. This certifies that the news channel
practices “outstanding brand management in
Germany”. N-TV Editor-in-chief Volker
Wasmuth accepted the award at the Capitol
Theatre in Dusseldorf. N-TV is one of 64
‘Superbrands’ chosen from over 1300
nominees by a jury of experts.
Toggolino Club, Super RTL‘s acclaimed games
and educational website for 3- to 6-year-olds,
won three ‘IMA Best In Class Awards’ this year,
in the categories ‘Kids’, ‘Games Playing’ and
‘Education’. The coveted award is administered
by the Interactive Media Council (IMC), a nonprofit organisation of leading Web designers,
developers, programmers and other Internet
experts. The ‘Best in Class Award’ is the
highest distinction and is only awarded to
websites that score at least 480 of 500 possible
points in the judges’ strict evaluation of criteria
such as the website’s design, content and
features. The IMC reports that each year only a
small percentage of participants clears the
479-point threshold, so it is all the more
remarkable that Toggolino Club won an ‘IMA
Best in Class Award’ in three categories in a
single year.
Toggolino.de
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the RTL Group intranet
week 49
Two Super RTL formats – Haselhörnchen – Hier
knallt die Ente and Dragon Hunters each won
an ‘Emil’ children’s TV award in early
November. The ‘Emil’ is awarded annually by
the TV listings magazine “TV Spielfilm” and is
seen as one of the foremost awards in
children’s television. Super RTL celebrates its
sixth and seventh award this year.
Last week at the 9th ‘Premios Solidarios del
Seguro’ Grupo Antena 3’s traffic safety
campaign Ponle Freno won the 2009 award in
the category ‘Medio de Comunicación más
Solidario’ (Best Social Media Campaign). The
Premios Solidarios del Seguro are presented by
the Spanish insurance industry to provide
financial support to exceptional social projects.
At the ‘Lima Awards Germany 2009’ in Munich,
Super RTL also scored two of the prestigious
awards. The children’s channel won a prize for
‘Licensing Agency of the Year’, and the
McDonald’s Children’s Birthday with Toggo, a
joint project between McDonald’s and Super
RTL, was named ‘Promotion of the Year’. The
Lima is the world’s leading trade association in
the media licensing, brands and merchandising
sector. Since its establishment in 1985, it has
represented the interests of the licensing
industry and sees itself as an active provider of
services for its members.
M6 has been awarded the special jury prize at
the 24th International Scoop and Journalism
Festival of Angers for the filming of “La vie
blessée” (Wounded Life) by Meriem Lay,
Jérôme Pavlovsky and Raphaël Bourdelon
(Productions Tony Comiti). Shot over a threeyear period within the context of Zone Interdite,
“La vie blessée” deals with the subject of
raising awareness about accident prevention
and road safety.
The RTL-Spendenmarathon telethon won the
‘Street Award 2009’. At a charity gala in Berlin
on Friday, RTL Television’s Charity Director
Wolfram Kons accepted the prize in the ‘Media
Award’ category from patron Udo Walz on
behalf of the broadcaster. The “Street Award” is
presented annually to children, teens, social
services, businesses or public personages who
have rendered great services to disadvantaged
children and teens through their efforts and
support.
Finally, author Beate Langmaack won “Best
Screenplay” at the European TV Film Festival
Zoom Igualada, for her work on the Teamworx
production Willkommen im Westerwald.
Nazan Eckes, Miriam Pielhau, Anke Schäferkordt, Wolfram Kons, Birgit Schrowange und Anke Engelke (from left to right)
at the RTL-Spendenmarathon
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the RTL Group intranet
week 49
Third consecutive record
Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland attracted 35.9 per cent of the 14- to 49-year-old
viewer market in November, once again outperforming the ProSiebenSat.1 group by
a wide margin. RTL Television had its third consecutive month of record ratings,
scoring an audience share of 18.7 per cent in the same target group.
Germany - 2 December 2009
November audiences
M6 gains 500,000 prime time viewers in one year. In prime time, M6 drew an average
of 3.9 million viewers, its best audience for that time slot in two years (not including
sporting events).
France - 1 December 2009
The Dutch TV market in November
With a market share of 31.4 per cent among 20- to 49-year-olds, RTL Nederland’s
channels in November not only clearly outperformed the SBS group (28.6 per cent)
and the country’s public-service broadcasters (26.6 per cent), but also improved its
own performance by 0.9 percentage points year on year.
Netherlands - 3 December 2009
On the ball – and now on board for RTL
Jürgen Klinsmann, who was a World and European champion player for Germany
and coached the German national team to 3rd place in 2006, will provide expert
commentary for the nine Football World Cup matches that RTL Television is
broadcasting from South Africa.
Germany - 3 December 2009
Leader among the DTT channels
W9 reaches its highest level in November 2009 by registering a total audience share
of 2.8 per cent nation wide. W9 is the most watched DTT channel with 36 million
viewers each month.
France - 2 December 2009
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the RTL Group intranet
week 49
Strengthening the protection of minors online
The founding members of “Frag Finn e.V.” (Ask Finn) send a clear signal to strengthen
the protection of minors on the Internet. Claude Schmit, Managing Director of
Super RTL, has been elected Chairman of the new association in Berlin.
Germany - 27 November 2009
IP Deutschland markets Super RTL websites
The Super RTL websites Toggo.de, SuperRTL.de and Mamily.de will be marketed
by IP Deutschland from January 2010.
Germany - 30 November 2009
Beauty and the King
The lovely Leona Lewis made a much-anticipated appearance on the French-Belgian
show X Factor live on W9 and RTL-TVI.
France / Belgium - 30 November 2009
The best locations in Berlin
RCB Radio Center Berlin has launched Top10 Berlin, a new “search-and-find engine”
for Berlin. It features the ten best locations Berlin has to offer for every occasion,
presented in easily read Top 10 lists.
Germany - 30 November 2009
The best of W9 in catch-up
W9 enhances its digital services with an all-new catch-up TV platform that was
launched on 1 December and an entirely revamped website.
France - 3 December 2009
16
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