week 51 - RTL Group a prominent showcase banner highligh-ting the latest topics such as the successful access prime time show Un dîner presque par- ... week 51 4 About Us:

Germany

12,000 packages of toys for children in needCroatia

Market leader and Superbrand

United Kingdom

Slovakian Got Talenttakes off

Glitz and glam for FremantleMedia Enterprises

The showroom The RTL Group website: More facts, more stories, more clips

week 51

18 December 2008

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COVER:Screenshot of the new showroom video module available on www.rtlgroup.com, reflecting in a Christmas ball.

the RTL Group intranetweek 51

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The RTL GroupshowroomRTL Group presents a re-do of the corporatewebsite www.rtlgroup.com. Besides a clearerdesign, the new look especially allows peopleto experience RTL Group’s business – with morevideos, more entertainment and more information. Luxembourg - 18 December 2008

The new site focuses on RTL Group’s channelsand programming. The starting page itself fea-tures a prominent showcase banner highligh-ting the latest topics such as the successfulaccess prime time show Un dîner presque par-fait (Come dine with me) or the charity eventIdols Gives Back. Right alongside it is an inter-active video gallery where users can view trai-lers and teasers for the various broadcastersand their popular formats.

“The revamped website shows RTL Group forwhat it is: Europe’s leading broadcasting group,offering daily news and entertainment at thehighest level. News, trailers and backgroundinformation make it clear what RTL Group’schannels and programming stand for,” saidOliver Herrgesell, Head of RTL Group’sCorporate Communications. Fabien Culot,Creative Design Executive at RTL Group’sCorporate Communications, explains the ideabehind the new design: “Colour shades, reflec-tions and rich colours balanced with a freshwhite gave the site a modern web2.0 style, while mainly remainingred and black, our corporatecolours.”

The homepage is enhanced withthe latest news and backgroundstories about RTL Group and itsbrands. Thanks to close techni-cal interlinking with RTL Group’sintranet Backstage, the newwebsite offers the public morenews from the Group. In addi-tion, the Backstage weeklynewsletter is now also availableas a download. You can down-load the latest publications,

including brochures and the annual report, withjust one click on the respective document inthe right-hand column.

Romain Weyer, Head of Corporate ITDevelopment, says: “The new website wasdeveloped with Agile methodology. Thisiterative approach encouraged the team toconstantly adjust to moving design andtechnological expectations and did help us tomaximise the delivered value.”

In addition to the video gallery and a new“showroom” all the long-established homepa-ge components such as Press, About Us,Investor Relations and the Careers pages havealso been revised and updated. Direct linking tothe individual Profit Centres has been simpli-fied. The entire overhaul was overseen byCorporate Communications & Marketing, withthe in-house IT department was responsible forits technical implementation. The Careerspages were reworked by Corporate HR.

The showroom

The homepage


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About Us:The “About us” section contains information onRTL Group and all its activities, such as theMission Statement, a Profile and a Fact Sheet.The Corporate Responsibility section listsRTL Group’s social activities – such as StiftungRTL Wir helfen Kindern (Spendenmarathon),the Télévie and many more. CorporateStructure offers an overview ofRTL Group’s management. Instead of just lis-ting all the different names, the new sectionshows the faces behind the RTL Group Boardand its Committees. Click for more informationlike a CV or a larger picture. An all-new additionis the Corporate Governance section. It offersdetailed information on corporate governance,RTL Group’s shares, minutes of the annualgeneral meetings, as well as information onmanagement disclosures. The History sectiongives a brief outline of RTL Group’s long pathfrom the 1920s to the present day.

Investors:As on the old website, the Investors sectionsummarises all key information for current orpotential investors – such as key figures,annual reports from 2001 to today, recent

changes to RTL Group’s portfolio, the sharehol-ding structure as well as the latest presenta-tions.

Press:The press section offers a clear overview ofrecent press releases and the archives from2000 on. It also gives important information ata glance: who to contact for enquiries andupcoming dates in the financial calendar. Ofcourse you can also sign up here for popularservices like press releases and annual reports,as well as order the latest corporate publica-tions. The former press kit section has beensplit up into Multimedia, where you can find allkinds of photos, logos and videos, andPublications & Corporate Information, whereyou can download publications, annual reports,presentations, speeches and information aboutRTL Group and its management.

Careers:The Careers section has also beenrevamped. Now it is not only clearerbut also offers more informationabout RTL Group as employer and

The website in details:

The careers section

Check out

RTLGroup.com


what RTL Group is looking for – in addition tocurrent job offers of course. In several testimo-nies, employees of RTL Group talk about theirexperiences in the group and the career oppor-tunities its companies have to offer. In theright-handed portlet current job offers inRTL Group’s headquarters and worldwide arepresented. Furthermore local careers sites arealso easy accessible from there.

Operations:The Operations section gives a clear overviewof RTL Group’s profit centres around the world.It contains information about the different com-panies, along with pictures, videos andcontacts. Furthermore, it is now easier thanever to navigate through different companiesthat are related to each other (for example RTL Television and Mediengruppe RTLDeutschland): clicking on the logo inside the IDCard takes you directly to the website of therespective profit centre. The right-hand columnof the new website displays news related to thecompany you have currentlyselected.

Showroom:RTL Group uses the Showroomto promote its channels andprogrammes. It includes avideo wall featuring 39 differenttrailers, image films and pro-mos. The wall can be rotatedthrough 360 degrees and offersa wide range of different videos–from RTL Group’s globalimage film to presentations ofsuccessful and popularFremantleMedia formats likeIdols and other videos promo-ting M6’s programming for thecurrent season.

To facilitate use of the tool, ashort manual has been inclu-ded. When one moves themouse over a picture, themouse wheel can be used tozoom in and out. Navigationalso is possible by using thegrey scroll bar or clicking anddragging the mouse left or

right. The whole showroom can be tilted byclicking and dragging the mouse up and down.By clicking on a picture, one can zoom in to geta larger one, within which one can navigateusing the arrow keys on the keyboard. Clickingagain will bring up a new window in which therequested video will play.

The navigation also lists key programmes: ashort selection of RTL Group’s most popularformats. At the moment, it includes Idols, GotTalent, The Farmer Wants A Wife and Hole inthe Wall. Each programme is listed with a shortsummary, while additional videos and promosand related companies - production companiesas well as broadcasters channels are just oneclick away.

The Catchup Services section takes you to thevideo-on-demand services of some RTL Groupchannels, e.g. RTLnow, M6 Replay, RTLGemist, Antena 3 Videos and Demand Five.

5Key programmes


12,000 packages of toysfor children in needAs part of its “Kinder helfen Kindern” campaign,Super RTL asked its young viewers to part withused toys that other children would still like toplay with. The logistics firm GLS shouldered allshipping costs. Germany - 18 December 2008

The response after three weeks was very grati-fying: 12,000 packages and parcels reachedthe Cologne-based children’s broadcasterSuper RTL, whose “Super RTL für Kinder e.V.”society made a two-euro donation for eachpackage received. The total of EUR 24,000 willbe donated to the Die Arche youth centre foun-ded by Pastor Bernd Siggelkow in Berlin in1995. It has since expanded its activities – get-ting children and teens off the streets, offering

them meaningful recreational activities andremedying social deficits – to Hamburg,Munich and Potsdam.

The toys received will be brought to children allover Germany via Die Tafel, an organisationthat distributes food to the needy. On 24December Super RTL will report on the cam-paign in its programme Wir warten auf’sChristkind (Waiting for Baby Jesus), from 13:10.

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24.000 Euro cheque for Die Arche

Dr. House asteaching materialJürgen Schäfer uses the popularity of theever-cynical Dr. House to spice up histeaching at the Philips University in Marburg.Germany - 18 December 2008

Like Dr. House himself, Schäfer, an internist,cardiologist, endocrinologist and diabetologist,and internal specialist in intensive care, worksas a diagnostician at a teaching hospital. EverySaturday at 9:00 he gives a seminar for about70 students, based on the diagnostic methodsused in Dr. House.

In an interview posted on frauenzimmer.deDr. Schäfer explains how he hit upon his cross-media idea: “Unlike other doctors on TV,Dr. House concerns itself with rare diseases.This sparks students’ interest in these diagno-ses and they get involved even if they are verylikely to ever encounter that particular diseasepattern during the career. For us physicians,the series is infotainment – it provides a perfectopening for frank, controversial discussions.”

Dr. House


Slovakian Got Talenttakes offThe Slovakian incarnation of Got Talent(Slovensko má talent) has scored the highestproportional ratings received by the formatanywhere in the world.United Kingdom - 12 December 2008

Nearly one-third of the population tuned in tosee the family break-dancing group Old SchoolBrothers crowned as the winner, delivering animpressive 66 per cent share of the viewer mar-ket.

Old School Brothers are five brothers aged bet-ween 13 and 29 and a younger sister aged 13.They also won the break-dancing WorldChampionship. Other finalists included 6-year-old folk singer and dancer Martinka, the 9-year-old singer and violinist Anabela, an opera sin-ger and an accordion player.

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Slovensko má talent

Glitz and glamOn 16 December FremantleMedia Enterprisesannounced a deal which will seeFremantleMedia Archives acquire a hostof premium red-carpet content fromCelebrity Footage.United Kingdom - 17 December 2008

The deal transfers exclusive representationrights of the 20-year-old, HD-ready catalogueto FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) acrossthe United Kingdom and Ireland.

Celebrity Footage has long enjoyed premiumplacement at some of the most prestigious,internationally recognised awards ceremoniesin the world, including: The Academy Awards(“The Oscars”), The Golden Globes, TheGrammy Awards, the MTV Movie Awards, ThePeople’s Choice Awards and many LosAngeles film premieres. Its mature collection isoften a major source of celebrity footage fornews and entertainment programming aroundthe globe.

Commenting on the deal, Gordon Craig, Headof Archive Sales at FME said, “We are delightedto have found an excellent partner in CelebrityFootage which will enable us to deliver highquality red carpet footage to the British Market.This marks the inception of FME’s expansioninto the areas of stock and TV footage and withthis content; we couldn’t have gotten off to amore promising start.”

FremantleMedia Archives has one of the largestcollections of television footage around theworld. The Thames Television archive, part ofthe FremantleMedia Archive, celebrates its40th anniversary this year.


The Bill websiterevampedFremantleMedia Enterprises and TalkbackThames, producer of long-running crime dramaseries The Bill, presented the show’s brand newwebsite www.thebill.com on 10 December 2008. United Kingdom - 18 December 2008

The new site, which supports The Bill on ITV1in the United Kingdom, was created by theBafta-nominated team at FremantleMediaEnterprises (FME), which is also behind websi-tes for The X Factor and The Apprentice. It hasbeen designed as the ultimate resource for allfans of the show.

The site has two principal areas. The first – ‘TheReal World’ – provides a host of programmesupport material; backstage interviews with theactors and the crew, episode recaps, usercomments and video highlights presented in awidescreen player. The second area extends‘The Dramatic World’ of The Bill, presenting

additional storylines, unseen footage and fur-ther clues to support storylines in the form ofcase files – bringing enthusiasts closer to thestories as they unfold.

Robert Marsh, FME VP, Interactive & Telephony,said “We’re delighted to bring this additionalresource to the dedicated fan base of The Bill.Having conducted research into viewers’wants, we found that there was a demand forfurther content in the new media space. Thisinvestment in the re-launch of the websi-te by FME and Talkback Thamesdemonstrates our commitment tothis dearly loved show.”

8Screenshot of www.thebill.com

Cast

Check out

thebill.com


Records galore On 13 December an incredible peak audienceof 14.6 million people – 54 per cent of thetotal audience – tuned in to watch the final ofThe X Factor. The winner’s single has alreadybeen downloaded more than 100,000 times.United Kingdom - 17 December 2008

The main show which guest starred Boyzone,Westlife and Beyonce averaged 13.2 millionviewers, 50 per cent (64 per cent in the targetgroup aged 16 to 34) which is an increase ofnearly two million on the previous year. A peakaudience of 14.2 million people tuned in towatch The X Factor Results show – 58 per centof the total viewing audience (71 per cent in thetarget group of 16 to 34 year olds). Not only isthis the best-performing episode of The XFactor ever, it also means that TalkbackThames now produces the top two highestrated shows of 2008 (along with Britain’s GotTalent on 13.9 million) and the top two highestrated talent shows of the decade.

729,000 viewers tuned in to ITV2 to see HollyWillough on Xtra Factor talk to the top 12 fina-lists at 20:45 while the Xtra Factor Results showdelivered a whopping 1,626,000 (11.4 per cent)peaking at 2,093,000 (13.9 per cent).

The X Factor winner Alexandra Burke’s first sin-gle, a version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, isthe fastest-selling download ever acrossEurope despite only being available since 14December. Burke’s single has sold more than105,000 copies since going on sale at midnighton Saturday, fewer than two hours after shewon the fifth series of the ITV1 reality show.

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Alexandra Burke

Alex in her element


Five welcomes BBC proposals The BBC has proposed a range of partnerships with other public-service broadcastersthat it said could be worth more than GBP 120 million a year.United Kingdom - 12 December 2008

The United Kingdom has a strong tradition ofpublic-service broadcasting. In addition to theBBC there is also Channel 4, a state-ownedcommercial public-service broadcaster, as wellas the two commercial broadcasters ITV andFive, which also have significant public-serviceobligations imposed as part of their licence tobroadcast. The proposal now made by the BBCincludes sharing iPlayer technology and deve-loping a new internet-enabled digital TV set-topbox.

The BBC said its proposals would provide helpwith the production, distribution and exploita-tion of content across the industry. Usingmodels devised by consultants Deloitte, thecorporation said the plans – which still need tobe approved by the BBC Trust – would genera-te more than GBP 120 million a year for UKpublic-service broadcasting by 2014.

Five’s Director of Strategy, Charles Constable,said: “Five welcomes the proposals the BBChave announced on public-service broadcast

partnerships. We believe the ideas they haveoutlined could make a significant difference tosustaining the public service broadcasting sys-tem – in particular sharing the iPlayer and deve-loping IPTV. We look forward to discussingthem further with the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.”

The most eye-catching idea is to share thetechnology behind the iPlayer with ITV,Channel 4 and Five. BBC iPlayer’s successpointed to the possibility of it becoming a gene-ral video-on-demand platform, according to theBBC. The corporation said it was currentlyexploring ways to share its iPlayer technology,know-how, user experience and design withother public-service broadcasters.

BBC director general Mark Thompson said:“These proposals directly address the centralquestion of the public-service broadcastingdebate: how we ensure a sustainable future inthe digital age. Through partnerships I believebroadcasters can help secure the future ofpublic-service broadcasting in this country.”

10BBC i¨Player


Grand FinaleOn 11 December, RTL 5 presented the finale ofSo You Think You Can Dance, during which theaudience was treated to one-of-a-kind danceperformances by the candidates.The Netherlands - 12 December 2008

As many as 700,000 viewers tuned in to findout who would emerge as the winner of theseason.

Of the thousands of people who had appliedfor the show, only four remained in the end:Annemiek, Ivan, Julia and Timor were this sea-son’s finalists. And yet, only one of them wouldemerge as the winner. The dancers proved theirprowess in group choreographies, as couplesand in solo performances. The “Broadway

Style” group choreography was arranged byMartin Michel. Ivan and Julia had to dance theJive together, while Timor and Annemiekdelighted audiences with a fiery tango.

By the end of the evening, the viewers hadfinally decided which of the four would gohome with the prize. They picked Ivan as thewinner of So You Think You Can Dance. Healso gets 20,000 EUR, a dance education in theUSA and a role in the musical Footloose.

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Ivan wins So You Think You Can Dance

Ivan and the finalists


Big radioretrospective of 2008For the 5th year running, the Radio CenterBerlin is working closely with RTL Televisionand its editor-in-chief Peter Kloeppel to producea major review of the year’s events for most ofthe radio stations in which RTL RadioDeutschland owns a stake.Germany - 16 December 2008

Kloeppel will review the most interesting andcompelling events around the world and inGermany in his usual professional, engagingmanner. The RTL Television anchorman willguide listeners on a very personal tour of theyear’s highs and lows, reporting on eventsincluding Barack Obama’s election as the firstAfro-American U.S. President, the Europeanfootball championship in Austria andSwitzerland, and Andrea Ypsilanti’s defeat inHesse.

In addition to Peter Kloeppel’s reports, thenews chiefs of the respective radio stations willreport on their region’s most important andmoving moments during the ending year. Thedetailed look back at the year will air on104.6 RTL from 19 December and on105’5 Spreeradio from 29 December. Other sta-tions in which RTL Radio Deutschland holds astake will also be airing the Radio CenterBerlin/ RTL Television co-production, includingAntenne Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, RadioTon, Antenne Thüringen, Hit Radio AntenneNieder-sachsen and Hitradio RTL Sachsen.

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Peter Kloeppel

Press service of the yearThe Ren TV press office won awards in several categories at the first All-Russia‘Press Service of the Year’ contest, organised by the Press Service magazine.Russia - 16 December 2008

All in all, Ren TV came in first in two categories(“Press service of the year” and “Best PressRelease”) and took second prize in three (“BestPress Release”, “Press Secretary of the Year”(Anton Nazarov) and “Best Press Conference –Creativity”).

A total of 150 companies had entered thecontest, submitting over 300 applications ineleven categories. Among them: the PressService of the President and the Government ofthe Chechen Republic (Grozny), the PressService and Communication StrategiesDivision, Competitive Policy Department of theCity of Moscow (Moscow), the AccountsChamber of the Russian Federation, the Department for Cooperation with Mass Media(Moscow), and many more.

“Very often PR professionals do not have anylunch breaks or days off but have so manyduties that 24 hours a day is not enough tohandle them. Press service people have notime (…) to assess their activity in terms of themodern trends in the industry,” said the organi-sation committee in a statement. So the PressService of the Year Award was created to helpraise the level of professionalism amongexperts in press services, PR departments andPR agencies, provide a chance to demonstratethe efficiency of their PR efforts to their topmanagement, and create the conditions requi-red to recognise this position as an integral partof the organisation.


Market leader andSuperbrandRTL Televizija’s average daily audience share inthe first half of 2008 was 27 per cent, and 27.2per cent in the 18 to 49 target group duringprime time. The broadcaster’s efforts earned it‘Superbrand’ status in 2008.Croatia - 18 December 2008

In the first three months of the new season(September – November), the channel’s prime-time audience share increased to 27.5 per cent.Audience favourites included local productionssuch as the lifestyle show Vecera za 5 or popu-lar foreign series such as Grey’s Anatomy,Desperate Housewives and Dexter which areexclusively broadcast on RTL Televizija.

In addition to its entertainment programming,RTL Televizija took the lead in informative pro-grammes as well. With the goal of offering evenmore up-to-date information and interestingreportages, and content right from the scene, in2008 RTL Televizija opened five new regionalcorrespondent offices inOsijek, Rijeka, Split, Zadarand Dubrovnik.

The broadcaster has alsomade great progress in termsof technology developmentand digitisation, opening upnew opportunities all round:better quality, new program-mes, new distribution plat-forms for its brands, etc. Withthe launch of RTL Plus, thefirst IPTV programme broad-cast only on T-Com’s techno-logical platform MaxTV, RTLTelevizija has once againconfirmed its leading positionas a creator of media trends.

In 2008 RTL Televizija confirmed its position asa leader (among its target group 18 to 49 yearold) in the local TV market, a position it plans toretain and strengthen in 2009. RTL Televizija,the Croatia’s youngest and most successfulnational commercial broadcaster, celebrates its5th anniversary in 2009. Viewers can look for-ward to new and exciting new formats, whilethe company anticipates new programmingand business successes.

RTL Televizija’s quality and brand recognizabili-ty earned it ‘Superbrand’ status in 2008: thebroadcaster is one of the 100 leading brands inthe Croatian market.

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Reportage from Osijek, one of the regional correspondant offices

Behind the scenes of Vecera za 5


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Sugarplum Fairy sing on Gute Zeiten – Schlechte ZeitenSugarplum Fairy have taken their top-notch garage rock and stage performances beyondthe club scene lately: on 11 December and 12 December, the five Swedish musiciansguest starred on Germany’s most popular soap.Germany - 12 December 2008

Ten nominations for film highlightsFour films in Universum Film’s distribution line-up for the year ahead were nominated aGolden Globe in a total of ten categories.Germany - 17 December 2008

Alpha Media Group: Deal Closed RTL Group and Dimitris Contominas, current owner of Alpha Media Group, announced thatthey have closed their deal of RTL Group's acquisition of a 66.6 per cent majority stake inAlpha Media Group.Luxembourg - 17 December 2008

It’s time to change your preconceived notions of beautyOn 9 December, M6 broadcast the first episode of Belle toute nue. Airing in late primetime, the programme about “feeling good in your own skin” allowed M6 to be rated thenumber one network in terms of overall audiences.France - 12 December 2008

Full third party rightsFremantleMedia Licensing Germany closed a deal with ZDF Enterprises which will it seeacquire exclusive licensing rights to the highly successful international teen format H20 –Just Add Water in Eastern Europe.Germany - 8 December 2008


People

More reinforcementsGermany - 16 December 2008

UFA Cinema expands its production businessagain, stepping up the production departments atits Berlin and Munich offices.

On 1 February 2009, PatrickZorer will join the UFA Cinemaproduction department as lineproducer. Zorer spent the pastsix years working as a line pro-ducer and executive producer atConstantin Film AG, where hesupervised projects such asDoris Dörrie’s highly acclaimedand vastly popular last big-screen movie Hanami –Kirschblüten, the internationalblockbuster Resident Evil –Extinction and most recentlyMario Barth’s comedyMännersache, which will open inGerman theatres early next year.Zorer will work mainly from UFACinema’s Munich office.

From the beginning of the year,Oliver Dressnandt, 31, who hasalready worked as a producerfor UFA Cinema since this sum-mer, will coordinate UFACinema’s production portfoliobetween production depart-ment, content development andmanagement in his new capaci-ty as Producing Executive.Dressnandt, a graduate of theLudwigsburg Film Academy,worked for over seven years invarious positions on a numberof productions, and inConstantin Film’s productionmanagement department, onfilms including Das Parfüm(Perfume), Der Untergang(Downfall) and Resident Evil –Ground Zero. Dressnandt willcontinue to work from Berlin inhis new capacity.

Nina Maag, 36, will be joining UFA Cinema as anew executive producer in January 2009. Maagspent the past 10 years working as a producer /

executive producer for Beckerand Häberle Productions, IndigoProductions and most recentlyRatpack Film Productions. Asexecutive producer at Ratpack,she supervised productionsincluding Die Welle (The Wave).She will work from UFACinema’s Munich office.

Further to this announcement,Mathias Adler has been hired asanother producer to enhancethe UFA Cinema productionteam. Early this year, Adler suc-cessfully completed his degreein film and TV production at theLudwigsburg Film Academy. Hisfirst production Novemberkind(November Child) has just ope-ned in German theatres to excel-lent press reviews, and hasamong other things been nomi-nated for the First Steps Award2008 and won the AudienceAward at the Max OphülsFestival 2008. Mathias Adler willbe based at the Berlin office.

Thomas Peter Friedl, managingdirector of UFA Cinema, com-ments: “We are delighted aboutour new colleagues and I amconvinced that this mix of crea-tivity, experience and personalstyle will greatly enrich andstrengthen our production line-up. The team that is now begin-ning to take shape, and theextraordinary producing talent itrepresents, put us in excellentshape for our first year of pro-duction in 2009.”

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Mathias Adler

Nina Maag

Oliver Dressandt


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The next edition is

scheduled to be

published on

Thursday,

15 January 2009

The weekly Backstage Newsletter will be on Christmas holidays.

Starting on 5 January 2009, you’ll find daily news from RTL Group and its Profit Centres on

http://backstage.rtlgroup.com

Your Backstage team

http://backstage.rtlgroup.frhttp://backstage.rtlgroup.comhttp://backstage.rtlgroup.de

PublisherRTL Group

45, Bd Pierre Frieden

L-1543 Luxembourg

Editor, Design, Production

RTL Group

Corporate Communications and Marketing

week 51 - RTL Group a prominent showcase banner highligh-ting the latest topics such as the successful access prime time show Un dîner presque par- ... week 51 4 About Us:

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