Universal's opposition to the Kirch plan is about money. The Mouse has the same problem. FREE THE D-BOXES IN GERMANY......................................
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Disney/RTL Clash Shows More Tight-Fisted Germany for 1998
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A little more than one year after the Hollywood studios made a fortune selling their programme rights into the German market, the same studios still are negotiating with the same German companies. The difference is that the German companies seem to have found fiscal responsibility.
The latest to feel the wrath of the more tight-fisted German media companies is Disney, which has been having a row with RTL over a proposed price hike - said to be about three times higher than the original contract.
RTL's hard-line stance - it has threatened to drop all Disney programmes from its schedule - underscores the difference in attitude among channel operators in Germany [from last summer]. That was when Kirch and Bertelsmann were driving up programme prices by competing with each other for exclusive Hollywood deals. Now that the two adversaries have joined forces, programme prices look set to return to a more normal schedule.
A week before the Disney/RTL row, another Hollywood studio - Universal - grew so frustrated by the changed climate in Germany that it threatened to complain to the European Comm-ission about the anti-competitive nature of the Kirch/Bertelsmann/Telekom alliance (EMB&F, Nov. 17).
Thus far, Universal's EC threat has not been carried out, and the Hollywood studio still is negotiating with various German platforms. Universal still wants to get some sort of carriage for its 13th Street action/adventure channel. But that goal may not be achievable in the near-term as both Kirch and Telekom's bouquets are filled to capacity.
RTL's hard-line stance could be seen as a signal to other studios - such as Universal and Warner Bros., which both have output deals with RTL - that the days of easy money in Germany are ending.
While RTL has a Pounds 193 million budget for acquisitions, it also is increasing the money it spends on local productions. The broadcaster's local production budget is said to be in the Pounds 390 million range.
Despite the bluster of CLT-Ufa, the station is not keen to lose its contract with Disney. A possible outcome to the negotiations could see Disney gaining control of Super RTL - a station which it partially owns in a 50-50 split with RTL shareholder CLT-Ufa. The Hollywood studio then would turn the station into a German Disney Channel - a goal which it has chased for quite some time, but one which it has been unsuccessful in getting on a platform.
Since its 1995 launch, Super RTL has made some promising gains; however, it remains a small player in RTL's stable of channel launches. It reaches only 61 per cent of the country and has an audience share below 1.5 per cent. However, the station's ratings have been rising, having doubled its overall share last year. In fact, it has became the third most watched station in its daytime target group - children - in its first year, according to statistics from Peaktime.
Last year, two Disney programmes ("Disney's Wunderbare vom Donaustrand" and "The Lonely Puma") were among the five most watched shows on Super RTL. |
