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RTL and Gruner + Jahr: Creating »Champions«
Photo: Georg Wendt / picture alliance / dpa
RTL Deutschland and Gruner + Jahr have been working closely together on projects for a long time: The G + J magazine »Stern« and the news magazines of Mediengruppe RTL cooperate on the news level, »Gala« and »RTL Exclusiv« are also linked.
Now the Hamburg magazine publisher and the Cologne-based network of broadcasters want to intensify their cooperation and develop a joint growth strategy.
In a message that was published on the intranet of both houses and that is available to SPIEGEL, it is said that the companies had set up workshops with representatives of their respective top management.
They should therefore examine various options "openly".
In the print segment, the runs are crumbling
Both media companies belong to Bertelsmann.
With this step, the parent company is pushing the strategy of strong alliances within the company.
Background: The market in both media sectors has become more complicated: In the television sector, streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are creating massive competition, while in the print segment, the circulation is crumbling in some cases drastically.
Most recently, G + J caused a stir in media circles with the announcement that it was setting up a joint editorial office for the areas of business and politics in Berlin for “Stern” and the business magazine “Capital”.
In the course of the renovation work, layoffs were also announced.
Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe recently told the German Press Agency on the occasion of his contract extension that goals for the next five years were further growth and technological development.
In the national media businesses in Germany, France and the Netherlands they want to create "champions".
»Bertelsmann has to find its own answers to the competition with global tech platforms.
Alone and on our own, our businesses will hardly survive this competition in the long term. "
Thomas Rabe, Bertelsmann CEO
Rabe was quoted on the intranet with the following task: “Bertelsmann has to find its own answers to the competition with global tech platforms.
Alone and on our own, our businesses will hardly survive this competition in the long term.
Our answer is therefore: more cooperation in order to gain size, resources and competence. "
In an article in the industry magazine »Horizont«, it was previously stated that the McKinsey management consultancy should begin to determine the company value of G + J in March.
It would be a prerequisite for submitting an offer to buy the magazine publisher to RTL's shareholders.
At the request of SPIEGEL, a G + J spokeswoman did not want to confirm McKinsey's commitment.
Instead, she pointed out that the new cooperation talks between the two companies for the joint growth strategy were only just beginning.
Transparency notice: G + J has a 25.25 percent stake in SPIEGEL-Verlag.
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