RTL Group creates central Digital Hub

RTL Group has created a digital hub that will manage RTL Group’s portfolio of digital acquisitions and help support their international expansion.

The RTL Digital Hub team will develop the firm’s investments in multichannel networks, in particular BroadbandTV and StyleHaul, and in the digital advertising sales businesses SpotXchange and Clypd.

The RTL Digital Hub will also work to develop partnerships with external companies, as well as internally between RTL’s broadcasters, its production arm, FremantleMedia, and other divisions of parent company Bertelsmann.

“In addition, the RTL Digital Hub will intensively scan the market for further investments in the online video space,” said RTL.

The new team will be led out of the US and Europe by Marcel Reichart (pictured), who becomes executive vice-president of RTL Digital Hub. Reichart first joined Bertelsmann in 2012 as executive vice-president of digital development and partnerships and will continue with this role in addition to his new duties.

In his new post, Reichart will report to RTL’s co-CEOs, Anke Schäferkordt and Guillaume de Posch.

“The creation of the RTL Digital Hub underlines our strategic goal to become a global force in online video and to further increase our presence in North America,” said Schäferkordt and de Posch in a statement.

“With our recent investments in North America – BroadbandTV, StyleHaul and SpotXchange – we’ve reached critical mass in online video. Now we will bundle our efforts to develop our rapidly growing reach in this area into a more significant and profitable third pillar of RTL Group.”

RTL said that the CEOs of BroadbandTV, StyleHaul and SpotXchange will continue to have “full responsibility for their operations” in line with the group’s decentralised organisation.

RTL currently claims it generates more than seven billion online video views per month, with its MCNs addressing young audiences and topics like women’s lifestyle and fashion, gaming, music and kids content.

The broadcast group’s MCNs serve a combined base of 42,000 content creators, which include famous Youtubers like Zoella (StyleHaul), Fernanfloo (BroadbandTV) and El Rubius (Divimove).

“Having supported RTL Group’s successful online video strategy and digital investments in my current role, I am thrilled to now work even closer with the impressive entrepreneurs of the RTL Digital Hub portfolio and the RTL Group team to drive and create a fast-growing and innovative global leader in digital video,” said Reichart.