Fremantle's Financials Take a Hit: The Impact of 'Fantasy League' Loss
Fremantle's financial performance for the first nine months of 2025 has been significantly affected by the absence of 'Fantasy League', a spin-off of 'America's Got Talent', according to RTL's recent financial report. The revenue at RTL, the parent company of 'America's Got Talent' and 'Poor Things', dropped by 5.1% to €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion), primarily due to lower revenue from the U.S. market.
The spin-off, which aired for one season in early 2024, featured past winners, finalists, and fan favorites from the 'America's Got Talent' franchise competing for the 'Fantasy League' title. It was similar in concept to other spin-offs like 'The Champions' and 'All Stars'. However, the show did not return for a second season in 2025.
During this period, RTL partially offset Fremantle's revenue dip by acquiring Asacha Media Group, the producer of 'Death in Paradise', for €200 million, along with an 80% stake in Beach House Pictures in Singapore. However, the past quarter saw a decline in contributions from Asacha, with both Marina Williams and Gaspard de Chavagnac leaving the company in the past year.
Despite the setback, Fremantle had some success stories this quarter, including the reboot of 'Baywatch' for Fox, the true crime series 'The Monster of Florence' for Netflix, and the new 'Pandora's Box' format, which has been launched in three territories. Fremantle also introduced an 'America's Got Talent' FAST Channel.
Shaky Ad Market Affects Profits
Meanwhile, RTL's full-year 2025 profits have been revised downward by nearly 17% due to the challenging advertising landscape. The Bertelsmann-owned media giant reduced its expected full-year profits from €780 million to €650 million, attributing the decline to the underperformance of the German and French TV advertising markets in the second half of the year, despite gaining market share in Germany.
The struggling ad market led RTL to shrink its expected full-year revenue from €6.45 billion to €6.05 billion. As a result, RTL's revenue for the first nine months of 2025 decreased slightly to €4.1 billion. However, net debt during this period significantly decreased from €492 million to €71 million.
Streaming Revenue on the Rise
Streaming revenue for RTL increased by 26.6% to €351 million over the nine-month period, driven by a higher number of subscribers, increased subscription prices in Germany, and growing advertising revenue on RTL+ in Germany and M6+ in France. RTL also sold its Dutch subsidiary to DPG Media and acquired Sky Deutschland, a deal expected to be completed next year.
Leadership Transition at RTL
Thomas Rabe, the current CEO of RTL, will soon be replaced by Clément Schwebig from Warner Bros. Discovery. Rabe acknowledged the ongoing market challenges, including the decline in TV advertising revenue in key markets and the shift from linear TV to streaming. He expressed confidence in RTL's position once the markets recover.
To boost shareholder value, RTL Group initiated an additional share buyback program, aiming to purchase up to 833,948 RTL Group shares through open-market transactions.
