News | RTL Group | Cologne/Hamburg, 01/11/2022

RTL Deutschland And Gruner + Jahr Are One

At the beginning of this year, RTL Deutschland and Gruner + Jahr were merged to form Germany’s leading entertainment company. With 15 TV channels, 50 print magazines, 17 radio stations, 75 websites, a podcast platform, and the streaming offering RTL+, the company and its 7,500 employees offer a diversity of media and brands that is unparalleled in Germany.

The combination of RTL Deutschland and Gruner + Jahr (G+J) at the beginning of the year has created Germany’s leading entertainment company across all media genres. With 15 TV channels, 50 print magazines, 17 radio stations, 75 digital offerings, a podcast platform and the streaming platform RTL+, the company offers a media and brand diversity which is unique in Germany. With around 1,500 journalists and a commitment to quality content, RTL Deutschland strengthens the pluralism of opinion in Germany. In Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin and 14 other German locations, around 7,500 colleagues are working together on the success of the new company. RTL Deutschland stands for positive entertainment and independent journalism, and is set for sustainable growth.

For the special occasion of the expanded RTL Deutschland, a gift was presented during a celebration with all employees and co-CEOs Matthias Dang and Stephan Schäfer – which took place virtually, due to the pandemic. In keeping with the company’s goal of ensuring sustainable growth and in line with the new number of total employees, RTL Deutschland has taken over the conservation of 7,500 square metres of a forest. To achieve this, RTL Deutschland is cooperating with the forester and bestselling author Peter Wohlleben, whose nature magazine “Wohlleben's Welt” (Wohlleben's World) is published by G+J. The forest consists of beech and oak trees of more than 160 years and is located in the Eifel region in western Germany. 

Matthias Dang and Stephan Schäfer, Co-CEOs of RTL Deutschland, say: “Today we are celebrating the combination of RTL Deutschland with Gruner + Jahr. Together we want to entertain, inform and inspire the people of Germany. With the expansion of RTL+ in the first half of the year, we are creating the best offer for our diverse company – the first digital entertainment platform across all media genres. The forest conservation project is a nice symbol for us: It stands for sustainable growth as well as the responsibility we have as a media company.” 

The diversity, relevance and reach of the new company are underlined by a TV spot which was produced in-house. With the motto “Mehr” (More), the spot demonstrates the strength of RTL Deutschland and G+J in a visually powerful way. The 61-second spot will run on 11 January during primetime at 20:14 on all RTL Deutschland TV channels.