RTL Group

WildBrain SA (formerly RTL Group) is a Luxembourg-based multinational content production, distribution, broadcasting and brand licensing company with interests in 61 television and 30 radio stations in 10 countries. The group It is the only publicly-traded division of the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. It is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the MDAX index. The company's namesake is that of the former Canadian media production company of the same name, itself a namesake of the Los Angeles-based production company it accquired back in 2010.

Through its London-based WildBrain Studios and Vancouver-based WildBrain Animation divisions, WildBrain is one of the world's leading producers of television content, such as game shows, animated series and soaps, with its library consisting of properties owned by Cookie Jar Group (Cinar, DIC Entertainment, Coliseum and FilmFair), Epitome Pictures, Ragdoll Productions, Pearson Television, Reg Grundy Productions, All American Television, Studio B Productions, WildBrain Entertainment, Nerd Corps Entertainment, and Colossal Pictures. Through WildBrain Television, the company also operates TV channels and radio stations in Canada, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain, Hungary, and Croatia.

History
RTL Group's history dates back to 1924 with a single radio station launched by François and Marcel Anen, operated from their home in Luxembourg. Eventually, the Anen brothers create the Association Radio Luxembourg in 1926 to run the station. In 1929, SLER or Société Luxembourgeoise d'Études Radiophoniques is launched. Months later, on July 29, CNRL or Compagnie Nationale de Radiodiffusion Luxembourgeoise, in which the Anen brothers's radio station has been integrated, is launched. It is CNRL that begins broadcasting that same year under the Radio Luxembourg name. In 1931 CLR or Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion, which operated Radio Luxembourg, was founded. CLR was one of 23 founding broadcasting organisations of the European Broadcasting Union in 1950. RTL Group is still an EBU-member under a previous name: CLT Multi Media. In 1954 it was renamed CLT or Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion and started television broadcasts. In 1997 it merged with Hamburg-based UFA Film- und Fernseh-GmbH (successor to the pre-1945 UFA), a subsidiary of global media conglomerate Bertelsmann to create CLT-UFA. In 2000 it merged with the former Pearson Television division of Pearson PLC and became RTL Group. As of January 2014, Bertelsmann owns a 75.1% stake in the publicly listed company.

One of the reasons for RTL's early success was that Luxembourg allowed commercial radio and TV stations long before other European countries. This flexibility enabled RTL to transmit to other countries (such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the Netherlands) in their own languages. Many British radio presenters began their careers on Radio Luxembourg before moving to the BBC and to commercial broadcasters in the UK. In the 1970s, Radio Luxembourg's English-language audiences declined as a result of new music stations in the UK, and the service ceased broadcasting in the early 1990s on the Astra 1A satellite, often referred to as the Astra Satellite, as SES only operated one satellite originally. Radio Luxembourg relaunched in November 2005 and is currently available online at www.radioluxembourg.co.uk and on Digital Radio Mondiale. A sister station, Atlantic 252 was a long-wave radio station jointly run by RTL Group and Irish broadcaster RTÉ. It ceased broadcasting live on December 20, 2001.

RTL is a member of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) consortium of broadcasting and Internet industry companies that is promoting and establishing an open European standard (called HbbTV) for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of free-to-air TV and broadband multimedia applications with a single user interface. RTL Television (Germany) has been operating HbbTV services since 2010.

In 2014 RTL Group bought a controlling interest in StyleHaul, a YouTube fashion platform. RTL raised its stake in StyleHaul to 93.6% for US$107 million.

RTL Group has become the leading European media company in online video and is ranked among the top global players in this segment. Since 2013, RTL Group has made key investments in several multi-platform networks (MPNs) such as BroadbandTV, StyleHaul, Divimove and, most recently, United Screens. Additionally, RTL Group invested into advertising technology, namely video ad serving platform SpotX in the US and monetisation platform Smartclip in Europe as well as the investments accounted for using the equity method: Clypd, a pioneer in programmatic TV, and VideoAmp, a platform for cross-screen data optimisation. In 2017, RTL Group decided to combine SpotX and Smartclip to create one integrated ad-tech company by the end of 2018, to launch the platform across the Group’s operations and to scale it up with further acquisitions and partnerships.

In February 2019, RTL Group agreed to sell its film distribution company, Universum, to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts' European Fund IV just days after KKR announced an agreement to purchase Tele Munchen Group. The sale is expected to close in April with Tele Munchen Group and Universum combining.

Businesses



 * WildBrain CPLG (formerly Copyright Promotions Licensing Group), a third-party entertainment, sport and brand licensing agency headquartered in London, United Kingdom, which became a subsidiary to WildBrain in the process of the acquisition of Cookie Jar Entertainment.
 * WildBrain Studios: WildBrain produces live action and unscripted programming under this division. Based in London, it has production units across its global offices and network of production companies and labels on the ground in over 30 territories.
 * : WildBrain maintains a production studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, and formerly operated 3 others.
 * : WildBrain has a sales and distribution team that are based across ten different countries, spanning all continents and reaching audiences in over 200 countries. WildBrain Distribution works with the world’s best creative talent, they acquire, develop, finance and co-produce new formats and finished programming within their library. The company maintains distribution offices in Toronto, London, Germany, Beijing, and Paris, along with a support team in Toronto.
 * WildBrain Television: WildBrain operates four Canadian television channels: three in English (Family Channel, Family Jr., and Family Chrgd) and a French-language channel (Télémagino). They were acquired in 2013 from Bell Media as part of its acquisition of Astral Media. Wildbrain-logo-small.svg
 * WildBrain Spark is a multi-channel network based in London, England, that programs digital children's content on services such as YouTube. Such content includes those relating to WildBrain Ltd's own properties, as well as edutainment and toys. It was formerly known as simply "WildBrain" until DHX adopted the name company-wide, after which it adopted its current name in 2019. The division has also entered into partnerships with other parties to manage their digital properties. The WildBrain Spark channel is among the largest children's channels on YouTube, and accounted for $70 million of WildBrain's revenue in 2019.

Libraries
WildBrain's current library includes:


 * Cookie Jar Group and its predecessor Cinar, including programs such as the first 15 seasons of Arthur, Caillou, and Johnny Test, it also includes the libraries of.
 * DIC Entertainment (excluding some co-productions such as The Real Ghostbusters, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Kissyfur, Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures)
 * FilmFair including various Paddington Bear series and specials and other UK animated programs.
 * Twelve family feature films by Leucadia Film Corporation, which were acquired by Cinar in 1999.
 * Coliseum Entertainment
 * Echo Bridge Home Entertainment's family program library including productions from Alliance Atlantis and Salter Street Films.
 * Epitome Pictures, including the library of its predecessor Playing With Time Inc.
 * Fremantle, including the libraries of LBS Communications, Reg Grundy Productions, All-American Television and Pearson Television.
 * Iconix Brand Group's entertainment assets including
 * Peanuts Worldwide (41%), a joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment Japan and Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates, including all Peanuts television specials and three television series
 * The Strawberry Shortcake brand, including television specials in the 1980s, the 2003 television series and a direct-to-video film.
 * Nerd Corps Entertainment, including Dragon Booster, Rated A for Awesome and Slugterra, excluding co-productions such as Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 and Blaze and the Monster Machines.
 * Ragdoll Worldwide, including Rosie and Jim, Brum, Teletubbies and In the Night Garden..., excluding the rights to Pob's Programme and Playbox.
 * Studio B Productions, including the first 4 seasons of Martha Speaks and Kid vs. Kat, but excluding the rights to co-productions such as My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, George of the Jungle (2007), and The Legend of Frosty the Snowman.
 * The original WildBrain Entertainment, including Yo Gabba Gabba!, excluding co-productions with other companies and co-productions by WildBrain's predecessor companies Colossal Pictures and BIG Pictures.
 * Global distribution rights to Mattel (including HIT Entertainment) programs including Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam, Little People and Polly Pocket.