RTL buoyed by TV ad sales

BERLIN -- Greater TV ad sales in Germany, France and also the Netherlands, and growing revenue at its London-based production and distribution unit FremantleMedia led to an economic boost for pan-European broadcasting giant RTL Group within the third quarter. The business's sales increased 6.6% to Euros1.24 billion ($1.7 billion), while earnings (before interest, tax and amortization) rose 8.3% to $197 million. RTL didn't publish internet profit figures, that are only released in the full-year reviews. Greater profit contributions from FremantleMedia, in addition to from RTL's German and Nederlander divisions, assisted lift overall earnings in the group. FremantleMedia's established hit formats for example "X Factor," "Got Talent" and "The Player Wants a Wife" still score strong primetime rankings in key areas like the U.S., U.K., Germany, Australia and France. From The month of january to September, RTL saw revenue grow 4.4% to $5.4 billion, while earnings rose 4.6% to $956 million. Within the first nine several weeks of the season, earnings were again driven by greater profit contributions from RTL Germany and RTL Netherlands in addition to Group M6's Television channels in France. RTL's primary European channels have loved an excellent start within the new fall season. In Germany, RTL Television accomplished a crowd share of 19% among youthful audiences in September, up year-on-year, while M6 boasted a crowd share of 17.6% among average women under 50 in September, which makes it the only real major French funnel to improve its rankings in comparison with the year before. Within the Netherlands, RTL Nederland's channels obtained a combined primetime share of 37.5% within the key 20-49 demo in September, up 1.7 percentage points year-on-year, while RTL 4 accomplished its best September rankings since 1997. Contact Erectile dysfunction Meza at staff@variety.com