RTL Raises Streaming Profit Outlook as Economics Improve
Aug 13, 2026Paid subscriptions rose 20.7% and streaming revenue climbed 27.2% as RTL lifted its full-year streaming profit forecast to about €100 million.
RTL Group is a major European media company with television, streaming and content-production businesses across several markets. For U.S. readers, think large regional media group rather than a niche streaming service. Its streaming brands include RTL+ in Germany and M6+ in France, and the company also owns global production company Fremantle.
Its streaming business is getting healthier.
RTL reported 8.7 million paid subscriptions across RTL+ and M6+ at the end of June, up 20.7% from a year earlier. Streaming revenue grew even faster, rising 27.2% to €299 million during the first half of 2026.
The bigger change is profitability.
RTL's streaming adjusted EBITA, which includes RTL+, M6+ and its Bedrock streaming technology business, reached €31 million for the first half. That compares with a €34 million loss during the same period last year.
Adjusted EBITA is RTL's measure of operating profitability before certain special items and accounting effects.
That's a €65 million year-over-year improvement.
RTL now expects its streaming businesses to produce about €100 million in adjusted EBITA for the full year, well above its previous forecast of €25 million to €50 million.
The streaming business had already recorded its first profitable quarter during the first three months of 2026. The first-half results show that it remained profitable over the six-month period and is performing well ahead of RTL's earlier expectations.
Revenue Is Growing Faster Than Subscribers
More subscribers helped. They don't explain the whole result.
RTL said streaming revenue growth came from more paying subscribers, higher subscription prices in Germany and rapidly growing advertising revenue from RTL+ in Germany and M6+ in France.
Paid subscriptions grew 20.7%. Streaming revenue rose 27.2%.
That means RTL is getting more revenue growth than subscriber growth alone would explain.
RTL+ in Germany accounted for most of the paid base, reaching 7.6 million subscriptions at the end of June, up 19.5% year over year.
RTL is also widening how customers can get its streaming services.
In January, RTL Deutschland launched a bundled subscription with HBO Max in Germany at a lower combined price than buying the two services separately. The bundle expanded to Austria the following month.
RTL+ also joined the Oneplus streaming platform in Switzerland, while Groupe M6 made M6+ available to Amazon Prime members in France.
Those partnerships give RTL more ways to reach viewers without depending only on customers signing up directly.
Technology Costs Are Part of the Profit Story
RTL is also changing the technology behind its streaming business.
The company completed the migration of RTL+ in Germany to its Bedrock streaming platform in April. RTL says the move will produce significant cost savings, and Bedrock itself became profitable during the first half of the year.
Running the service costs money, too.
For a streaming business operating across several brands and markets, moving more of the technology onto one platform can improve the economics without adding another subscriber.
Sky Adds Scale, But It Is a Separate Story
RTL's acquisition of Sky Deutschland will make the company much larger in streaming and subscription revenue. But Sky should be kept separate from the improvement already underway at RTL+ and M6+.
RTL completed the Sky Deutschland acquisition on June 1, so the first-half results include only one month of Sky.
The company also warned that Sky's June profit contribution should not be treated as representative of the rest of the year. June did not include major Bundesliga or German Cup football rights and production costs.
Even without Sky, RTL Group's adjusted EBITA increased by €18 million, driven in part by its profitable streaming business.
With Sky included, RTL now reports 12.4 million paid subscriptions across the German-speaking DACH region.
RTL expects the combination to generate €250 million in annual synergies within three years, mostly from cost savings.
Sky will play a much bigger role in RTL's streaming economics going forward. The improvement in RTL+ and M6+ was already happening before the acquisition closed.
INSIDER TAKE
RTL's results are a good reminder that a growing subscriber base only tells part of the story.
What stands out here is that RTL is getting more revenue and much better profitability from that audience. The business is improving as it grows.
Subscriber totals show scale. They don't tell you whether the business underneath them is getting healthier.
RTL's first-half results suggest it is.
The next test will be whether that progress holds as Sky becomes a much larger part of the business.
Related Member Resources
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