RTL Group’s New Morning Show Marks the Visible Face of a Deeper Restructuring

RTL launches 'Deutschland am Morgen' as part of 'Shift 2026' restructuring, cuts 600 jobs, doubles dividend, names new CEO, and gets EU nod for Sky Deutschland acquisition.

The cameras started rolling at 6 a.m. today on “Deutschland am Morgen,” the freshly minted joint morning program airing simultaneously on RTL and ntv. The three-hour broadcast replaces the legacy slots “Punkt 6,” “Punkt 7” and “Punkt 8,” which signed off for good on April 30. Produced from a fully automated ntv studio designed to merge TV, digital and social media into a single feed, the show is the most public output yet of a sweeping corporate overhaul.

Behind the scenes, the restructuring program “Shift 2026” is cutting roughly 600 positions group-wide, with 230 of those coming from RTL News alone. The anticipated cost savings amount to around €75 million this year.

A Dividend That Tells Two Stories

At the annual general meeting on April 29, the board proposed a dividend of €5.50 per share — more than double the €2.50 paid out the prior year. The jump, however, is largely a one-off: €4.74 of that sum stems from proceeds of an asset sale, leaving just €0.76 as the regular cash dividend. The payout is scheduled for May 5.

Once the dividend is distributed, RTL Group will resume its share buyback program, targeting the purchase of up to 500,000 additional shares on the open market. That would bring the total volume of all buybacks to the originally envisioned 4 million shares.

The stock went ex-dividend on April 30, triggering a technical price drop of roughly 15% that reflected the payout.

New Leadership Takes the Helm in May

A management transition is unfolding in parallel. Thomas Rabe steps down as CEO in May, handing the reins to Clément Schwebig, who joins from Warner Bros. Discovery where he served as President and Managing Director for Western Europe and Africa. Schwebig is no stranger to the company — he began his career at RTL Group and led its European TV operations for more than a decade.

At RTL Deutschland, Stephan Schmitter will take charge of the future combined unit with Sky Deutschland, while Julia Kloke arrives from Bertelsmann subsidiary Riverty as CFO. Björn Bauer remains in place as group CFO.

Sky Deal Cleared, Streaming Targets Firm Up

The European Commission has approved the acquisition of Sky Deutschland without conditions, with the deal expected to close on June 1. The combined platform would serve roughly 12.3 million paying subscribers across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

RTL Group’s streaming business is already gaining momentum on its own. By the end of 2025, the group had crossed the 8 million mark for paying subscribers. Management expects the streaming segment to turn profitable on a full-year basis in 2026. Digital advertising revenue climbed 27.7% to €517 million, offsetting 68% of the decline in the traditional TV ad market.

For the full year 2026, RTL Group is targeting revenue between €6.1 billion and €6.2 billion, with adjusted EBITA rising roughly 10% to around €725 million. Streaming revenue is forecast at €600 million to €650 million, while organic growth at Fremantle is pegged at about 3%. Linear TV advertising is expected to shrink by roughly 3%.

The first-quarter results, due on May 13, will provide an early test of whether these targets are within reach. Partnerships with Prime Video in Germany and France, along with a bundled offering with Max in Germany, are designed to extend streaming reach further.

World Cup Boost for M6

A separate catalyst is brewing at Groupe M6, RTL’s French subsidiary. For the first time, M6 holds exclusive free-to-air rights to the FIFA World Cup in France, with the tournament running from June through July. The advertising windfall will be almost entirely captured in the second-quarter numbers.

That timing is significant because M6’s first quarter was under pressure: advertising revenue fell 5.9% to €239 million. Its streaming service M6+ fared better, with revenue up 23.6% and user numbers rising 14%. The World Cup rights are thus more than a prestige play — they are expected to partially offset the structural weakness in the linear ad market.

Cost Discipline and Long-Term Ambition

On the cost side, the group is targeting savings of roughly €75 million, tied to the elimination of about 600 positions. The medium-term goal remains an adjusted EBITA of €1 billion, supported by Sky synergies, rising Fremantle profits and efficiency gains from artificial intelligence.