Following the approval of RTL Deutschland’s bid for Sky Deutschland by the European Commission, Thomas Rabe, the chief executive of Bertelsmann and part of the RTL group, has set an ambitious long-term goal of attracting 15 million subscribers across the combined portfolio of RTL+, Sky, and Wow. Speaking to the “Handelsblatt”, Rabe noted that achieving this figure would represent strong market penetration, placing the group statistically in every third household in Germany. Currently, the combined platforms report having 12.3 million subscribers.
In addition to the growth objectives, Rabe announced that the merger would necessitate significant organizational changes and corresponding staff reductions. He stated that the consolidation of the two companies would lead to streamlining and the elimination of parallel structures, which would affect personnel.
The background to this development is that the European Commission granted approval for RTL Deutschland’s acquisition of Sky Deutschland on Tuesday, following RTL’s initial announcement of its interest in June 2025. The purchase price is set at approximately €150 million in cash, supplemented by a variable component tied to the stock price of the RTL Group. Depending on the market’s performance, the potential payout for RTL could total up to an additional €377 million. Sky was previously owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast.