With good projections for the coming months of the year, RTL Hungary outlines its 2023 plans, marked by progress in its strategic and operational agenda, and after company’s profitability which has increased in 2022. Gabriella Vidus, CEO; Péter Kolosi, Deputy CEO, Director of Programming; and Balázs Szabo, Chief Content Management Officer, spoke exclusively with Prensario about the current situation of their respective areas within the company, where they recounted the highlights of the following months.
One of the great novelties of the end of 2022 was the launch of the company’s streaming service RTL+, last November, with the aim of being the first domestic streaming platform to offer local, Hungarian-language content to paying subscribers. ‘At the end of March 2023, the streaming service added up to 0.277 million paying subscribers. This is the cumulative number of paying subscribers for the RTL+ and RTL+ Active service tiers, excluding users in the free trial phase. These results exceed our expectations by far and we consider them a huge success’, expressed Vidus.
This user data reflects one thing: the high demand for local Hungarian-language content drives the growth of streaming platforms in the region. ‘According to the number of hours broadcast, the ten most viewed formats are all RTL Hungary productions’, added Kolosi, who specified that the list of the ten most watched titles is headed by ValóVilág, followed by A Király, which also became the most watched fiction content on RTL+.
‘A Király was not only a hit with RTL+ users, but also with critics. Mellékhatás has already entered the list of the most watched series. Local content has become more valuable and we have a particularly competitive pool of content to meet this consumer demand, which we are constantly developing and expanding, so RTL+ users can expect a variety of local content formats’, said added.
RTL+ is already available through different distribution partners, such as Vodafone TV, which makes it available through its set-to-box in Hungary. With this fixed achievement, by 2023 they intend to consolidate themselves as market leaders on all platforms in this country.
Searches in global markets
Szabo reaffirmed RTL‘s close relationship with major US providers such as Warner, Disney, Paramount, and more recently Sony, from whom they purchase hit feature films as well as TV series that Hungarian audiences love.
‘In addition to studio agreements, we have always been very proud to also work with many independent distributors. Among them, our eONe agreement stands out, with which our linear channels and digital interface have received completely new national premiere titles; Lionsgate, who exploded on the RTL+ launch with several well-known and consistently well-watched movies. And also thanks to our agreement with the Sisi series, we managed to strengthen our relationship with Betafilm again’, Szabo mentioned.
What’s coming for the next few months?
Regarding news, Kolosi was emphatic in saying that ‘more premieres will arrive in the course of 2023’. He mentioned the series Valami Amerika, directed by Gábor Herendi, which will premiere this fall on RTL+. Also the Hungarian version of French HIP, High Intellectual Potential, which is coming to RTL+.
At the same time, the streamer will debut a Hypewriter-winning series, Golden Age. And confirmed the new season of Mellékhatás, which is currently one of the most watched series on OTT. A new installment of the original RTL+ reality show, Éden Hotel, will also arrive in the fall.
‘We will have at least 10 shows that have not been on RTL yet, and there will also be new seasons of 7 returning shows’, concluded Kolosi.
