RTL Touts YouTube Partnership, With ‘Cobra 11’ Driving 26% Rise in Subscriptions and Opening New Revenue Streams

Germany’s leading broadcaster RTL Deutschland unpacked its recent partnership with YouTube at Mipcom Cannes, revealing that its long-running action series “Cobra 11” has thrived on the platform. On stage alongside Pedro Pina, YouTube’s VP for EMEA, RTL Deutschland chief executive Stephan Schmitter said the broadcaster uploaded more than 200 full episodes of the series to YouTube a year ago, and was able to draw 30 million views — a major feat for a show which has aired since 1996 and previously sold to more than 120 countries worldwide. RTL is the latest broadcaster to partner up with YouTube, following Channel 4 and BBC in the U.K., and France Télévisions in France. Popular on Variety While linear broadcasters, like streamers, are still perceiving YouTube as a major disruptor and challenger, a number of them have started working more closely with the platform to tap into younger demographics and generate new advertising revenue. The appeal of YouTube has also grown due to the fact that it’s now being consumed on TV screens which makes it a straightforward competitor to traditional outlets. Schmitter pointed out “Cobra 11” had little commercial value left for RTL after being extensively rerun on linear and streaming, but have found a new audience on YouTube, where 83% of viewers are men with an average age of 30. It also translated into a 123% increase in first video views for the series on RTL+ and a 26% rise in subscriptions linked to the show. “Our theory was that young men today also love big stunts, flying cars, big explosions and the German Autobahn, where there are no speed limits. That is the key. They discover, or rediscover, the show. And if they want new episodes, more flying cars and explosions, they have to go to RTL+,” Schmitter said. The YouTube partnership on “Cobra 11” has also been lucrative on the advertising side. RTL’s advertising sales arm Ad Alliance has been in charge of packaging inventory across the broadcaster’s linear channels, RTL+, Sky and YouTube. “Now we can go to the advertisers, to our huge portfolio of advertisers, and offer them a 360-degree proposition. And this really works out, especially on the big screen, because it’s only one switch away,” said the exec. “This combination makes sense to advertisers, and they’re very interested in what we are doing with YouTube and how the inventory is shared. In the end, we get additional money, and our revenues are significantly up this year,” he said, citing near “double-digit millions” in revenues. Earlier this year, France Télévisions struck a deal to bring about 20,000 hours of content a year to YouTube, including national and local news bulletins plus its flagship current-affairs and investigative magazines. It’s already paid off. The broadcaster’s news channel franceinfo hit 110 million YouTube views in September, eight times more than a year earlier. Pina argued that traditional broadcasters should stop looking at YouTube solely as a threat to their business. “All in all, it is a self-reinforcing partnership that can only produce value. But again, the value that it produces, interestingly and importantly, is feeding into the IP that is already successful and breathing new life into stuff that was already successful before. And that is so energizing,” Pina said. “And it is the model of creators. So back to your point initially, Evan, of thinking like a creator.” Like France Televisions, RTL has also made its news channel, NTV, available on the platform alongside shorter videos and content produced with digital creators. As younger audiences increasingly turn to YouTube and TikTok for information, Schmitter said the move is particularly important at a time of political polarization in Germany, with the far right party AFD on the rise. “I think for us it’s important, and also for our role in the democratic system, to reach everybody,” Schmitter said. Pina echoed Schmitter’s argument, pointing to the growing presence of legacy news organizations like BBC and France Télévisions on YouTube. “The more traditional players start leaning in on YouTube, the more a cross-section of voices can be heard, and that can only be good for democracy,” Pina said.