Fall fiction's fine at RTL
Territory Reports: Germany
BERLIN -- Reality formats may still be relevant on German TV, but for RTL the focus appears to be back on flashy fictional skeins.At rival ProSiebenSat.1, in-house fictional weekly series have taken a backseat to big Hollywood films and series in addition to more reality shows and miniseries.
RTL programming director Frank Berners says RTL has placed a strong emphasis on fiction in its fall lineup, but adds that reality fare will still hold a significant position.
The web's new series this fall include:
- The jarringly familiar "Beauty Queen," which chronicles the lives of two brothers -- one, an idealistic family man, the other, single and materialistic -- who run a plastic surgery practice in Germany's upscale region of Lake Constance.
- "Meine schoensten jahre" (My Best Years), "The Wonder Years" East German style follows the life of a 13-year-old boy and his family living on the east side of the Berlin Wall during the 1980s.
RTL will also premiere a Teutonic take on "The Apprentice" entitled "Big Boss" and adventure show "Peking Express," which Berners says "will provide wonderful stories. Whoever's able to make it from Moscow to Beijing on just e2 ($2.44) a day experiences real adventure."
With all the inhouse productions, August Rinner, RTL's head of sales and acquisitions, says there are few timeslots left on the web for licensed shows.
Indeed, Rinner says his spending budget has remained unchanged and that the web's successful in-house programming and a continued malaise in the ad sector have made pricey acquisitions unnecessary.
At the same time, Rinner expects prices for U.S. series to remain down some 25% from what they were at the height of the New Economy bubble five years ago.
That might be good news for RTL subsid Vox, one of Germany's main outlets for Hollywood fare.
Says Vox programming director Ladya van Eeden, "As far as fiction goes, we'll continue our accent on crime series like 'CSI' and 'CSI: Miami,' which figure among our most successful. Also, in the wake of 'Six Feet Under,' we'll keep an eye on edgy series with a cult character."
ProSiebenSat.1 cut its programming budget in 2004 after a slew of output deals with the U.S. majors and sports rights acquisitions last year. Its ProSieben web is the country's biggest buyer of U.S. programming.
Upcoming highlights include "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," "The OC," "Nip/Tuck" and German minis "The Blood of the Templars" and "Rats 2."
The group's other main channel, Sat.1, offers locally made fare and is unveiling two minis -- "Kingdom in Twilight," an adaptation of the Nibelungen saga, and "The Airlift," about the U.S. airlift that saved Berlin from a Soviet blockade following WWII.
