Industry

Just under two weeks before the merger of RTL Deutschland and Sky Deutschland, CEO Stephan Schmitter took to the main stage at ANCA COM in Cologne to answer questions from DWDL Editor-in-Chief Thomas Lückerath. When asked about the strategy and changes for customers, Schmitter stated that nothing would change for customers initially and that all three streaming brands – RTL+, Sky and WOW – would continue to exist, adding that it was important to offer reliability.

The new packages are set to be unveiled in early August to coincide with the start of the German Bundesliga. According to Schmitter, RTL and Sky will have 12.4 million subscribers in German-speaking countries in future, making them the third-largest provider after Netflix and Prime Video.

The future distribution of revenue would be based equally on advertising revenue and subscription income. When asked about the announced planned synergy savings of EUR 250 million over the next three years, Schmitter cited technical costs, rent, licence fees and duplicate structures that would be eliminated.

The RTL CEO remained tight-lipped about the plans for Sky Stream, the TV platform acquired as part of the deal. Schmitter also reiterated the benefits of reducing dependence on the challenging TV advertising market and highlighted the importance of local content and local sports rights.

ANGA COM 2026 opened its doors today at the Cologne Exhibition Centre. One of Europe’s largest trade fairs and conferences for broadband, media and connectivity, it will serve as the international meeting place for the telecommunications and media industries until and including Thursday. A total of 450 exhibitors from 44 countries are in attendance, with over 250 speakers discussing the industry’s current issues across more than 60 panels.