Kill Jackie producer Fremantle saw its half-yearly revenues slide nearly 8% due to drama and film production, but earnings still shot up to nearly $70M.
In results released by parent RTL this morning, the London-based company posted revenues of €835M ($963M), down 7.7% on the €905M from the same period last year.
RTL attributed the fall to “timing effects at Fremantle’s drama and film business,” with entertainment and documentaries “broadly stable.”
Fremantle will see the dip reverse in the second half of 2026, RTL projected, and post “slightly higher” numbers that he previous year due to upcoming productions such as AMC+’s Kill Jackie and Fox’s Baywatch.
However, Fremantle was one of two units that RTL attributed to a significant increase in earnings across the group. Adjusted EBITA was up from €39M to €60, with the margin widening sharply from 4.3% to 7.2%. This puts Fremantle on track to reach a target margin of 9% for the full year.
The news comes less than two weeks after Deadline revealed Fremantle had hired Katie O’Connell Marsh to become CEO of its Global Scripted Hub. Her role will be include building out Fremantle’s drama and comedy slate, while improving the revenue take from productions. Days after her hire became public, the Baywatch reboot sold to Prime Video in numerous territories.
Fremantle’s latest financials come after RTL implemented cost saving measures at the production house following a strategic review. Part of the move saw Fremantle exit fully-financing films, though it will remain as a co-producer on projects.
RTL noted cost reduction plans will continue until 2030 by “optimisation of production costs, simplification of processes [and] reduction of technical costs – driven by AI.”
RTL profits rise
Overall, Luxembourg-based RTL posted group revenues up 0.1% at €2.9B, with adjusted EBITA coming in at €239M, significantly higher than the €160M delivered in H1 2025. Excluding the impact of buying Sky for €68M, RTL posted group adjusted EBITA up €18M.
Streaming revenue, which comes from services such as RTL+ and M6+, was up 27.2% to €299M, with the number of subscribers growing alongside higher pricing in Germany and “rapidly growing” ad money in Germany and France. In total, paid subscriptions for Germany and France – RTL’s biggest two territories – were up 20.7% to 8.7 million.
Adjusted EBITA from streaming was €31M and is expected to reach around €100M for the full year, way up on previous guidance to analysts of around €25M-€50M.
The result were also the first since RTL on June 1 completed a deal for Sky Deutschland, which posted adjusted EBITA of €61M in H1. RTL noted this would not be indicative of the whole year as June has no production costs attached to the Bundesliga or German Cup football.
Once RTL+ and Sky Deutschland merge operations, RTL will have more than 12 million paying subs across in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
“RTL Group delivered a strong first half performance in 2026, driven by rapid streaming growth, gains in both TV audience and TV advertising market shares, and the successful completion of the acquisition of Sky Deutschland,” said RTL CEO Clément Schwebig. “We also demonstrated the unique power of our content and brands, as the coverage of the football World Cup on M6 and M6+ attracted 60 million viewers and generated exceptional digital engagement.
“Our streaming businesses deliver strong profitability. Streaming revenue and paid subscriptions continue to grow dynamically. As a result, streaming is now expected to contribute around €100M to our full-year operating profit.”
Schwebig, the former Warner Bros. Discovery exec, replaced Thomas Rabe as CEO earlier this year. Rabe remains boss of RTL parent Bertelsmann until later in the year.
