German free-to-air TV channel RTL "will take a close look at Bundesliga rights," according Manuel Weis of QUOTENMETER. RTL Program Dir Frank Hoffmann said that the channel "will take a close look" at the tender for Bundesliga rights starting in '17. It is not yet clear if RTL is interested in live broadcast rights or only game highlights. The channel is also interested in continuing its relationship with the German national football team. The Cologne-based network already has the rights to the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers of the German team. It is now looking to add the qualifiers for Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup. The new UEFA Nations League could also be of interest for RTL. Hoffmann: "There is no fair competition if [German public broadcaster] ARD is reportedly willing to spend more than €1 billion ($1.15B) for football rights. We as privately funded companies have financial limits that obviously don't apply to publicly financed competitors" (QUOTENMETER, 10/14).
NEW RECORD: In a separate piece, Weis reported RTL's sister channel RTL Nitro "for the first time recorded more than 2 million viewers." The channel showed the Euro 2016 qualifiers between the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, as well as the game between Iceland and Turkey on Tuesday evening. The second halves of the games, which started at 8:45pm, drew an average audience of 2.03 million viewers. The number translated into a maket share of 7.7%. In the target demographic 14-49, the games obtained a 7.9% share as 750,000 viewers tuned in. The games' first halves drew 1.53 viewers, along with 650,000 in the target demo (5.7%) (QUOTENMETER, 10/14).
