RTL Rtl Group

RNS Number:0812R
RTL Group
6 February 2002


                                                                 6 February 2002

RTL GROUP SIMPLIFIES MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

CEO Didier Bellens announces change in management structure / Operating units
report directly to CEO / COO Ewald Walgenbach leaves RTL Group to become COO of
Bertelsmann AG

Luxembourg, 6 February 2002. - RTL Group, Europe's largest broadcasting and
production group, is changing its management structure. With the departure of
Chief Operating Officer (COO) Ewald Walgenbach, who becomes COO of Bertelsmann
AG, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Didier Bellens is establishing a three-man
Executive Committee and a larger Operations Management Committee, which links
the operating units directly to the CEO. As a result of the changes, Mr
Walgenbach will with immediate effect no longer be an Executive Director of RTL
Group's Board of Directors but will remain a Non-Executive Director of the
Board. Furthermore, Johannes Zull, Executive Vice President at RTL Group in
charge of Internet and New Technologies, will take a management position within
RTL Television in Cologne, which is RTL Group's largest single operation.

RTL Group's new Executive Committee is composed of three persons: CEO Didier
Bellens, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) Bruno Chauvat and Chief Financial Officer
(CFO) Thomas Rabe. The role of the COO is replaced by an Operations Management
Committee, through which the heads of the main operations now report directly to
the CEO. This committee ensures group-wide exchange on strategic and operational
matters and has eight members: the Executive Committee and the heads of RTL
Group's main business divisions and operations: Gerhard Zeiler of RTL Television
in Cologne, Nicolas de Tavernost of M6 in Paris, Dawn Airey of Channel 5 in
London, Tony Cohen, CEO of RTL Group's production business arm FremantleMedia,
as well as Jean-Charles de Keyser, who is responsible for Benelux, Eastern
Europe and the radio business.

Didier Bellens commented: "The changed management structure is in line with our
stated goal of maintaining an efficient and lean organization within RTL Group.
In addition, the Operations Management Committee brings the entrepreneurial
spirit of our company to the fore and underlines the international character of
our Group. It is based on our experience of close cooperation through different
teams, countries and operations. We have worked very hard in the last 18 months
to nurture and build a unified pan-European Group, and I thank Ewald Walgenbach
sincerely for his vital contribution to this. He has been instrumental in the
creation of RTL Group and the development of synergies between TV, radio and
worldwide production that give us the edge over our competitors. I also thank
Johannes Zull who has made an important contribution to our remarkable success
in the world of the Internet and in the development of new businesses."


For further enquiries:

RTL Group
Roy Addison
Phone: + 352 421 42 5130
E-mail: roy.addison@rtlgroup.com

Markus Payer
Phone : + 352 421 42 5020
E-mail: markus.payer@rtlgroup.com

Notes to Editors

With 23 television and 14 radio stations in 8 countries, RTL Group is Europe's
largest TV, radio and production company. The Luxembourg-based media group
operates TV channels and radio stations in Germany, France, Belgium, the
Netherlands, UK, Luxembourg, Spain and Hungary. It is one of the world's leading
producers of television content such as game shows and soaps, including "Pop
Idols", "Good Times, Bad Times", "Family Feud" and "The Bill". At the same time,
with more than 80 websites in a number of European countries, RTL Group is
ranked at the top of the new-media sector.


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