German broadcaster RTL plans to cut roughly 600 jobs to cope with weaker ad revenue, but it’s not yet clear whether the company’s kids content teams will be affected. 

In its latest financial statement, covering January to September, RTL reported US$4.7 billion in overall revenue, representing a 2.2% decline to US$4.7 billion compared to the same period last year. Leadership attributes this drop to lower TV ad revenue and content revenue from Fremantle. 

RTL runs kids channel Super RTL, which greenlights and acquires preschool and children’s series, as well as family-friendly films. As of press time, RTL had not responded to questions about whether the layoffs will affect any of its kid-focused teams. 

These layoffs come as the broadcaster works to move more quickly from linear TV into streaming, a business that’s starting to take off. At the end of September, RTL had 7.6 million paying subscribers, and that number is expected to hit eight million by the end of the year. 

Streamer RTL+ launched in 2021 and is on track to be profitable by 2026. (RTL’s streaming revenue was up 26.6% to US$409 million year over year.) The service offers a variety of kids TV content including Peppa Pig, PAW Patrol and SpongeBob SquarePants, as well as movies like Minions, Kung Fu Panda and Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir – The Movie. 

One challenge RTL has faced lately is that kids are moving away from linear and onto platforms that don’t advertise to children, like TikTok and Netflix. In 2024, Super RTL and Paramount Global had planned to create a merged linear channel for kids that would replace Nickelodeon in Germany. This deal would have consolidated a fair bit of kids advertising inventory and might have helped solve the company’s ad problems, but German authorities shut it down last year. 

Last year, Super RTL picked up Submarine Jim from Xilam Animation, and co-developed the series Wild Kat with Watch Next Media and M6 Group. 

Image courtesy of RTL.