2024-09-27 02:05:24
RTL is celebrating its coup of luring Stefan Raab to the station for five years. Broadcaster icon Helmut Thoma sees things completely differently at t-online.
What has emanated from RTL in the past few days has sounded primarily like hymns of praise for its own work. Stefan Raab’s TV comeback, coupled with a new weekly streaming show on RTL+, triggered unexpected waves of euphoria. This is “television history,” program director Inga Leschek rejoiced in an interview on Tuesday and judged: “The Raab deal is the smartest thing I have done in my life. It will be difficult to top.”
The RTL boss rejected the fact that the gigantic million-dollar package was too big of a risk: “Even if the 90 million were to go for Raab Entertainment, there would still be so much money left for all the other producers and great on-air talent “The rest of it is that nobody has to worry about it at all.”
However, a man who led the station’s fortunes for decades sees it differently. Former RTL boss Helmut Thoma, known for his clear edge, said in an interview with t-online: “If I were still RTL boss, for heaven’s sake I would never have paid so much money for Stefan Raab.”
Stefan Raab is only second or third choice. The current fuss surrounding him overshadows this realistic assessment.
Helmut Thomas
Thoma explains why he made this assessment: “The odds for his boxing match were okay, nothing more. Actually, given the hype that was previously made about Raab’s comeback, there should have been significantly better coverage.” A total of 5.9 million viewers saw the fight against Regina Halmich on September 14th. A strong value, but according to Thoma it’s not a street sweeper. This shows that there is a real risk that interest in the Raab character will decline again. “Especially since the event was sinfully expensive. That costs millions! Regina Halmich alone is said to have earned 600,000 euros for her participation,” calculates Helmut Thoma.
For him, Stefan Raab is only “second or third choice. The current fuss surrounding him overshadows this realistic assessment.” Other entertainers would have significantly more traction, as an example he cites Thomas Gottschalk – and another, much more surprising name: Dieter Bohlen. This fits the channel’s DNA and has been one of the most important building blocks for RTL’s success for decades.
The broadcaster “will not outgrow Raab financially because it has sufficient resources overall through its parent company Bertelsmann.” According to the 2023 annual report, this generated a total of a good 20 billion euros in sales – given this, 90 million can be tolerated, says Thoma. “But I doubt that Raab is worth the money. Especially since RTL is making a mistake: they are harming their most successful entertainer – Dieter Bohlen, who now has to live with the parallel program on RTL+.”
- RTL in transition? “There were monetary reasons for his return”
In fact, Bohlen’s casting show “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” is on television on Wednesday evening and at the same time the new Raab show “You won’t win a million here” will be made available on the streaming service RTL+. A programming that Helmut Thoma cannot understand. This would damage your own brand, said the ex-manager.
RTL sees it differently. The argument there is: Die-hard DSDS fans could watch the latest episodes before they are broadcast on TV via the RTL+ streaming offer. And the stated goal of Stefan Raab’s new show is to get an older, male audience behind the pay barrier of at least six euros per month. Read more about this here.
A strategy that leaves Helmut Thoma in doubt. “The Raab is twilight, after all, it comes from a different time. What innovation does it want to cause a sensation with in 2024?” Streaming is not his profession at all, says Thoma. And further: “Raab is not leading RTL into the future. How could he? When a presenter is away from the public for so long, he loses contact with people, his feeling.”