RTL, ProSieben Plan Open German Internet-TV Platform - Sources

ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG (PSM.XE) and RTL Group SA's (RTL.BT) German unit want to create a new open internet platform for catch-up TV across Germany and Austria that would be open to all broadcasters, several people familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday.

The two companies already run their own catch-up TV platforms--which allow viewers to see some content via the internet for several days after it is first broadcast--but now want to create a common platform open to all broadcasters, including private competitors and public TV stations, because consumers prefer the easy access of just one platform, the people said.

"It's the German answer to Hulu," one person said, referring to a U.S. platform that offers hit TV shows, movies and clips at Hulu.com and other online destination sites anytime in the U.S. Hulu, founded in 2007, is owned by NBC Universal, News Corp. (NWS), The Walt Disney Co. (DIS), Providence Equity Partners and the Hulu team.

News Corp. owns Dow Jones, publisher of this newswire and the Wall Street Journal.

To create the German language online platform, ProSiebenSat.1 and RTL Mediengruppe Deutschland plan a joint company which will provide technical services, the people said.

Editorial decisions and marketing will remain the responsibility of the single channels that use the platform, they added.

The project would needs antitrust approval. The European Commission still has to decide whether it would give that approval or whether it would leave it to the German antitrust authority, Bundeskartellamt, the people said. ProSiebenSat.1 and RTL Mediengruppe Deutschland will make the plans public when the decision has been made.

For private free-to-air broadcasters, catch-up TV platforms are a new source for advertising revenue. Viewers can watch series and shows for free but can't skip advertising.

Both companies, ProSiebenSat.1 and RTL Group, recently said they have to tap new revenue sources to become more independent from classic TV advertising sales.

-By Archibald Preuschat, Dow Jones Newswires, [phone], [e-mail]