Gerhard Zeiler, the new chief executive of RTL, today vowed not to sell Channel Five and maintained that his company remained committed to the success of the venture.
Five has been a notable success story for RTL, which today announced narrowed losses for 2002 (see
RTL Cuts Losses As Results Beat Expectations). The channel generated turnover of €259 million last year, an increase of 21.6% on 2001 and is winning favour with critics, audiences and advertisers alike.
Didier Bellens, Zeiler’s predecessor at RTL, was known to be a strong backer of Five (see RTL Remains Alive To Five) and there has been no discernible change in policy under the new regime. Jane Lighting will shortly take over as chief executive at the station (see Channel Five Names Lighting As New Chief Executive) and Zeiler said today that RTL had “100% support” for Five and would not be pressured into selling its 65% stake in the company.
Five’s future has been a hot topic ever since the government announced that it was planning to relax ownership laws that would allow overseas media organisations such as News Corp to buy the station. A number of peers are known to be in favour of maintaining restrictions on foreign ownership but the government shows no sign of backing down on this issue (see Government Unwilling To Budge On Foreign Ownership).
