RTL Put 200 Cobra 11 Episodes on YouTube and Subscriptions Rose
Giving away more than 200 old episodes for free on YouTube helped RTL sell more streaming subscriptions.
That was the message from RTL Deutschland chief executive Stephan Schmitter at Mipcom Cannes, the international television market in France. He appeared on stage alongside YouTube's vice-president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Pedro Pina, to discuss the partnership, as reported by Variety.
The test case was Cobra 11, RTL's long-running action series. It has aired since 1996 and has been sold to more than 120 countries worldwide.
About a year ago, RTL Deutschland uploaded more than 200 full episodes of the show to YouTube. Those episodes drew 30 million views.
The audience on YouTube skewed young and male. Schmitter said 83% of the viewers were men with an average age of 30.
The free views did not stay on YouTube. Schmitter said the YouTube presence led to a 123% increase in first video views for the series on RTL+, the company's streaming service, meaning first-time plays of the show. Subscriptions linked to Cobra 11 rose by 26%.
There was also direct advertising money. Schmitter cited revenues of near double-digit millions from the YouTube partnership. He said RTL's advertising sales arm, Ad Alliance, now packages advertising slots together across its broadcast channels, RTL+, Sky and YouTube.
RTL has widened the approach beyond drama. Its news channel, NTV, is now also available on YouTube.
What makes this stand out is the direction of travel. For viewers, free episodes on YouTube acted as a shop window. Watching there led more people to press play on RTL+ and to take out a subscription.
