Overview
- EU competition officials approved the deal without conditions on Wednesday, saying it would not significantly reduce competition across TV, streaming, content buying, or advertising.
- RTL will pay €150 million in cash to Comcast plus up to €377 million tied to RTL’s share price, with closing targeted around June 1, 2026.
- RTL says it will use Sky’s sports rights to show more live football on free TV, including more Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal games, while some RTL European matches could also appear on Sky.
- Sky Deutschland and WOW will move under RTL, with both brands kept and the Munich site retained, and current subscriptions staying as is for now with new bundle options expected by the start of the next Bundesliga season.
- RTL forecasts about €250 million in annual synergies within three years, which points to cost cuts and role changes as teams and tech platforms are merged, and the combined base of roughly 12 million paying users would rank third in Germany behind Netflix and Amazon.