Thanks

We would like to thank two RTL employees who received us at the RTL headquarters to answer our question, about the management style but mostly the culture of RTL. That was really helpful to understand how things have worked during the history of this emblematic radio station across the time.

Thanks to Jean-Sébastien Petitdemange, host of the show “Itinéraire d’un auditeur gaté” and working for RTL for more than 15 years & journalist for “Midi en France” on France 3. And Claude Joly producer of the Petitdemange show.

Table of contents

I. The firm RTL 4

II. RTL’s factors of success 13

A. Radio Listeners 13 B. Hosts 17 C. Communication strategy and new technologies 20

III. Recommendations RTL could follow to improve its business 24

A. Recommendations regarding radio listeners 24 B. Recommandations regarding the hosts 26 C. Recommendations regarding communication strategy and new technologies 28

Everybody knows the radio station RTL. It is the eldest generalist radio station, which remains the most listened station in France, despite of the blips of the media landscape but also despite the swirls in their own history.

The firm RTL

• RTL story from the 1930s to rtl.fr
Radio Tele Luxembourg, a radio network from Luxembourg, was created in 1931. At the beginning, the radio transmitter was located at the Grand-Duché of Luxembourg, in the city of Junglinster. It was the only private French speaking radio that people could hear in Northern Europe, and more particularly in Belgium and France. It is useful to remember that during this period, radio stations could not install their transmitters in France because of the TSF state monopoly. And quickly, Radio Luxembourg gained a large audience in France.
During the World War II, the radio station was obliged to let the III Reich to use their transmitter. But after the