The success of the Sonndeszeitung format – launched for the “réntrée” last autumn – was the catalyst for RTL’s decision to launch a daily version of the news, information and entertainment service. “We saw the Sonndeszeitung as a good way to offer news content to Luxembourgers on a Sunday,” says RTL director Alain Berwick. “There was no national newspaper in the country on that day.” The idea was spawned by the success of the Welt Am Sonntag site in Germany, which presented not only up—to-date news but also features on a variety of topics such as cars, new technologies and travel. The site is uploaded on Saturday lunchtime and receives some 50,000 visitors per weekend. “The success if also due to the choice of name,” says Berwick. “Sonndeszeitung appeals to an older generation of Luxembourgers who may be daunted by the internet.”

The Dageszeitung is update hourly, although so far RTL has not hired any additional journalists or technical staff to handle the workload. “The update is carried out by the RTL.lu team, but if it is successful in terms of advertising we may recruit extra staff,” Berwick explains. Subscribers can choose at which hour they want to receive the Dageszeitung in their email inbox. Berwick says there is little chance of advertising on either the Dageszeitung or Sonndeszeitung cannibalising advertising on the group’s broadcast media. “We offer packages across all three media, and companies are using them as complementary tools. They will announce a product on radio, show it on TV and provide the full information on the internet.” Internet advertising may be growing in popularity, but it remains low-cost and RTL will therefore continue to push its broadcast media as communication tools, says Berwick.

Ecological credentials

Launched on Monday, the Dageszeitung service has already attracted some 18,000 subscribers. It is free of charge and covers a wide variety of information that includes everything from national and international news updates to local and world sports, entertainment and culture and readers’ letters. The Dageszeitung is a logical development of RTL’s mission to meet public demand for “information where I want, when I want.”As well as the fact that it is free, mobile and constantly updated, RTL is also playing up the newspaper’s ecological credentials – a subtle dig, maybe, at the free French-language newspapers distributed to commuters at railway stations, bus stops and other key locations around the country.

RTL has also announced the launch of four applications for Apple iPhone and iPod Touch users. RTL Radio and Eldoradio are both now available via the hugely popular handsets, as is a video upload of RTL television’s 5 Minutes French-language news roundup and, in association with Emresa SA, a mobile version of the Yellow.lu internet directory. Other applications, including the Sonndes- and Dageszeitung will follow, says Berwick. And RTL is also continuing its sms text service of national and international news alerts, which, although popular, is not a growing market.