Latest in Bertelsmann

French broadcaster M6 is no longer for sale. In the past few minutes, owner RTL Group, which itself is owned by Bertelsmann, has decided against selling its controlling 48.3% stake in the company following the breakdown of M6’s merger with TF1 due to competition concerns. A number had been…

EXCLUSIVE: Bertelsmann podcast studio Storyglass has opened in Australia and is behind a range of podcasts including one on UFOs, two seasons of Red Bull’s Why I Run and a Family Feud format. The division has been up-and-running for around two years and Managing Director Steve Carsey unveiled a wealth of…

European giant Bertelsmann has put M6 up for sale following the collapse of the French broadcaster’s merger with TF1. Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe confirmed to the Financial Times he has asked for non-binding offers for the company after saying he had been “inundated with expressions of interest” after last week’s mega…

UPDATED with comment by News Corp CEO Robert Thomson: ViacomCBS announced Wednesday it will sell the storied Simon & Schuster publisher to Penguin Random House house parent Bertelsmann for $2.175 billion in cash, a major infusion of funds as the Bob-Bakish run media company makes good on its promise to unload non-core…

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., the owner of HarperCollins, Bertelsmann's Penguin Random House and French conglom Vivendi have emerged as top contenders for Simon & Schuster with bids for the storied ViacomCBS publisher due in before Thanksgiving, according to a person familiar with the situation. ViacomCBS put the…

Fremantle’s scripted podcast producer Storyglass is to be spun out into a standalone company within the Bertelsmann Group, and will now make shows across a variety of genres including scripted, documentary, true crime, lifestyle and music. Storyglass previously sat in Fremantle’s drama unit, but will become a…

Serial Box, a subscription-based startup that offers serialized stories in both written and audio form, has announced a seed investment round of $1.65 million. The round was led by Boat Rocker Media, whose recent investments include CAA Creative Labs, The Outline, MarcoPolo Learning and the acquisition of Fremantle…

Jay and Mark Duplass — whose fiefdom as writers, directors, actors and producers includes HBO’s Togetherness and Amazon’s Transparent — have closed a deal with Ballantine Books to publish an untitled essay collection in 2017. The busy sibs (whose second season of Togetherness is set to premiere in February and whose An…

Demonstrating that Jurassic World isn’t the only insatiable-monster hit of the new summer season, it only took four days for E.L. James' Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey As Told By Christian to ring up sales of more than 1.1 million copies in trade paperback, eBook, and audio editions. "This is an astonishing number of…

If you’re not on commission or the bonus track at Bertelsmann’s toddling Penguin Random House megapublisher, there’ll be a nice tip for you come April 17: An extra $750 in your paycheck, compliments of CEO Markus Dohle. “We are all proud of the positive impact inherent in what we do at Penguin Random House by…

The European media company RTL has bought a controlling stake in StyleHaul, the biggest YouTube multi-channel network focused on fashion and beauty, for $107 million, with further “earn-out” potential that could further raise the total price, the two sides confirmed. The deal has been strongly rumored for the past two…

Angela Lansbury To Topline ‘Blithe Spirit’ On London Stage Angela Lansbury is set to appear on the London stage for the first time in nearly four decades in a new production of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit. The 88-year-old Brit will play Madame Arcati, a role she played on Broadway in 2009, winning a Tony Award. The…