Interview with Bedrock CEO on the successful M6+ rollout

As published by Worldscreen, Oct 2024, read the full story here.

Releasing its interim results earlier this year, RTL Group touted key gains in streaming revenues, boosted in part by M6+. The service replaced 6play in May as the French broadcaster’s new AVOD platform, powered by streaming solutions provider Bedrock. Now, RTL Group is working with Bedrock, in which it holds an ownership stake, on the integration of its largest streaming service, RTL+ in Germany. This streaming service is set to migrate by 2026. As Bedrock CEO Jonas Engwall tells World Screen, partnerships and meeting the diverse needs of broadcasters on their streaming journeys are critical priorities for the company as it scales up its business.

WS: The last time we spoke, you were working with M6 on the rollout of M6+, its new AVOD platform powered by Bedrock technology. What were some of the key lessons from that experience?

ENGWALL: The M6+ rollout was a huge success and highlighted the value of our careful planning and solid tech. We managed to deploy across 15 different devices in just a few hours with hardly any disruption. In fact, most of the rollout was finished in only six hours. The results were fantastic—user engagement jumped by 30 to 50 percent monthly, which was even better than we had hoped for. Short-form content in a vertical format was a bet that was quite informed—we felt it was going to work well. M6 said it would do it for its key shows; now, they’re rolling it out for almost all shows. We also added M6’s podcast library to the M6+ platform.

From a security perspective, we faced a significant challenge when a DDOS attack comprising 17 million probes occurred within minutes. Thanks to our platform’s resilience, the attack had zero impact on users, which showcased the strength of our security measures and the preparation of our teams in handling sudden high-pressure situations.

WS: And now you’re working on transitioning RTL+ in Germany to Bedrock technology. What’s the plan there?
ENGWALL: The migration of RTL+ in Germany to the Bedrock platform is a major project for us, and it’s really exciting. It’s a long process with work councils involved, but we’re making great progress and aiming for an early 2026 launch. We’re pooling resources together to create an even more powerful platform, designed to handle a wide variety of media—everything from TV shows and video content to music and audiobooks. This move will streamline operations and enhance the experience for millions of users in Germany across all their devices.

What’s exciting is that this transition is more than just a technical migration. It’s an opportunity to innovate and grow. We’ll be opening a new office in Cologne and onboarding some of the RTL+ team in Germany to become part of Bedrock, which will help us work closely together and provide localized support. It’s bigger than just onboarding a new partner. By joining forces, it will give us even more firepower for the future to innovate and future-proof everything we do. It will strengthen both Bedrock and RTL+, not just for today’s market demands but for what’s ahead.

Read the full interview here.