Antenna’s Henning Tewes urges Euro partnerships to combat US dominance

Henning Tewes, the veteran European and RTL Group exec who now runs Antenna Group, has urged European media firms to combine resources to compete with US giants.

Tewes, who became chief exec at the Greek media giant in 2024, used a keynote at NEM Dubrovnik to argue that broadcasters and streamers are no longer simply in the content business but rather the attention economy.

“We are in the business of creating emotion through content and experiences, of building trust in our brands, and of monetising belonging,” he said.

Creating attention, he continued, is not about producing more content or higher quality programming, but rather generating “gravity” that retains customers.

“By gravity I mean the weight that pulls people in in the first place and the attachment that leads to people to coming back, to subscribing, watching, attending, sharing, recommending, buying a ticket, joining a community, trusting a news brand, or taking their children to an experience.”

‘Total engagement’

Tewes’ strategy for Antenna is based around this approach, he said. The Greece-based firm is present in 32 countries across Europe, North America and Australia, with a portfolio that spans free and pay TV, streamers, cinemas, publishing and live events.

The exec, who ran numerous divisions at RTL and was chief content officer for its German operation, said creating a group with “gravity” would deliver “total engagement” for European companies and allow them to compete with bigger US rivals.

“If you have no size, you have no gravity. Netflix, Disney, YouTube, Amazon, Apple, Paramount, WBD and Live Nation are not simply content companies. They’re ecosystems combining content, technology, data, advertising, direct consumer relationships, franchises, experiences and global capital.”

Tewes said the smaller markets of individual countries in Europe mean mergers are essential to the viability of the sector, adding: ”Our regulation has assumed for years that competition is between national broadcasters, when the real competitive set now includes YouTube, Netflix, TikTok, Meta, Amazon and Apple. Luckily, the view of what is the competitive set is changing now and it has to.

“Only alliances, partnerships, and straight-out consolidation within our national markets will give us weight, and thereby create gravity,” he added, pointing to RTL Deutschland’s acquisition of Sky Deutschland and ITV’s potential deal with Sky in the UK.

“No size, no attention. No attention, no monetisation. If we do however, bulk up, if we do create alliances and partnerships among national broadcasters and distribution platforms, if we make it easy for consumers to find all of our national, local-language content on our platforms, we have a real chance.”

Tewes added that the TV industry and senior execs also had to focus on what viewers want, rather than “metrics that treat consumers as mini pools of profit”, while embracing live events to satisfy viewers who are “moving from passive consumption to active participation.”