RTL Mulls Moving Into Pay-TV

European television giant RTL is considering moving into the pay-TV sector, group chairman Gerhard Zeiler, said in an interview with the business daily Handelsblatt on Monday. "From 2010, we'll have digital television all over Europe," he said. "Our answer will be to expand our family of channels. But not every channel can be financed via advertising. We will therefore set up channels for which the viewer must pay a fee." He further stated that potential markets include Spain and France, and possibly Germany as well. "There is currently no strategic necessity to move into the German pay-TV market. But that can change very quickly depending on the behavior of the cable suppliers and increased digitalization," Zeiler said, adding that RTL might "start one or another pay-TV project in Germany in the coming years." RTL has so far focussed on free-to-air broadcasting.