Guillaume Collard tipped to head RTL Belgium

The current boss of Eleven Sports will probably succeed Philippe Delusinne as director of the private channel. This 30-year-old seems a priori to have the right pedigree.

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According to our information, it is Guillaume Collardcurrent boss of the Eleven Sports channels, who is preparing to succeed Philippe Delusinnereached the age limit, at the head of RTL Belgium. Even if nothing is officially signed, it is the choice made by the new shareholders of the private channel, the groups Rossel (Le Soir, Sudpresse, 50% of Mediafin, publisher of L’Echo) and DPG Media (Het Laatste Nieuws, VTM, etc.) which approved its takeover last week following the approval of the competition authorities for this operation at 250 million euros.

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The information has been confirmed to us by good sources even if, at Rossel, the CEO Bernard Marchant delays, indicating that he is part of the short list. Currently on vacation, Guillaume Collard did not respond to our requests, but he should be confirmed in this position next week.

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Young but experienced

No French manager or personality from outside the media world, but a young profile (he is 37 years old) who knows the sector: a rather rare CV in French-speaking Belgium. At first sight, therefore, the choice seems judicious. Admittedly, until recently, Guillaume Collard was not very well known outside the Belgian media-telecom landerneau. Boss of sports channels Eleven Sports, the man however made himself known in 2020 when the group won the broadcasting rights for the Belgian football championship for five years, with a check for 100 million euros per season.

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It was he who fought hard against the giants Telenet, Proximus and other VOO to acquire these rights. He was also the one who managed to monetize them with these same operators as well as in more than 150 countries around the world. After this purchase, Eleven Sports revenue quintupled rising in 2020-2021 to nearly 124 million euros, the net result being displayed at 4.2 million. Audiences are not to be outdone, some weekends hovering around a million viewers for the various matches of the Jupiler Pro League.

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“Digital native”

Good bilingual – this will be useful in future synergies to be developed with the DPG Media teams – Guillaume Collard seems cut out for the job. Despite his young age, he already has a great experience in telecoms and media. A graduate as a management engineer at UCLouvain, this father of two young children began his career at Proximus. So it’s a “digital native“. First in charge of market analysis and innovation, he then specialized in the content offer. This is where Eleven came to look for him in 2016 as head of development. He was then in charge of the acquisition of sports rights for the eleven countries of the Old Continent where the company is active.Three years later, he took over the management of the group in Belgium.

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His profile combining digital, knowledge of the media and experience in the purchase of rights and content undoubtedly make Guillaume Collard the right personality to lead RTL Belgium.

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A lightning career therefore since here he is now propelled to the head of the leader of commercial television in French-speaking Belgium. His profile combining digital, media knowledge and experience in the purchase of rights and content undoubtedly make him the right personality to lead RTL Belgium, where the digital revolution seems to be less successful than that of its major public competitor, RTBF. A shadow on the board, however, of this fine course: thefine of 500,000 euros (the biggest since 2006) that is about to inflict the CSA to Eleven Sports for not having declared its channels to its services, thus escaping its obligations. A fine that Eleven contests, considering that it depends only on the authority of BIPT.

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Philippe Delusinne, who will be 65 next week, should become administrator of a group he led for just twenty years, after a first part of his career spent in advertising. The end of an era.

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Guillaume Collard tipped to head RTL Belgium

Young but experienced

“Digital native”

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