Revenue went up, but the bottom line showed a slight dip. What kind of year was 2024?

“Revenue and operating profit were similar to 2023. The former grew by 2.5% and the latter fell by 1%. We actually did better than expected – inflation, collective bargaining and rising delivery expenses put a lot of pressure on costs. But thanks to strong performances across our various markets and our focus on controlling expenses, we were able to offset these impacts.”

How were these strong performances achieved?

“Our media attracted huge numbers of consumers, which in turn brought in advertisers. The subscriber base of our news media grew, driven largely by a strong increase in digital subscriptions. We also saw an upward trend in traffic to our websites and apps. Our radio market share increased in both countries, TV remained strong and the number of users of our video streaming services continued to grow. Our online marketplaces and comparison websites once again managed to sell more products compared to the year before. We achieved very good results in all our markets, from news media and magazines to radio, television, video and online services. Meanwhile, the transition from analogue to digital continues to move ahead at a steady clip.” 

What’s driving this success?

“As this annual report shows, most of it comes down to our people – their passion for what they do and the media and brands they create.
It’s about the quality, creativity and reliability we bring to our stories. It’s programmes like Het Conclaaf, the stories of the data editors at de Volkskrant, Mattie and Marieke’s morning show, but also the consumer advice provided by Tweakers and Independer, which are among the best of their kind. They illustrate a general trend: we’re continuing to evolve and improve at a rapid pace, because the things we make have to be better than anything else out there. That ambition is our strength.”

So it’s mostly good stories that make the difference?

“Creating top-notch media products is and always will be our foundation, but there’s so much more to it than that. There’s the ease of use of our platforms, the quality of our cybersecurity, the effectiveness of our advertising products, the timely delivery of our news­papers and magazines... We need to be excellent across the board to be successful with our consumers. That’s something we work on every day, and there are some great examples in this annual report.” 

What will be DPG Media’s key priority in the years ahead?

“We’re focusing our investments on growing the online reach of our brands, while continuing to nurture our analogue media. We still need to get much better at the digital side of our activities, across all our media, which is why we’re working on new ways to improve our online reporting and storytelling. There’s still too much reliance on the old ‘story plus photo’ formula. Digital storytelling offers opportunities to surprise, better inform or inspire consumers online through text, video and audio.

We’re also building new and better features for our streaming services, which will hopefully get a big boost once the ACM gives the go-ahead for the acquisition of RTL Netherlands. After all, it’s easier to compete with US streamers if you’re able to join forces. Meanwhile, we’re working on new ad products for video and developing many new AI-driven tools to support our employees in their daily work. To finance this long-term efficiency drive, DPG Media has secured another €120 million digital innovation loan from the European Investment Bank. This will allow us to continue investing in the digitalisation of our media.”