What Rbb media does

Rbb media GmbH is a 100% subsidiary of public broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb), headquartered in Berlin at Kaiserdamm 80/81 with a secondary archive facility in Potsdam. Founded on 22 June 1955 as Berliner Werbefunk GmbH and renamed following the 2003 formation of rbb, the company operates three core business lines: (1) Advertising and Sponsoring—selling radio advertising time across five rbb stations (Antenne Brandenburg, Fritz, radioeins, rbb 88.8, rbb24 Inforadio), TV sponsorship in rbb programming, and podcast advertising through Hörbar Rust; (2) Licensing and Program Exploitation—managing the Sandmännchen brand and related children's characters (jointly held with MDR), licensing approximately 550 active merchandise products, and licensing TV/radio archive footage from rbb, ORB, SFB, and DRA (DDR) collections; and (3) E-Commerce and Locations—operating sandmann-shop.de, rbb-online-shop.de, and radioeins-shop.de, plus the Studio 14 rooftop event venue and Studioeins physical retail at Bikini Berlin. The Mitschnittservice provides private broadcast recordings to consumers on a tiered pricing basis.

The company is the regional media marketing arm of rbb, combining public-service broadcasting credibility with commercial media expertise. The Sandmännchen franchise—daily since 1959 with over 22,000 episodes and near-100% German brand awareness—anchors the licensing business. The combined archive holdings (~40,000 hours of DDR television plus extensive rbb, ORB, and SFB materials, including UNESCO Memory of the World-registered content) constitute a unique content library in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. rbb radio stations hold #1 and #2 market positions across Berlin-Brandenburg, with combined daily reach of approximately 1.9 million listeners.

Revenue is generated through advertising sales (regional direct sales + national via the 11.1%-owned ARD Media), licensing royalties from approximately 550 merchandise partners and documentary/archive licensees, e-commerce merchandise sales, event venue rental, and recording service fees. Customer segments span regional advertisers, licensing partners (Tonies, Trötsch Verlag, Florida Eis Manufaktur, among others), documentary filmmakers, and B2C consumers. The company also holds a 90% stake in apparat multimedia (audio production, since 1998) and a 50/50 joint venture in DOKFILM (documentary production, since 1995).

Name

Rbb media

Legal name

rbb media GmbH

Website

https://rbb-media.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1955

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rbb media GmbH is the commercial media marketing subsidiary of public broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb), selling radio/TV advertising, licensing the Sandmännchen children's brand and 70-year broadcast archives, and operating e-commerce shops and event venues across Berlin-Brandenburg.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Broadcast Media Commercialization Services

NAICS

Media Buying Agencies (541830), Media Buying Agencies (54183), Sound Recording Studios (51224), Radio Broadcasting Stations (51611), Television Broadcasting Stations (516120)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812), Radio Broadcasting Stations (4832)

akta.pro primary industry

Radio Content Production & Studios (On-air Production, Imaging, Jingles) (MPAIAEAL)

Keywords

• Radio advertising sales
• Character brand licensing
• Media archive licensing
• Broadcast sponsorship services
• Podcast advertising sales

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Radio Advertising Sales: Sale of advertising time in rbb radio programs (Antenne Brandenburg, Fritz, radioeins, rbb 88.8, rbb24 Inforadio) targeting regional and national advertisers in Berlin-Brandenburg. National market sales are handled by ARD Media.
2. TV Sponsoring: Sponsorship placements in rbb television programs (e.g., Wetter before rbb24 Abendschau, sports, entertainment) — exclusively before/after shows as rbb TV contains no commercial breaks.
3. Podcast Advertising: Sale of pre-roll and post-roll audio advertising within the 'Hörbar Rust' podcast and other rbb podcast offerings, reaching premium audiences in Berlin-Brandenburg.
4. Licensing — Brand & Merchandise (Sandmännchen and children's characters): Licensing of well-known children's TV characters (Sandmännchen, Pittiplatsch, Moppi, Schnatterinchen, MiWau, Herr Fuchs und Frau Elster, Plumps und Küken) to third-party manufacturers and retailers for merchandise products (Tonies, books, toys, care products, etc.). Approximately 550 current licensed products on the market.
5. TV & Radio Archive Licensing: Licensing of archive footage and content from rbb, DRA (DDR archives), ORB, SFB, and rbb media's own catalogue to documentary filmmakers, TV productions, publishers, and educational institutions — both commercially and non-commercially.
6. Recording/Mitschnitt Service: Sale of TV and radio broadcast recordings (on DVD/CD or as download) to private individuals for personal use. Pricing is tiered by duration. Revenue is a service fee, not funded by the broadcast license fee.
7. E-Commerce & Merchandising: Operation of online retail shops (sandmann-shop.de, rbb-online-shop.de, radioeins-shop.de) selling Sandmännchen merchandise and rbb program-related products directly to consumers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

rbb media GmbH is the 100% media-marketing subsidiary of public broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb), selling advertising time and sponsorship across five rbb radio programs, rbb television, and rbb podcasts to advertisers in Berlin-Brandenburg. It also licenses the Sandmännchen character brand and a 70-year archive of rbb/ORB/SFB/DDR television and radio content to manufacturers, documentary producers, and cultural institutions, and operates consumer e-commerce shops, a private recording (Mitschnitt) service, and event venue Studio 14.

Product overview

rbb media GmbH is a 100% subsidiary of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb) headquartered in Berlin. It operates as a diversified media services company with three core pillars: (1) Advertising & Sponsoring — offering radio advertising, radio and TV sponsorship, and podcast advertising across five rbb radio programs reaching ~1.9 million daily listeners and 700,000 daily TV viewers; (2) Licensing & Program Exploitation — managing licensing for the Sandmännchen brand and characters (Pittiplatsch, Schnatterinchen, Moppi), TV/radio archival footage (rbb, ORB, SFB, DDR), and merchandise licensing; and (3) E-Commerce, Merchandising & Locations — operating online shops (sandmann-shop.de, rbb-online-shop.de, radioeins-shop.de), the Studio 14 rooftop event venue, and event management services. The company also provides Mitschnittservice (private recording copies) and has B2B event capabilities. The portfolio is structured as a set of distinct service lines rather than a unified software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sandmännchen: Children's television character brand (Unser Sandmännchen) with licensing, merchandise, and exhibition offerings. One of Germany's most beloved children's brands since 1959.
• Studio 14 - Die rbb Dachlounge
• Hörbar Rust
• footage berlin
• sandmann-shop.de
• rbb-online-shop.de
• radioeins-shop.de
• Studioeins von radioeins

Products and services

• Radio Advertising (Radiowerbung)

Quantifiable outcome

• Antenne Brandenburg leads the Berlin-Brandenburg radio market with 172,000 daily listeners (MA 2026 Audio I)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• DOKFILM (Polyphon Film- und Fernsehgesellschaft mbH joint venture)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1995DOKFILM is a 50/50 joint venture between rbb media GmbH and Polyphon Film- und Fernsehgesellschaft mbH, founded in 1995 and based at the Media City Potsdam-Babelsberg. The company specializes in producing high-quality documentaries, features, and reports. The joint venture enables rbb media to contribute to premium factual content production beyond its core commercial mandate.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• BRmedia Service GmbH: Sales and services subsidiary of Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), performing the same commercial exploitation role for Bavaria that rbb media performs for Berlin-Brandenburg. Closest functional peer in scale and mandate.
• SWR Media Services GmbH: Commercial subsidiary of Südwestrundfunk (SWR), Baden-Württemberg/Rhineland-Palatinate. Performs advertising sales, sponsoring, and licensing for SWR's radio and TV programming — directly comparable mandate and revenue model to rbb media.
• MDR (Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk): German public broadcaster for Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia and joint rights holder with rbb for Sandmännchen and its characters. Direct peer in regional public broadcasting advertising sales, program exploitation, and children's IP licensing.
• NDR Media GmbH: Commercial arm of NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk), the northern German public broadcaster. Direct peer selling radio/TV advertising, sponsorship, and program licensing for the Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein/Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/Niedersachsen markets.
• Studio 100 Media GmbH: German arm of Belgian children's IP owner Studio 100 (Maya the Bee, Heidi). Direct peer in German-language children's brand licensing and merchandising with comparable multi-generational character IP.
• WDR Mediagroup GmbH: Commercial subsidiary of WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk), the largest ARD member broadcaster. Sells advertising, sponsorship, and program licensing for WDR content — comparable B2B advertising sales and content exploitation model.

Broad incumbents

• ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE: Major German commercial broadcaster group (ProSieben, SAT.1, Kabel Eins) with full commercial ad breaks. Adjacent incumbent in advertising sales and content exploitation at national scale.
• RTL Deutschland GmbH: Germany's largest private broadcaster group operating RTL, VOX, n-tv and streaming platform RTL+. Overlaps with rbb media in TV sponsorship/advertising sales and content licensing, but operates at national scale across commercial-only formats.

Emerging players

• Der Audio Verlag / DAV: German audiobook and radio-play publisher exploiting classic radio content (including DDR-era material). Emerging peer in monetizing legacy German audio/radio IP via modern digital channels — comparable archive exploitation model.

Others

• ARD Media GmbH: National advertising sales house for ARD, in which rbb media holds an 11.1% stake. Functions as a strategic channel partner that resells rbb's national ad inventory — adjacent ecosystem player rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@footageberlin
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rbb-media
• Instagraminstagram.com/rbb.media.gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rbb media