MOZOM-analyse

MOZOM compares: Bertelsmann, Van Thillo and European media power, monopoly or concentration?

ACM, Reuters Institute, Euromedia Ownership Monitor, Europese Commissie, DPG Media, RTL Group, Bertelsmann en Axel Springer Media 2 juli 2026 om 14:20

AI image of a European newsroom with screens, newspapers, smartphones and an abstract map of Europe illustrating media concentration.

Source: ACM, Reuters Institute, Euromedia Ownership Monitor, Europese Commissie, DPG Media, RTL Group, Bertelsmann en Axel Springer
MOZOM headline: MOZOM compares: Bertelsmann, Van Thillo and European media power, monopoly or concentration?
Original headline: The European news market is not controlled by an owner, but access to the public is through fewer and fewer gates
Author: MOZOM-redactie
Date: 2 juli 2026 om 14:20
Subject: The European news market does not have a simple legal monopoly, but the combination of DPG Media, RTL, Bertelsmann, Mediahuis, Axel Springer and Big Tech does show a strong concentration of news, distribution and advertising power.

Summary of the original report

The question is therefore not whether there is a secret European news monopoly. The better question is where power accumulates. The ACM only allowed the takeover of RTL Nederland by DPG Media to proceed under strict conditions, because DPG and RTL are both important news players. This included ensuring that RTL Nieuws and NU.nl remained freely accessible, had separate editorial offices and came under the supervision of new independent foundations. Reuters Institute calls the Dutch media landscape highly concentrated and points out that DPG Media and Mediahuis together own more than ninety percent of Dutch newspapers, while DPG also owns NU.nl. Euromedia Ownership Monitor describes that DPG will gain an even greater position in news, TV and digital distribution with RTL Netherlands. At the same time, Bertelsmann continues to build Sky Deutschland via RTL Group in Germany and RTL Group has dozens of TV channels, streaming services and radio stations. Axel Springer expanded its English-language news reach with Telegraph Media Group. That is not a simple monopoly, but a pattern of media concentration.

Own source research

MOZOM has placed four layers next to each other. First layer: ownership. In the Netherlands, Reuters Institute and Euromedia Ownership Monitor point to a highly concentrated market, with DPG Media, Mediahuis, public broadcasting and RTL as the focal points. Since July 1, 2025, RTL Nederland has been part of DPG Media, while Bertelsmann/RTL Group sold RTL Nederland for 1.1 billion euros. Second layer: guarantees. The ACM only allowed the takeover with conditions: RTL Nieuws and NU.nl must remain free, maintain separate editorial offices, not exchange editorial content or user data and fall under additional independent foundations. Third layer: European scale. Bertelsmann has major positions in European TV, radio, streaming and production through RTL Group, and RTL Group acquired Sky Deutschland/DACH. Axel Springer completed the acquisition of Telegraph Media Group in 2026. Fourth layer: distribution. Reuters Institute 2026 shows that social and video platforms have become more important on average than native news sites and apps, while organic Google search traffic to thousands of news sites fell sharply. Their own conclusion: power lies not only in who owns a newspaper, but also in who controls the route to the reader.

Striking in this message

It is striking that the word competition works both ways. Companies use the word to be allowed to grow bigger: European media need scale to compete with Big Tech. Supervisors use the same reality as a reason to demand boundaries and guarantees: if a group becomes too large, the diversity of news can come under pressure. As a result, media concentration is often presented as protection against Big Tech, while at the same time it can create new domestic gatekeepers.

Less visible context

Less visible is that editorial independence and ownership concentration can exist simultaneously. An editorial statute, foundation or charter can provide real protection. But the existence of such guarantees also shows that the risk is not imaginary. If regulators have to explicitly stipulate that NU.nl and RTL News remain separate, that user data may not be shared and that editors-in-chief are protected, then this in itself is a signal that news diversity is vulnerable to such takeovers.

Possible message behind the news

One possible message is that the future of news will be defined less by an open newsstand with single titles and more by a few big doors: media groups, search engines, social video and AI responses.

Neutral conclusion

The neutral conclusion: no, there is no evidence for a single European news monopoly of Bertelsmann, Van Thillo or any other player. But the pattern of concentration is real. DPG Media, Mediahuis, Bertelsmann/RTL, Axel Springer and Big Tech together do not form a central editorial team, but they do form a narrower infrastructure through which news reaches the public. For MOZOM, that is exactly the core: not only asking who writes the article, but also who owns the route to the reader.