RTL creates team to expand online video

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - European broadcaster RTL Group is creating a team to expand its online video business, especially in North America, responding to a change in viewing habits away from traditional broadcasting to the Internet.

RTL, majority-owned by German media group Bertelsmann [BTGGg.F], has recently invested in Canadian online video company BroadbandTV, YouTube fashion and beauty network StyleHaul and U.S. online video ad platform SpotXchange.

It says it generates more than 7 billion online video views per month with an offering primarily aimed at young viewers, many of them on Google's Youtube network.

Axel Springer, Bertelsmann's German media rival and publisher of best-selling tabloid Bild, is also expanding in English-speaking markets, including a joint venture with Politico for a European edition.

RTL's new digital hub will be run by Marcel Reichart, head of digital development and partnerships and a co-founder of the international DLD conference network, RTL said on Monday. He will report directly to RTL's co-chief executives.

"The creation of the RTL Digital Hub underlines our strategic goal to become a global force in online video and to further increase our presence in North America," co-CEOs Anke Schaeferkordt and Guillaume de Posch said.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Ludwig Burger and David Holmes)