RMB

RMB (Régie Média Belge) is a Belgian multi-media advertising sales house (régie publicitaire) founded on 11 October 1985 by the French-language public broadcaster RTBF and the Cinéma Publicitaire Belge. It is one of the largest advertising sales houses in Belgium, headquartered in Brussels, and it acts as the commercial representative of media owners — selling advertising space and airtime on television, radio, cinema, websites and other digital platforms to advertisers and agencies across Belgium. RMB was created to commercialise the advertising activities of its founders. In its early years it sold cinema advertising and non-commercial, unbranded television spots on the public channel, before commercial television advertising was authorised in Belgium on 1 September 1989. It became the commercial operator for RTBF radio advertising in 1991, and after the TVB revenue-sharing system was abandoned in 1996 it was able to develop RTBF's advertising revenues independently. An international cinema-advertising venture, RMB International, was eventually sold to Screenvision in 2002. In February 2007 UGC withdrew from the shareholding, leaving RTBF with full control (99.88%). Today RMB describes itself as a pioneering, innovative and award-winning sales house, combining commercial expertise, marketing, data and creativity. It represents more than 30 strong media brands and reaches over 3.3 million viewers, listeners and surfers each week, offering advertisers more than 50 advertising solutions. Beyond selling airtime and space, RMB operates Slice, a full-service content agency that creates and produces video, audio, podcasts, live streaming and influencer campaigns, notably targeting Generation Z. RMB also runs BLUE by RMB, an initiative promoting more sustainable advertising and marketing. RMB positions itself as "Move Ahead" — a sales house that goes beyond the traditional role of selling media space, fostering exchanges, alliances and tailor-made solutions for brands. It organises industry events such as its 2026 Brussels conference on human connection in advertising, and has been repeatedly recognised at the AMMA awards.

RMB (Régie Média Belge) was founded on 11 October 1985 by the French-language public broadcaster RTBF and the Cinéma Publicitaire Belge (CPB), to commercialise their combined advertising activities. Its general management was entrusted to Christiane Dardenne, from CPB, and Pierre-Paul Vander Sande, from RTBF. At the time, the sales house was authorised to sell cinema advertising and non-commercial, unbranded television spots on the public channel; ingenuity was required to find associations able to sponsor these spots without showing advertisers' brands. Until then, the entire Belgian television advertising market passed through Luxembourg, with RTL Télévision the only channel broadcasting spots aimed at Belgium, priced in Luxembourg francs. Flanders only opened to TV advertising in February 1989 with the arrival of VTM. After Sandra Kim's Eurovision victory, RTBF had to organise the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest, and the supervisory authority authorised sponsorship. For the first time, four brands appeared on screen just before Eurovision: Spa, Coca-Cola, Sabena and Générale de Banque. Meanwhile RTL-TVI, recognised by the French Community, obtained a guarantee of a monopoly on TV advertising until 2002, but advertisers and agencies wanted the market opened to competition. After elections changed the coalitions, the socialists renegotiated the audiovisual agreements. RTBF was in debt and needed alternative financing, so the Government authorised commercial advertising from 1 September 1989. To avoid losing its grip on Belgian advertising, RTL-TVi negotiated the "accord TVB": a decree split advertising revenues between the two channels — 75% for RTL-TVi and 25% for RTBF — with compensation also for the written press. IPB, RTL's sales house, would commercialise RTBF's advertising space, selling it in "packages" called "nômes", made up of three spots (two on RTL, one on RTBF). The real spot prices, not disclosed to the market, corresponded to a secret rate called "alpha". On 1 September 1989 commercial advertising appeared on RTBF: the first spot, "Milka Lila Pause", was broadcast on RTBF1, exploding the advertising monopoly conceded to RTL-TVi in 1987 for 14 years. For the public channel, RMB initially had to limit itself to selling sponsorship, non-commercial advertising, and local and regional advertising, which fell outside the TVB scope. In 1991, following the BRTN, RTBF was authorised to broadcast commercial advertising on radio as well, and RMB became its commercial operator. Opening public radio to advertising led the radio medium to an exceptional share of the advertising pie, exceeding 10%, and also allowed private operators to develop their audiences and advertising revenues dramatically. In 1996 the TVB system was abandoned in favour of independent commercialisation, and RMB could freely develop RTBF's revenues, though RTBF remained subject to heavier advertising constraints (forbidden sectors, limited advertising time) than the private channel. A European development took shape under the holding "RMB International", initially focused on cinema and ultimately represented in no fewer than 17 countries; the venture ended in 2002 with the sale of this international activity to Screenvision, associating Thomson and Carlton. Cinema thus left RMB's Belgian activities. After Pierre-Paul Vander Sande's departure, Yves Gérard took the reins of RMB. In February 2007, UGC withdrew from RMB's shareholding, leaving the entire control of the sales house to RTBF. Over the years RMB built a reputation for excellence in marketing tools and studies made available to the market, rewarded by a double title at the AMMA awards for 2007. In early 2010, the Government of the French Community concluded a difficult budgetary exercise reducing RTBF's public endowment and imposing constraints on it. Today RMB describes itself as one of the most important advertising sales houses in Belgium, headquartered in Brussels but operating across the whole Belgian territory. It manages advertising campaigns for international, national, regional and local advertisers on TV, radio, cinema, websites and other digital platforms. Through its content agency Slice, it also creates and produces content — video and audio formats, podcasts, live streaming and influencer campaigns. It represents more than 30 media brands, reaches over 3.3 million viewers, listeners and surfers weekly, and offers more than 50 advertising solutions. It has been repeatedly recognised at the AMMA awards and runs initiatives such as BLUE by RMB for more sustainable advertising.

• The Government of the French Community of Belgium authorises RTBF to broadcast non-commercial advertising.

• RMB is founded by RTBF and the Cinéma Publicitaire Belge to commercialise their advertising activities.

• Sponsorship is authorised for the Eurovision Song Contest; four brands (Spa, Coca-Cola, Sabena, Générale de Banque) appear on screen for the first time.

• Commercial advertising is authorised on RTBF; the first spot, 'Milka Lila Pause', airs on RTBF1.

• RTBF is authorised to broadcast commercial advertising on radio; RMB becomes its commercial operator.

• The TVB revenue-sharing system is abandoned in favour of independent commercialisation; RMB can freely develop RTBF's revenues.

• RMB International, the international cinema-advertising venture, is sold to Screenvision (Thomson and Carlton).

• UGC withdraws from RMB's shareholding, leaving RTBF with full control (99.88%).

• RMB wins a double title at the AMMA awards for its marketing tools and studies.

• RMB hosts a Brussels conference on human connection in advertising.

A pioneering, innovative and award-winning Belgian multi-media advertising sales house that goes beyond traditional media space selling, combining commercial expertise, marketing, data and creativity to deliver tailor-made, high-ROI solutions for brands.

• Television advertising sales

  Sale of advertising airtime on television channels represented by RMB.

• Radio advertising sales

  Sale of advertising airtime on radio stations represented by RMB.

• Cinema advertising

  Sale of cinema advertising, part of RMB's original activities.

• Digital advertising

  Sale of advertising on websites and other digital platforms.

• Slice content agency

  Full-service content creation and production: video, audio, podcasts, live streaming, influencer marketing, Gen Z formats.

• BLUE by RMB

  Initiative promoting more sustainable advertising and marketing.

• Unconfirmed

  RMB partners with Pele Green Energy on solar project financing[7]RMB与Pele Green Energy合作开展太阳能项目融资engineeringnews.co.za

  RMB partnered with Pele Green Energy on the Touwsrivier CPV Solar Power project, arranging and funding a transaction that enabled Pele to refinance its equity loan.

Read more

1. 1RMB – Votre partenaire média en publicité multi-canalrmb.be
2. 2Marketing & publicité plus durables : RMB & BLUErmb.be
3. 3Boostez votre visibilité avec la régie publicitaire RMBrmb.be
4. 4Agence de contenu full-service unique en Belgique | RMBrmb.be
5. 5RMB (entreprise) – Wikipédiafr.wikipedia.org
6. 6RMB – Wikidatawikidata.org
7. 7RMB与Pele Green Energy合作开展太阳能项目融资engineeringnews.co.za
8. 8RMB partners with black-owned renewable energy firm Pele Green Energybusinessday.co.za