The KirchGroup's arch rival RTL Television is in talks with Warner Bros to sign a $200m film package spanning such titles as The Matrix, The Lord Of The Rings, Ocean's Eleven and Harry Potter.

According to the daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the deal will allow RTL seven screenings of each film and allow them also to be carried on sister channel Vox.

The destination of the Warner package had been unclear following the decision last November by Warner Bros International Television Distribution to take back the titles from the beleaguered Kinowelt group.

In 1999 Kinowelt outbid other licence traders and broadcast end users to win a package including 270 feature films and TV movies and over 600 episodes of series and documentaries. But it subsequently found it difficult to re-license the titles to broadcasters at the prices it was asking.