RTL Television

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RTL Television

Type	Direct Broadcast Satellite, Cable and DVB-T (where available)
Country	Germany
Availability	National; also distributed in Austria and Switzerland
Owner	RTL Group
Key people	Anke Schäferkordt, President
Launch date	January 2, 1984
Website	www.rtl.de

RTL (formerly RTL plus) is a large German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial) in larger population centers. It belongs to the RTL Group.

It started broadcasting on January 2, 1984 at 5:27PM from VHF channel E7 in Luxembourg and at first only had a theoretical audience of approx. 200,000. Until 1988, when it moved its headquarters to Cologne, Germany, it was considered a Luxembourg-based station.

A spin-off of the German version of Radio Luxembourg, RTL started with a low budget and many of the early hosts simply presented versions of their radio formats adapted for television. One early success was the quiz show "Ein Tag wie kein anderer" (A Day Like No Other), in which candidates were competing for a dream vacation.

RTLplus was famous in its early years for showing low-budget movies and American hit-shows. It was the number 2 commercial broadcaster, which at the time did not say much: Only a limited audience with cable could see the new channels, an effect which led to many Germans going to their neighbors to watch that strange new channel from Luxembourg.

All that changed when RTL moved to Cologne and in return received the right to broadcast on terrestrial frequencies. That same year, RTL acquired the first-run right to the prestigious German Bundesliga. Deals with Cannon, which at the time was successful with films like HIGHLANDER and, one year later, with Universal Studios finally provided first-class movies for the channel.

More and more people started to watch the channel, which soon also became famous for its edgy own productions- a welcome change to the shows on public channels that had become to be perceived as old-fashioned. RTL was notorious for showing 70s soft porn every Saturday night at 11pm.

It became the market leader in the early 90s.

It is now the primary channel of the RTL Group's German television stations, which also include RTL 2, Super RTL, VOX and n-tv.

RTL’s programs are distributed for free via

analogue and digital satellite transmissions
analogue and digital terrestrial TV transmission
cable TV

In August 2006, the RTL Group announced a major overhaul of that system.

RTL, as well as its sister channels RTL II, VOX, SuperRTL and n-tv, will be encrypting their digital satellite transmission by early 2007. Therefore, one will need a decoder to watch these programs, and most importantly, a monthly fee must be paid. Furthermore, analogue satellite transmission will end after a transition period. Digital terrestrial transmission will also be encrypted (and thus a decoder will be needed and a monthly fee will have to be paid) or, if that turns out to be unfeasible, stopped. Naturally, cable customers will also have to pay an additional fee if they want to continue to receive these TV programs.

If these encryption plans go ahead – regulatory approval is pending – it will be the biggest and most profound change in the German TV landscape since the introduction of commercial television in the mid 1980s.

1 Programmes
2 See also
3 External links

[edit] Programmes

[edit] News / News Magazines

RTL Aktuell main news program broadcast daily at 18:45. The head anchor man is Peter Kloeppel.
Explosiv daily tabloid program with anchors Markus Lanz and Petra Neftel.
Exclusiv celebrity news program with anchor woman Frauke Ludowig.
Stern TV newsmagazine based on the print magazine Stern hosted by Günther Jauch.
Spiegel TV newsmagazine based on the print magazine Der Spiegel hosted by Stefan Aust and Maria Gresz.

[edit] Entertainment

Wer wird Millionär? German version of Celador format "Who Wants to Be Millionaire" hosted by Günther Jauch
Fear Factor German version of Endemol format hosted by Sonja Zietlow
Ich bin ein Star - Holt mich hier raus! German version of Granada format hosted by Sonja Zietlow and Dirk Bach
Deutschland sucht den SuperStar German version of production sister company Fremantle's Idols format started in the UK.
Big Boss A short-lived format in Germany, Fremantle holds international licences for the show except in the United States.
Der Schwächste fliegt! A short-lived German version of the British Broadcasting Company format, The Weakest Link.
Let's Dance A German version of Strictly Come Dancing
Dancing on Ice
Top Of The Pops, the German version from this British Music Show.