RTL Television

RTL Television
Launched 2 January 1984
Network Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland
Owned by RTL Group
Picture format 576i 16:9 SDTV
1080i HDTV
Audience share 10.3% (2014, KEK[1])
Slogan Mein RTL (My RTL)
Country Germany
Broadcast area National
Also distributed in:
Austria
Switzerland
Luxembourg
Croatia
Netherlands
Headquarters Cologne, Germany
Formerly called RTL plus (1984–1992)
Sister channel(s) RTL II
VOX
Super RTL
N-tv
RTL Crime
RTL Living
Passion
RTL Nitro
Website www.rtl.de
Availability
Terrestrial
DVB-T Check local frequencies
Satellite
Astra 19.2°E (Europe) 12.188 GHz Horizontal
SR: 27500 FEC: 3/4
SID: 12003 Video PID: 163 Audio PID: 104 Stereo, 106 Dolby Digital
HD+ Astra 19.2°E (Germany) 10.832 GHz Horizontal
SR: 22000 FEC: 2/3
SID: 61200 Video PID: 255 Audio PID: 259 Dolby Digital
Deukom/DStv (South Africa) Channel 440
Yes (Israel) (Israel) Channel 120
Open IPTV (Europe) Channel 537
Cable
Kabel Deutschland (Germany) Channel 103 (digital)
Cablecom (Switzerland) Channel 009 (digital CH-D)
Naxoo (Switzerland) Channel 155
Ziggo (Netherlands) Channel 58
YouSee (Denmark) Channel 54
MC Cable (Monaco) -
RCS&RDS (Romania) Channel 189
UPC Romania Channel 732 (digital with DVR)
Channel 189 (digital)
Telenet (Belgium) Channel 175
SBB (Serbia) Channel 367 (digital)
NOS (Portugal) Channel 232

RTL Television (formerly RTL plus), or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite, as well as via digital terrestrial (DVB-T) in more highly populated areas. It is owned by the RTL Group and is, in terms of market share, Germany's largest private free-to-air broadcaster.

The channel started broadcasting on 2 January 1984 at 17:27 from VHF channel E7 (system B, colour PAL) in Luxembourg. It only had a theoretical audience of approximately 200,000 until 1988, when it moved its headquarters to Cologne, Germany; prior to this it was considered a Luxembourg-based station.

RTL, which began as a spin-off of the German version of Radio Luxembourg, 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 holiday.

RTL plus was famous in its early years for showing low-budget films and American programmes. It was the number 2 commercial broadcaster.

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 rights to the prestigious Fußball-Bundesliga. Deals with Cannon, which at the time was successful with films like Highlander and, one year later, with Universal Studios, finally provided more high profile films for the channel. In 2012 RTL made a deal with The Walt Disney Studios to broadcast films from Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Marvel Studios and DreamWorks Studios.[2]

The current slogan is "Mein RTL" which means My RTL in English.

It earned quite a lot of criticism, the channel is accused of faking and scripting reality and live shows.

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

Programmming aired by RTL Television

News / news magazines

Drama

Current

Upcoming

Former

Entertainment

Current

Former

Die Trickser, 2011

Comedy

Current

Former

Soap operas

Current

Former

Former American soap operas

Sport

Other American series

Current

Former

See also

External links

References