RTL (German TV channel)
RTL Television (formerly RTL plus) is Germany's biggest commercial television company. It belongs to the RTL Group.
It started broadcasting on January 2, 1984 at 5:27PM from VHF channel 7 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. They were 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, who at the time were 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, which were a welcome change to the shows on public channels, which were 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. Its programming had been streamlined and today, you could hardly see the difference between RTL and e.g. NBC.
The current CEO is Gerhard Zeiler.
Shows aired on RTL
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 Schweers.
- 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.
Entertainment
- Wer wird Millionär? German version of Celador format 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 RTL's own format started in the UK.
- Big Boss A short-lived format in Germany, RTL 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.
- Let's Dance A German version of Strictly Come Dancing
Comedy
- Golden Girls
- Golden Palace
- Reba
- Yes, Dear
- Schulmädchen sitcom about schoolgirls
- Die Camper sitcom set at a campsite
- Nikola sitcom set at a hospital
- Ritas Welt sitcom set at a supermarket
- Freitag Nacht News comedy news show hosted by Henry Gründler
- 7 Tage, 7 Köpfe comedy panel show hosted by Jochen Busse
Soap operas
- Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten adaptation of the Dutch format Goede tijden, slechte tijden
- Unter Uns
- Hinter Gittern - Der Frauenknast Adaption of Prisoner: Cell Block H
Sports
- Formula One hosted by Florian König and Niki Lauda
- Ski jumping hosted by Günther Jauch and Dieter Thoma