RTL (German TV channel)

RTL (called RTL plus from 1984–1992 and RTL Television from 1992–2004) is a German free-to-air television channel owned by the RTL Group and is the largest private network in Germany.

RTL
Launched2 January 1984 (1984-01-02)
NetworkMediengruppe RTL Deutschland
Owned byRTL Group
Picture format2160p 4K UHD
1080i HDTV
(downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed)
Audience share7.8% (July 2018 (2018-07), KEK)
SloganWillkommen zuhause
(Welcome Home)
CountryGermany
LanguageGerman
Broadcast areaNational
Also distributed in:
Austria
Switzerland
France
Italy
Belgium
Luxembourg
Liechtenstein
Netherlands
Turkey
Eastern Europe
HeadquartersCologne, Germany
Formerly calledRTL plus (1984–1992)
RTL Television (1992–2004)
Sister channel(s)RTL Zwei
VOX
Super RTL
n-tv
RTL Crime
RTL Living
RTL Passion
Nitro
RTLplus
Websitewww.rtl.de
Availability
Terrestrial
Digital terrestrial televisionChannel numbers vary
Satellite
Astra 19.2°E (Europe)12188 H 27500 3/4 (SD) Germany
12226 H 27500 3/4 (SD) Austria & Switzerland
HD+ (Germany)10832 H 22000 2/3 (HD)
11391 H 22000 5/6 (UHD)
Sky DeutschlandChannel 183 (SD)
Channel 163 (HD)
DStv (Africa)Channel 440
Yes (Israel)Channel 120
Canal Digitaal (Netherlands)Channel 114 (SD)
Channel 181 (SD) Austria
Telekom (Serbia)Channel 650
Total TV (Bosnia and Herzegovina)Channel 793
Cable
Kabel DeutschlandChannel 103 (SD) / Channel 114 (HD)
UPC SwitzerlandChannel 14 (HD)
Naxoo (Switzerland)Channel 155
Ziggo (Netherlands)Channel 58 (SD)
Caiway (Netherlands)Channel 42 (SD)
YouSee (Denmark)Channel 54
MC Cable (Monaco)Channel 118
RCS&RDS (Romania)Channel 189
UPC RomaniaChannel 732
Telenet (Belgium)Channel 175
mtsTV (Serbia)Channel 650 (digital)
NOS (Portugal)Channel 232
Vivacom (Bulgaria)Channel 103
DELTA (Netherlands)Channel 455 (SD)
Kabel Noord (Netherlands)Channel 114 (SD)
Telemach (Bosnia and Herzegovina)Channel 260 (SD)
SBB (Serbia)Channel 286
IPTV
Telekom EntertainChannel 3
KPN (Netherlands)Channel 46 (HD)
Tele2 (Netherlands)Channel 223 (SD)
T-Mobile (Netherlands)Channel 397 (SD)
Streaming media
Ziggo GO (Netherlands)ZiggoGO.tv (Europe only)
EON TV (Bosnia, Serbia, Slovenia and Montenegro)EON TV

History

The channel started broadcasting on 2 January 1984 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 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 contestants competed for a holiday.

RTL plus was famous in its early years for showing low-budget films and American programmes. In 1988, it was the second most-viewed channel.[1]

After reunification in 1990, broadcasting was extended to the entire country. RTL moved to Cologne and received the right to broadcast on free-to-air frequencies. That same year, RTL acquired the first-run rights to the German Football First Division. Deals with Cannon and Universal Studios finally provided more high-profile films for the channel. In 2012, RTL made a deal with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures to air films from its media library until 2016, when it switched to Universal, as Disney Channel was relaunched as a free-to-air channel competing with RTL.[2]

Audience share

Germany

January February March April May June July August September October November December Annual average
19850.4%
1986 0.7%
1987 1.2%
1988 4.1%
1989 10.0%
1990[3] 11.5%
1991[4] 14.4%
1992[5] 16.7%
1993[6] 18.9%
1994[7] 17.5%
1995[8] 17.6%
1996[9]16.6%16.6%18.2%18.6%18.1%15.5%15.6%16.7%17.2%16.7%17.4%16.5% 17.0%
1997[10]15.9%16.0%16.4%17.8%17.0%15.9%14.8%14.7%16.9%16.9%15.7%14.9%16.1%
1998[11]14.2%14.2%16.2%16.2%15.6%13.8%14.4%15.7%16.3%15.1%15.2%14.6% 15.1%
1999[12]13.6%13.9%15.0%15.8%15.9%15.3%14.9%15.3%15.5%15.4%14.3%13.6% 14.8%
2000[13]14.0%14.0%13.8%14.3%14.4%13.7%14.0%14.2%14.0%14.6%15.1%14.7% 14.3%
2001[14]14.3%13.4%15.3%15.9%16.9%13.6%14.3%13.4%15.5%15.4%14.6%14.5% 14.8%
2002[15]15.0%13.2%14.9%16.1%15.2%12.6%14.5%13.2%15.4%15.5%15.2%14.4% 14.6%
2003[16]15.8%15.7%16.0%15.3%15.5%14.3%13.7%13.5%15.5%14.9%13.9%13.8% 14.9%
2004[17]15.2%13.8%13.9%14.1%14.5%12.2%13.1%12.3%14.5%14.4%14.0%12.8% 13.8%
2005[18]13.1%12.5%12.9%13.6%14.1%13.1%12.7%12.3%14.0%13.5%13.5%12.9% 13.2%
2006[19]13.0%12.3%13.4%12.8%13.7%12.8%12.1%12.7%13.0%13.1%12.6%11.9% 12.8%
2007[20]12.6%12.0%12.6%12.8%12.9%12.8%12.4%11.8%13.1%12.9%12.1%11.1% 12.4%
2008[21]11.8%11.5%11.7%12.5%12.4%9.8%11.6%10.5%12.5%12.1%12.9%11.5% 11.7%
2009[22]12.6%11.8%12.4%12.8%12.4%11.6%11.4%10.9%13.3%13.5%14.0%12.9% 12.5%
2010[23]12.7%12.7%13.7%14.0%13.6%12.7%12.5%12.8%14.5%14.8%15.3%13.6% 13.6%
2011[24]15.2%14.1%13.7%14.6%14.9%12.5%13.3%13.2%14.8%14.6%14.3%13.3% 14.1%
2012[25]14.1%13.1%13.4%12.7%11.9%10.6%11.5%10.5%12.7%12.3%12.7%10.8% 12.3%
2013[26]13.1%11.3%11.2%12.1%11.4%10.8%10.9%10.4%10.7%11.7%11.5%10.3% 11.3%
2014[27]12.8%10.4%10.6%10.6%10.6%8.4%9.0%9.0%10.0%11.5%10.7%9.5% 10.3%
2015[28]11.3%9.6%9.8%9.9%9.9%9.7%9.2%9.0%10.6%10.6%10.1%9.1% 9.9%
2016[29]11.7%10.0%9.6%10.0%9.8%8.3%9.0%8.3%10.1%10.4%10.0%9.2% 9.7%
2017[30]11.0%8.8%9.3%9.4%9.5%9.0%8.5%8.5%9.0%9.4%9.0%8.1% 9.2%
2018[31]9.7%8.4%8.5%8.6%8.3%7.5%7.8%

The average age of the viewers is 48.9 years (as of 2016).[32]

References

  1. Audience shares 1988: RTL 4.1% and SAT.1 5.6%, see Marktanteile der Fernsehsender at Fernsehen in Deutschland (de)
  2. Roxborough, Scott (1 February 2012). "Disney Signs Multi-Year Package Deal With Germany's RTL". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  3. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1990" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  4. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1991" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  5. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1992" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  6. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1993" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  7. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1994" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  8. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1995" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  9. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1996" (PDF). kek-online.de. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  10. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1997" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  11. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1998" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  12. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 1999" (PDF). kek-online.de. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  13. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2000" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  14. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2001" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  15. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2002" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  16. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2003" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  17. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2004" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  18. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2005" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  19. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2006" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  20. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2007" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  21. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2008" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  22. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2009" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  23. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2010" (PDF). kek-online.de. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  24. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2011" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  25. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2012" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  26. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2013" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  27. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2014" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  28. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2015" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  29. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2016" (PDF). kek-online.de. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  30. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2017" (PDF). kek-online.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  31. "KEK/Zuschaueranteile 2018" (PDF). kek-online.de. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  32. Mantel, Uwe (14 March 2017). "Langzeit-Entwicklung des TV-Markts: Wie die Sender gealtert sind – und wer sich dagegen stemmt". dwdl.de. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
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