RTL (from ''Radio Télévision Luxembourg''), formerly RTL plus and RTL Television, is a German-language

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...

television channel owned by the

RTL Group RTL Group (for "Radio Television Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate centre in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 68 television channels and 31 radio stations in Germany, France ...

, headquartered in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. Founded as an offshoot of the German-language radio programme '' Radio Luxemburg,'' RTL is considered a full-service broadcaster under the ' (Interstate Media Treaty) and is the largest private television network in Germany. As of August 2010, RTL employs some 500 permanent staff, having outsourced its news and technical departments. In September 2021, ''Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland'' (RTL Germany Media Group) was renamed RTL Deutschland. As part of the rebrand, both the group and the channel received new logos and branding.

History

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. After

reunification A political union is a type of political entity which is composed of, or created from, smaller polities, or the process which achieves this. These smaller polities are usually called federated states and federal territories in a federal governmen ...

in 1990, broadcasting was extended to the entire country. RTL moved to

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 A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

and

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

finally provided more high-profile films for the channel. In 2012, RTL made a deal with

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It h ...

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. In July 2015, the channel introduced the slogan Wilkommen zuhause (Welcome home) to complement Mein RTL, and launched its biggest advertising campaign in 20 years. This tagline (as Wilkommen zu Hause, with a space between zu and Hause) was earlier used in the early 2000s. On 1 September 2017, RTL flattened its logo, with brighter shades of the three colours. The slogan continues to be ''Wilkommen Zuhause'', through ''Mein RTL'' would be used in rare cases. Another sister channel,

n-tv n-tv is a German free-to-air television news channel owned by the Bertelsmann Media's RTL Group. n-tv broadcasts news and weather every hour and half-hour in the morning. It also broadcasts magazine shows and documentaries. History n-tv beg ...

was rebranded on the same day. As part of a comprehensive restructuring within

Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland RTL Deutschland (formerly known as ''Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland'') is a German media company based in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in 2007 as a holding company for the German television, broadcasting and content production ...

, RTL unveiled a new identity, a new, multi-colourful logo and a new graphics package. The rebrand rolled out on 15 September 2021, as well as RTL Crime,

RTL Living RTL Living is a German pay television channel operated by the RTL Group, launched on 27 November 2006. Its programming consists of television shows about trends, lifestyle, life and travel. On October 1, 2015, RTL Group announced that it was rela ...

and RTL Passion.

Station logos

RTLplus1984.svg, Logo of RTL plus (1984–1987) RTLplus.svg, Logo of RTL plus (1987–1992) RTL.svg, Logo of RTL Television (30 October 1992 – 1999) RTL Logo.svg, Logo of RTL (31 August 2008 – 28 August 2014) RTL Logo 2014.svg, Logo of RTL (28 August 2014 – 31 August 2017) RTL Logo 2017.svg, Logo of RTL (1 September 2017 – 14 September 2021) RTL Logo 2021.svg, Logo of RTL (since 15 September 2021) RTL HD Logo 2021.svg, Logo of RTL HD (since 15 September 2021)

Audience share

Germany

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

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control RTL Group Bertelsmann subsidiaries Television stations in Germany Television stations in Austria Television stations in Switzerland Television channels in North Macedonia Television channels and stations established in 1984 Companies based in Cologne Mass media in Cologne 1984 establishments in Luxembourg