RTL is a French commercial radio network 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 and ...
. Founded in 1933 as Radio Luxembourg, it broadcast from outside France until 1981 because only public stations had been allowed until then. It is a general-interest, news, talk and music station, broadcasting nationally ("
category E" as classified by the
CSA
CSA may refer to:
Arts and media
* Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
* Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics
* Crime Syndicate of Amer ...
) in France, French-speaking Belgium, and Luxembourg. RTL also broadcasts on
long wave
In radio, longwave, long wave or long-wave, and commonly abbreviated LW, refers to parts of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave broadcasting band. The term is historic, dating from the e ...
frequency 234 KHz from
Beidweiler Beidweiler () is a village in the commune of Junglinster, in central Luxembourg. , the village has a population of 243 inhabitants.
Beidweiler is the site of the 2000 kilowatt-transmitter for transmitting the French
French (french: français( ...
which can be picked up in large parts of the continent. It has a sister station called
Bel RTL
Bel RTL is a commercial radio network broadcasting in Brussels and Wallonia (French-speaking Belgium). The station is owned by the Radio H holding company, which is part of the Luxembourg-based RTL Group. It is now owned by DPG Media and Groupe ...
tailored for the
French Community of Belgium
In Belgium, the French Community (french: Communauté française; ) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (french: Fédé ...
. As of 2018, RTL is France's most popular radio station with an average of 6.4 million daily listeners that year.
History
Radio Luxembourg

On 19 December 1929 the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg established a
state monopoly
In economics, a government monopoly or public monopoly is a form of coercive monopoly in which a government agency or government corporation is the sole provider of a particular good or service and competition is prohibited by law. It is a monopol ...
on broadcasting, but the law provided for possible concessions to private companies who wanted to use
radio bandwidth, with the state charging a fixed amount for private use of radio.
The ''Société Luxembourgeoise d'Études Radiophoniques'' (SLER) was founded on 11 May 1929 with the aim of obtaining an eventual broadcasting contract from the Luxembourg government. This company was run by Luxembourger François Anen, French publisher Henry Etienne, and French engineer Jean le Duc representing the ''Compagnie des Compteurs de Montrouge'', which possessed 84% of the project's capital and had signed a secret agreement to work with the group CSF, the main stockholder in
Radio Paris
Radio Paris was a French radio broadcasting company best known for its Axis propaganda broadcasts in Vichy France during World War II.
Radio Paris evolved from the first private radio station in France, called Radiola, founded by pioneering Frenc ...
. Radio Paris wanted to set up a powerful peripheral radio station in Luxembourg, outside of the strict French regulations that only allowed public stations. An agreement between the SLER and the Luxembourg government signed on 29 September 1930 with a duration of 25 years ensured the Luxembourg government a fee of 30% on future profits of the station. The agreement also set up a committee for programming and a technical committee which allowed the government to regulate the private station.
The
Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion
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 and ...
(CLR) was founded on 30 May 1931, officially replacing the SLER.
On 14 January 1933 experimental broadcasts by Radio Luxembourg began at 1191 mètres (200 kW), an unauthorized wavelength, from the
longwave
In radio, longwave, long wave or long-wave, and commonly abbreviated LW, refers to parts of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave broadcasting band. The term is historic, dating from the e ...
transmitter at
Junglinster
Junglinster ( lb, Jonglënster) is a commune in central Luxembourg, which draws its name from its principal town, Junglinster. It is one of six communes in the Luxembourg canton of Grevenmacher. The 18th-century St Martin's church is a national ...
. The official opening of broadcast was on 15 March 1933 at 19:00 with a pre-recorded concert of
light music. Radio Luxembourg broadcast each evening from 19:00 to 23:00, in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
,
French and
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
and was therefore the only French-language private broadcaster available in France and Belgium. Programmes in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national id ...
débuted on 3 December 1933 under the editorial guidance of
Stephen Williams.
The station closed down at the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
in 1939, but it resumed service after the War.
Beginning in 1946, it could be heard easily in France. Until the 1980s, only the French public radio networks could transmit from France itself. Radio Luxembourg was one of private "peripheral" networks transmitting from abroad.
Radio Luxembourg quickly gained a large audience in France. In the 1960s, it was faced with the success of another peripheral network from Germany,
Europe 1
Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its p ...
, which adopted a modern tone and attracted a young audience.
RTL

Radio Luxembourg's changing environment led to the station being renamed "RTL" on 11 October 1966, less obviously mentioning its connection with Luxembourg (the acronym being short for ''Radio Télévision Luxembourg'').
During the
May 1968
The following events occurred in May 1968:
May 1, 1968 (Wednesday)
* CARIFTA, the Caribbean Free Trade Association, was formally created as an agreement between Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago.
*RAF Strike ...
crisis, the French public radio networks were on strike and TV was not independent from the government. RTL and Europe 1 were the main ways of obtaining independent information for the French people. They were nicknamed "barricades radio".
Unlike the British government's treatment of the
Luxembourg English service, which was never allowed to have a landline from London, the French service has long had its main studios in Paris, with a landline from there to the transmitter. Consequently, it appears to the listener as simply a big French national radio station, as the Luxembourg connection is downplayed.
In 1981, under president
François Mitterrand
François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, ...
, privately run radio stations were allowed to broadcast in France. RTL, now broadcasting in France mostly at 104.3 MHz, was the radio network with the most listeners from 1981 to 2002.
Whereas Luxembourg's English service was always centred on light entertainment and popular music, RTL France is a mixed station. About 50% of its broadcast is information and talk focusing on news and current affairs with a large team of respected journalists.
Radio Luxembourg's two main national competitors are
Europe 1
Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its p ...
(another out-of-country commercial station, broadcasting from Saarland, again with Paris studios) and the state-owned
France Inter
France Inter () is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a " generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, l ...
. All three stations have very high-powered transmitters occupying long-wave frequencies that date back many decades.
The French service has called itself RTL for many years. It still broadcasts on 234 kHz long wave using the
Beidweiler Longwave Transmitter, but nowadays also utilizes a network of FM transmitters throughout France, as well as the internet, cable and satellite. In October 2022, RTL announced it would end its longwave broadcasts on January 1, 2023, in an effort to reduce the company's energy use.
In 1991 a separate RTL Belgian service in French, called
Bel-RTL
Bel RTL is a commercial radio network broadcasting in Brussels and Wallonia (French-speaking Belgium). The station is owned by the Radio H holding company, which is part of the Luxembourg-based RTL Group. It is now owned by DPG Media and ...
, was established. Intended for the French-speaking part of Belgium with studios in Brussels, this station is licensed (along with many competing commercial stations) by the Belgian Government with a network of FM transmitters covering Brussels and
Wallonia
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—al ...
. It has no particular connection with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg other than its ownership by the RTL parent company.
, RTL was the second-most listened to channel in France, behind
France Inter
France Inter () is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a " generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, l ...
, according to the
Médiamétrie
Médiamétrie, established in 1985, is a public limited company specialising in audience measurement and research into audio-visual and digital media usage in France. It is especially well known for its Audimat brand whose name is now part of ev ...
Étude Audience Radio survey. In the November–December 2021 survey period, RTL had about 6 million daily listeners.
Programming
RTL features a popular daily talk show named ''
Les Grosses Têtes
Les Grosses Têtes (; ("The Big Heads" or "The Big Brains" in English) is a daily comedy radio programme on the French language RTL radio network. Broadcast since 1 April 1977, the current host since 2014 has been Laurent Ruquier.
Presently bro ...
'', which has been broadcast since 1977. Other past or current programmes on RTL include:
* ''
RTL Matin'', the morning news session
* ''Ça peut vous arriver''
* ''La Tête dans les étoiles'', game with a star
* ''RTL Soir'', the evening news
* ''Les Nocturnes'', night-time broadcast on US music
* ''Stop ou Encore'', a musical broadcast
* ''
Le Journal Inattendu'' (the Unexpected News Bulletin), which consists of a news bulletin followed by a magazine conceived by a guest; was created in 1967; current anchor since 2011 is
Marie Drucker
Marie Drucker (born 3 December 1974) is a French journalist, author, television and radio personality.
Early life
The daughter of Jean Drucker, a French television executive, and a niece of Michel Drucker, a television journalist, she was educ ...
* ''
Le Grand Jury'', a political broadcast
* ''Malice'', a cultural game
* ''Hit Parade'', a musical chart
* ''La Valise RTL'', a game
Station slogans
* 1977–1979: « ''RTL, c'est vous'' »
* 1990–: « ''Les infos, c'est comme le café, c'est bon quand c'est chaud et quand c'est fort'' »
* 1991–: « ''RTL, L'information en capitales'' »
* 1990s–: « ''RTL, La vie en trois lettres'' »
* 1996–: « ''RTL, Essentiel'' »
* 2001–2005: « ''RTL, Vivre ensemble'' »
* 2006–2007: « ''RTL, c'est vous'' »
* 2007–2008: « ''Le plus RTL'' »
* 2008–2009: « ''100 % RTL » ; « RTL, c'est vous'' »
* 2009–2011: « ''RTL, première radio de France'' »
* 2011–: « ''Qui vous connait mieux que RTL ?'' »
* Since 2012: « ''RTL, toujours avec vous'' »
* Since 2014 : « ''RTL Première radio de France'' »
Administration
List of RTL/Radio Luxembourg presidents:
* 1933–1953:
Jacques Lacour-Gayet
* 1965–1975:
Jean Prouvost
Jean Prouvost (24 April 1885, Roubaix – 18 October 1978, Yvoy-le-Marron) was a businessman, media owner and French politician. Prouvost was best known for building and owning the publications that became ''France-Soir'', ''Paris Match'', and '' T ...
* 1975–1979:
Christian Chavanon
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
* 1979–2000:
Jacques Rigaud
Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are ov ...
* 2000–2005:
Rémy Sautter
Rémy (; pcd, R’my) is a commune in the department of Pas-de-Calais in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
Rémy lies in the valley of the river Sensée, some southeast of Arras, on the D9 road.
Population
Places of interes ...
* 2005–2009:
Axel Duroux
* Since 2009:
Christopher Baldelli
List of director-generals/heads of programming:
* 1933–1934:
Jehan Martin Jehan is a male given name. It is the old orthography of Jean in Old French, and is rarely given anymore. It is also a variant of the Persian name Jahan in some South Asian languages.
People with the given name Jehan
* Jehan Adam (15th century) ...
* 1934–:
René-Louis Peulvey
* 1966–1978:
Jean Farran
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* J ...
* 1978–1985:
Raymond Castans
Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ...
* 1985–2000:
Philippe Labro
Philippe Labro (born 27 August 1936) is a French author, journalist and film director. He has worked for RTL, ''Paris Match'', TF1 and Antenne 2. He is a laureate of the Prix Interallié, a French literary distinction founded in 1930, which ...
* 2000–:
Stéphane Duhamel
* 2001–2005:
Robin Leproux
Robin Leproux (born 22 July 1959) is a French Businessperson, businessman. He was the president of French Association football, football club Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain from 2009 to 2011. Leproux was graduated from Reims Manag ...
* 2005–2006:
Axel Duroux
* 2006–2010:
Frédéric Jouve
Frédéric and Frédérick are the French language, French versions of the common male given name Frederick (given name), Frederick. They may refer to:
In artistry:
* Frédéric Back, Canadian award-winning animator
* Frédéric Bartholdi, French ...
** 2007–2008: Deputy head of programming:
Jean-Marc Dorangeon
Jean-Marc is a French masculine given name. It may refer to:
* Jean-Marc Adjovi-Bocco (born 1963), Beninese former football player
* Jean-Marc Ayrault (born 1950), French politician
* Jean-Marc Barr (born 1960), French-American film actor and dir ...
* 2010–2012:
Yves Bigot
Yves may refer to:
* Yves, Charente-Maritime, a commune of the Charente-Maritime department in France
* Yves (given name), including a list of people with the name
* ''Yves'' (single album), a single album by Loona
* ''Yves'' (film), a 2019 Fr ...
* 2012–2018:
Jacques Expert
Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are ov ...
* Since 2017:
Gauthier Hourcade Gauthier () is a French name of Germanic origin, corresponding to the English given name Walter.
People with the given name
*Gauthier de Costes, seigneur de la Calprenède
*Gauthier de Brienne, Counts Walter III of Brienne, Walter IV of Brienne, ...
* Since 2017:
Ghislain Thomas
Masculine Ghislain, Guislain, Gislain or Ghiselin and feminine Ghislaine or Ghyslaine is a French personal name used in countries with French-speaking populations. The name derives from Germanic words ''gis'' ("information") and ''lind'' ("sweet"). ...
List of ''directeurs de l'antenne'':
* 2005–2006:
Jean-François Latour
Jean-François is a French given name. Notable people bearing the given name include:
* Jean-François Carenco (born 1952), French politician
* Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832), French Egyptologist
* Jean-François Clervoy (born 1958), Fre ...
* Since 2006:
Jean-Yves Hautemulle
See also
*
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 and ...
*
Jacques Danois, RTL reporter
External links
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rtl (French Radio)
Radio stations in France
Radio stations in Luxembourg
French-language radio stations
International broadcasters
Mass media companies of Luxembourg
RTL Group
1933 establishments in Luxembourg
Radio stations established in 1933
Longwave radio stations
News and talk radio stations