How long has RTL been in existence? All information about the station history
RTL has the largest market share among private television broadcasters. But how long has the transmitter been in existence? We will show you this, as well as an overview of the most important milestones of the transmitter in this article.
How long has RTL been in existence: The history of the television station
- RTL started broadcasting in Luxembourg on January 2, 1984, at that time under the name "RTL Plus". The name RTL comes from "Radio Télévision Luxembourg". Bertelsmann AG held 40% of the shares.
- In 1987, RTL broadcast "Guten Morgen Deutschland" for the first time on a German channel for breakfast television. At the turn of the year 1987/1988, the station moved to its current location in Cologne. In the same year, the existing news program was renamed "RTL current". To date, it has been extremely successful and, in terms of market share, is in direct competition with the ARD's Tagesschau.
- The station has been called "RTL Television" since 1992 and was the first German station to offer television around the clock in the same year. At the same time, RTL was able to assert itself as the market leader in the target group of 14- to 49-year-old viewers for the first time. The first episode of "Good Times, Bad Times" aired on May 11, 1992. GZSZ is considered the most successful daily soap on German television.
- Countless other successful productions followed, which are closely linked to the RTL name and some of which still exist today. These include, for example, "Alarm for Cobra 11 - The Autobahn Police" (since 1996), "Who wants to be a millionaire" (since 1999) or "Germany is looking for the superstar" (since 2002). RTL has also broadcast Formula 1 every year since 1991.
- By the turn of the millennium, there had been several mergers and acquisitions by Bertelsmann AG. In this way, the largest broadcasting group in Europe was created in 2000 with the RTL Group. Bertelsmann has held a majority stake in the RTL Group since 2001.
- In the mid-2000s, RTL significantly expanded its online offering. In 2007 the video on demand offer "RTLnow.de" was launched. This means that RTL programs can be viewed on the Internet even after they have been broadcast on TV. Since 2013 the station can also be received via the streaming service "Zattoo".
RTL today
- RTL achieved a market share of 10.9% in the audience group 14 - 59 years in March 2018. The station is part of the RTL Germany media group. This also includes free TV channels such as VOX, RTL 2, Super RTL and n-tv.
- The RTL Group as owner operates over 50 television and over 30 radio stations in Europe. Sales in 2017 were € 6, 373 million.
- Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, the largest media group in Europe, currently holds 75.1% of the shares in the RTL Group.
