RTL Television - Definition and Overview

RTL Television (formerly RTL plus) is Germany's biggest commercial private 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.

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.

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

Entertainment

• Wer wird Millionär? adaptation of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? hosted by Günther Jauch
• Fear Factor adaption of the American show hosted by Sonja Zietlow
• Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! adaptation of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!
• Deutschland sucht den Superstar adaption of Pop Idol

Comedy

• Die Camper sitcom set at a campsite
• Freitag Nacht News comedy news show hosted by Henry Gründler
• 7 Tage, 7 Köpfe comedy panel show
• Schulmädchen sitcom about rivaling school girls
• Nikola sitcom set at a hospital

Soap operas

• Gute Zeiten, Schlechte Zeiten adaptation of the Dutch format Goede tijden, slechte tijden
• Unter Uns

Sports

• Skispringen (ski jumping) hosted by Günther Jauch and Dieter Thoma
• Formula 1 hosted by Florian König and Niki Lauda

External links

• Official web site (http://www.rtl.de)