RTL Group
RTL Group, the leading European Entertainment Network
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| Public | |
| Traded as | : RRTL |
| Industry | Mass media |
| Founded | 11 May 1920 (as Société Luxembourgeoise d'Études Radiophoniques) 30 May 1931 (as the Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion) 2000 (as RTL Group) |
| Headquarters | Kirchberg, Luxembourg |
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Key people
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Thomas Rabe, Chairman Anke Schäferkordt, Co-CEO Guillaume de Posch, Co-CEO Elmar Heggen, CFO |
| Products | Television, radio, broadcasting, cable and content production |
| Revenue |
 €5.808 billion (2014) |
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Number of employees
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11,700 (2015) |
| Parent | Bertelsmann (75.1%) |
| Website | www.rtlgroup.com |
RTL Group is a European entertainment company. It has interests in 59 television and 31 radio stations in 10 countries. The Luxembourg-based media group operates TV channels and radio stations in Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Hungary, Croatia and Asia as well as production companies throughout the world. It is majority-owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Its shares are quoted on the Xetra stock exchange in Germany.
It is one of the world's leading producers of television content, such as game shows and soaps (particularly through its ownership of London-based FremantleMedia), including The X Factor, Pop Idol, Good Times, Bad Times, The Price Is Right, Family Feud and The Bill.
RTL originally stood for Radio Television Lëtzebuerg (in Luxemburgish), Radio Télévision Luxembourg (in French) or Radio Television Luxemburg (in German); with its English translation of the abbreviation as Radio [and] Television of Luxembourg.
The RTL Group began in 1924 with a single radio station operated from a private home in Luxembourg. In 1931 CLR or Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion, which operated Radio Luxembourg, was founded. CLR was one of 23 founding broadcasting organisations of the European Broadcasting Union in 1950. RTL Group is still an EBU-member under a previous name: CLT Multi Media. In 1954 it was renamed CLT or Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion and started television broadcasts. In 1997 it merged with Hamburg-based UFA Film- und Fernseh-GmbH (successor to the pre-1945 UFA), a subsidiary of global media conglomerate Bertelsmann to create CLT-UFA. In 2000 it merged with Pearson TV and became RTL Group. As of January 2014, Bertelsmann owns a 75.1% stake in the publicly listed company.
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Wikipedia