RTL II
| RTL II | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Launched | 6 March 1993 |
| Owned by | RTL Group S.A., Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG, Tele München Fernseh GmbH & Co. Medienbeteiligung KG, Burda GmbH |
| Picture format | 16:9 576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audience share | 3.7% (2015, dwdl.de) |
| Country | Germany |
| Broadcast area | National also distributed in: Austria Switzerland Southeast Europe Eastern Europe |
| Headquarters | Grünwald, Germany |
| Formerly called | RTL 2 (1993-1999) |
| Website | rtl2 |
|
Availability
|
|
| Terrestrial | |
| DVB-T | Various; region dependent |
| Satellite | |
| Astra 1L (19.2°E) | 12187.50 Horizontal 89 (DVB-S) 12226.50 Horizontal 91 (RTL II Austria; DVB-S) |
| Astra 1M (19.2°E) | 10832.25 Horizontal 57 (RTL II HD; encrypted DVB-S2) |
| Hot Bird 13A (13°E) | 11054.00 Horizontal 127 (RTL II Switzerland; DVB-S) |
| Cable | |
|
Kabel Deutschland (Germany) |
Yes (part of basic package) |
|
A1 TV (Austria) |
Channel 12 (all packages) |
|
Naxoo (Switzerland) |
Channel 168 |
|
UPC Cablecom (Switzerland) |
Channel 12 |
| IPTV | |
| Hansenet | Yes |
| T-Online | Yes |
| Telekom Austria | Yes |
RTL II is a commercial, privately owned, general-interest German television channel. In 2014 the channel had a market share of 3,9% among viewers aged over three.
RTL II started broadcasting on 6 March 1993 at 6:09 a.m. with the movie Ein reizender Fratz.
The channel is operated by RTL2 Fernsehen GmbH & Co. KG., which was founded in 1992 and employs approximately 210 people. Since June 2014 its Managing Director has been Andreas Bartl. The company was originally headquartered in Cologne, but is now run in the municipality of Grünwald, to the south of Munich; only its news department is still based in Cologne, in order to share the production facilities of RTL news. The company is jointly owned by: RTL Group S.A. (35.9%),Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG (31.5%), Tele München Fernseh GmbH & Co. Medienbeteiligung KG (31.5%, of which the and The Walt Disney Company hold 50% each). and Burda GmbH (1.1%)
Programming pillars are daily episodes of the local Big Brother in access prime-time, and a prime-time lineup consisting mostly of "docu-soaps", movies and licensed series such as 24 and Stargate SG-1. Recent efforts to move further towards quality programming with science magazines and documentaries have met with an indifferent audience response.
The channel's prime-time newscast RTL II News is frequently criticized for its selection of news stories, which are seen to cater to a young audience; for example, it has been known to put a CD release or the launch of a new gaming console in the second headline slot directly after the day's top event. This unconventional approach has brought RTL II's broadcasting licence into jeopardy at least once, as a German commercial broadcaster has to feature minimum amounts of serious informational and cultural programming to be allowed a full channel licence. In addition to its own newscast formats (RTL II News, RTL II Spezial. Das Magazin and Das Nachrichtenjournal), the channel commissions independent producers to create its own productions, which it airs in the afternoons.
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Wikipedia