VOX (television)
| Vox | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Launched | 25 January 1993 |
| Owned by |
RTL Group (49.9%) RTL Television (49.8%) DCTP (0.3%) |
| Picture format |
576i (16:9 SDTV) 1080i (16:9 HDTV) |
| Audience share | 5.4% (March 2017, KEK) |
| Country | Germany |
| Broadcast area |
Germany Austria Switzerland Europe |
| Affiliates | VOX Austria VOX CH (Switzerland) |
| Headquarters | Cologne, Germany |
| Website | www |
|
Availability
|
|
| Terrestrial | |
| DVB-T2 | Various; region dependent (HD / encrypted) |
| Cable | |
| Kabel Deutschland (Germany) | Channel 106 (SD) / Channel 117 (HD) |
| UPC Switzerland (Switzerland) | Channel 21 (HD) |
| IPTV | |
| Telekom Entertain (Germany) | Channel 6 (SD/HD) |
VOX or Vox is a German television channel, headquartered in Cologne and part of the RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company. The channel officially launched at 5:00pm on January 25, 1993. Prior to that, test transmissions had been made using the informal name Westschienenkanal (West slot channel, a reference to Nordschienenkanal and Südschienenkanal, the informal names used in the 1980s for the other two German private channels RTL and Sat.1). The channel mainly broadcasts documentaries and US series and movies.
One of the most successful programs on VOX was "Wa(h)re Liebe" (1994–2004), a TV magazine about sexuality (sex clubs, fetishism, BDSM ...), hosted by Lilo Wanders.
VOX started transmitting on January 25, 1993. It competed with public television by broadcasting many live and informational programmes. The channel was originally owned by an assortment of German media companies:
The director of programming at launch was Ruprecht Eser. One year after the channel's launch it seemed clear that the original programme concept would not work. Market share among the target group relevant for advertisers was at 1.5%, too low to attract much advertising. VOX took significant losses. By February 1994, all the original partners except UFA and DCTP sold their stakes. As a result of the losses, the quality of programmes began to decline. VOX had to repeat its movies every few weeks to fill the schedule. On April 1, 1994, VOX went into liquidation. More than 250 employees were laid off.
VOX's logo consists of the letters V and X, with a red circle "eye" using negative space to create the O.
By November 1994 VOX had new owners:
Gradually, VOX gained a foothold in the German television landscape. In 1998, VOX signed an output deal with 20th Century Fox, leading to more series and movies being broadcast alongside magazine-style shows. In December 1999, RTL Television bought out News Corporation. A short time later, canal+ sold its share to UFA (Bertelsmann AG). 99.7% of the channel now belonged to RTL Group, with the remaining 0.3% held by DCTP.
...
Wikipedia