RTL (German TV channel)

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RTL

Country	Germany
Broadcast area	National Also distributed in: Austria Switzerland France Italy Belgium Luxembourg Liechtenstein Netherlands Turkey Poland Romania Hungary Israel Denmark
Headquarters	Cologne, Germany
Programming
Language(s)	German
Picture format	2160p UHDTV (downscaled to 1080i and 576i for the HDTV and SDTV feeds respectively)
Ownership
Owner	RTL Group
Parent	RTL Deutschland
Sister channels	VOX n-tv Super RTL RTL Zwei Nitro RTLup VOXup RTL Crime RTL Living RTL Passion GEO Television
History
Launched	2 January 1984; 40 years ago (1984-01-02)
Former names	RTL plus (1984–1992) RTL Television (1992–2004)
Links
Website	www.rtl.de
Availability
Terrestrial
Digital terrestrial television	Channel numbers vary
Streaming media
Ziggo GO (Netherlands)	ZiggoGO.tv
RTL LIVE	RTL RTL Up RTL Crime RTL Passion RTL Living

RTL (from Radio Télévision Luxembourg), formerly RTL plus and RTL Television, is a German-language free-to-air television channel owned by RTL Deutschland, headquartered in Cologne. Founded as an offshoot of the German-language radio programme Radio Luxemburg, RTL is considered a full-service broadcaster under the Medienstaatsvertrag (Interstate Media Treaty) and is the largest private television network in Germany. As of August 2010, RTL employs some 500 permanent staff, having outsourced its news and technical departments.

In September 2021, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland (RTL Germany Media Group) was renamed RTL Deutschland. As part of the rebrand, both the group and the channel received new logos and branding.