Values

Instead, the company began holding
meetings with other publishing colleagues
from companies such as Bauer,
Burda, Springer, WAZ or the Frankfurt
Allgemeine newspaper. There was
enormous interest in a publishing-television
project, but no one seemed to
have the necessary know-how and
technology for such a venture.
Bertelsmann fi nally fi nds what it was
looking for in Luxembourg. There, Austrian
executive Helmut Thoma had been
heading the German radio service of the
Compagnie Luxembourgoise de Télédiffusion
(CLT) since 1982. The German
service fi rst hit the airwaves as “Radio
Luxemburg” in 1957. During the 60s and
70s, it became one of the most popular
radio stations in Germany under the
leadership of Frank Elstner and his team.
For millions of Germans at the start of the
80s, RTL was already synonymous with
unconventional, diverse entertainment,
thanks to Luxembourg’s “hit” station.
Spurred on by the success of the radio
station, Thoma wanted to get involved in
the start of private television in Germany,
and was also looking for a partner.
There was already a connection to
Bertelsmann, as RTL Radio had a cooperation
agreement with the Bertelsmann
book club. Meetings ensue, and then, in
December 1983, a partnership is formed.
Together, CLT and Bertelsmann agreed
to establish a private German broadcaster.
Bertelsmann took a 40 percent stake.
In addition to television production
technology and a tall transmitter tower
from which to broadcast the pictures,
CLT had two crucial advantages: a positive
atmosphere and improvisational talent.
Thanks to these qualities, decisions
were made quickly and pragmatically.
CLT was also launching a private station
in the Netherlands, and was already producing
TV programs for France, Belgium,
and Luxembourg. Thoma decided to use
the same promo trailers produced by his
Dutch colleagues for the German launch
– name and logo included: RTL Plus is
born. Today, RTL Group, the leading
European broadcasting company, continues
to be based in Luxembourg.
Thoma found the name “practical,”
because it signaled to Germans that
they would fi nd the “familiar and successful
RTL Radio, plus pictures,”
whether in the form of news, music, or
humorous talk shows. That is how the
new station started when it went on the
air at 5:27 p.m. on January 2, 1984.
– 20 –
LOGO DEVELOPMENT
The first logo is from the predecessor
in Luxembourg; the logo and
name of RTL Plus for the 1984
launch was taken over from CLT in
order to save costs. The third logo
was created to coincide with the
transfer from Luxembourg to
Cologne. Now, the broadcaster is
known by its tri-color logo, and is
easily recognized by viewers.
1984
1984
1988
1992
1993
2004
In the fi rst few minutes, it was already
evident that humor will be the
constant companion of the programming:
dressed as a doctor, radio host
Rainer Holbe was shown in the operating
room, assisting at the birth of a television
bearing the RTL Plus logo. The
fact that the new channel chose to celebrate
its broadcasting start with a
cheeky grin is proof that the team
wasn’t planning on following convention.
In the early stages, RTL broadcast
for fi ve hours, from 5:30 until 10:30
p.m. A former bus garage served as a
production studio. There was a group
of chairs, a bar, and a news desk, but
there was no money for anything else.
“Our annual budget at that time
wouldn’t cover a single afternoon at today’s
RTL,” Jochen Pützenbacher, one
of the fi rst presenters, says with a smile.
At 25 million marks (12.5 million euros),
the budget was modest – about a
tenth of what rival Sat.1 invested in its
fi rst year of operations.
As RTL wasn’t available on cable in
the beginning, the programs could only
be seen in parts of Saarland and
Rhineland-Palatinate. Only 200,000
households were able to receive the
station via rooftop antennae. To attract
new viewers, RTL Radio started broadcasting
ads, which were then shown
hours later – complete with pictures –
on RTL Plus. Employees produced their
own live programs, played video clips,
or just sat in front of the camera while
playing songs.
Thoma continued to pursue the
unusual strategy of giving a face to an
already popular radio program, which
appeared to be working. Some of his radio
hosts with television experience
couldn’t have been happier. Rainer Holbe
had already hosted ZDF’s “Starparade,”
Helga Guitton was once on ZDF’s “Liederzirkus”
as well as NDR’s “Aktuelle
Schaubude,” and Jochen Pützenbacher
had been on WDR television. “We had a
lot of celebrity guests, did live talk shows,
and let stars sing their hits to recorded
music,” says Pützenbacher. It was risky,
authentic, and went down well with
viewers. The station started to attract an
audience, and the program makers were
having fun.
When German folk/pop artist
Roy Black was a guest on one of the
shows, he lost a crown while singing.
Laughter broke out around the studio,