RTL Radio
Coordinates: 49°38′13.23″N 6°09′50.15″E / 49.6370083°N 6.1639306°E
- For other uses, see RTL and Radio Luxembourg.
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RTL Radio, formerly Radio Luxemburg, is commercial radio station in the German language. It began broadcasting after World War II from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on 208 metres in the medium wave band.
RTL Radio is part of the RTL Group. Today there are two stations, the German national station "RTL Radio", and "RTL Radio 93.3 & 97.0 FM". The former is broadcast via cable, satellite and on the internet. The latter, regional programme broadcasts on FM in Luxembourg, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, eastern Belgium, and Lothringen.
History
From Stuttgart the station broadcast 1950s, 60s and 70s music over the old Luxembourg frequencies (from the Grand Duchy) and via the "Oldie Sender" network in Germany.
Only a few years later Der Oldie Sender became RTL Oldies, including 1980s hits, with studios in Luxembourg and Germany-wide broadcasts on satellite and cable.
In the 1980s the German service was called "RTL 208" and broadcast between 5am and 1am CET On 1440 kHz MW (until 7pm only) 6090 kHz SW and 88.9/97.0 FM.
In 1992 Radio Luxemburg changed its format and profile to become RTL Radio. (RTL also ran a Dutch radio station called RTL Radio in the early 1990s).
After almost ten years the format changed to "Hits mit Gefühl" ("Hits with feeling"), meaning love songs and soft pop, and several game shows. For a while RTL Radio lost its AM frequency to Mega Radio, but regained the frequency.
As of 2005, the 1440 kHz frequency is still in use by the remodeled German successor RTL RADIO. Since the first of January 2005 the transmission has mainly switched to digital (01:00 AM until 05:00 AM and 09:00 AM until 06:00 PM). During the evening hours airtime is sold to international broadcasters (currently China Radio International) and religious organisations.
In addition the station utilizes a few FM frequencies (93.3 and 97.0 MHz) targeted to Germany, has slots on analog and digital cable, and transmits analog and digital signals via the Astra 1A and 1H satellites.
External links
- Homepage of RTL Radio (in German)
- Homepage of RTL Radio for Luxembourg (in German)
- History of the German service of Radio Luxemburg (in German)
