Owned by RTL Group Founded 2 October 1989 | Audience share 14,6% (2014, ) Owner RTL Group | |
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Launched 2 October 1989; 27 years ago (1989-10-02) Network RTL Nederland (2004-present)
Holland Media Groep (1996-2004)
RTL 4 S.A. (1990-1996) Picture format 576i (SDTV) 16:9
1080i (HDTV) 16:9 Slogan "Natuurlijk bij RTL 4" (English: On RTL 4 of course) Motto "Natuurlijk bij RTL 4" (English: On RTL 4 of course) Headquarters Hilversum, Luxembourg City TV shows The Voice of Holland, RTL Late Night, Koffietijd, Telekids, Eigen Huis & Tuin Profiles | ||
RTL 4 (Radio Télévision Luxembourg 4) is a major commercial television station in the Netherlands. It is the most-watched commercial station in the country, popular especially with those aged between 20 and 49. RTL 4 is a general entertainment channel with infotainment, television drama, talk shows, game shows, news and talent shows. It is owned by RTL Nederland, a subsidiary of RTL Group. The station has three sister TV channels: RTL 5, RTL 7 and RTL 8, and four thematic TV channels: RTL Z, RTL Lounge, RTL Crime and RTL Telekids.
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Officially RTL 4 - along with RTL 5, RTL 7 and RTL 8 - is headquartered in Luxembourg, broadcasting under a Luxembourg TV license. This allows them to avoid more strict control by the Dutch media authorities as Luxembourg's television watchdog is less strict.
History
It originally launched on the Astra 1A satellite as RTL Véronique on 2 October 1989, before re-branding as RTL 4 (after 1, 2 and 3 were already used by the Netherlands' public broadcasters) the next year. It was one of the first private commercial broadcaster in the Netherlands. Officially, it still broadcasts from Luxembourg. Private broadcasters were not allowed in the Netherlands until 1992. The encryption system employed by both RTL 4 and 5 analogue services whilst on the Astra 1A and 1C satellites was Luxcrypt. This standard was employed (mainly on the English language programmes carried with Dutch subtitles) in order to protect the distribution rights sold by foreign studios to RTL.
RTL 4 broadcasts the first and the longest soap of the Netherlands, Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden since October 1, 1990.
RTL 4's latest radical change of programming was on 18 August 2007 when RTL obtained the soccer rights (Eredivisie) but lost the rights to the NOS the following year. In 2008 RTL 4 went back to its roots as a family entertainment channel with programmes such as Idols, X Factor, Dancing with the Stars and Dancing on Ice. That year RTL 4 also launched Ik Hou Van Holland, a quiz-show around and about the Netherlands with Linda De Mol.
From 2009 the talent shows are playing a major role in the programming of RTL 4, the X-Factor has been re-scheduled successfully to Friday night with higher ratings in Season 2 (2009) and Season 3 (2010) on Fridays. In 2010, RTL 4 bought the rights for broadcasting Holland's Got Talent from SBS 6 and created together with pioneer John De Mol their own talent show The Voice of Holland in the Autumn of that same year. The Voice of Holland became a huge hit on Dutch Television with ratings around 3 million viewers every Friday Night. In 2012 yet another new talent show started, Beat the Best.
RTL 4 also owns the rights for the soaps As the World Turns and The Bold and the Beautiful. In January 2007, RTL sold the rights for B&B to SBS6, but bought the rights back in December 2010. With more money and space to buy other TV shows, RTL 4 bought the rights for the first season of the successful drama show Brothers & Sisters and took over CSI: Miami from sister channel RTL 5.
Radio
From May 1991 until September 2006, the station has had several accompanying radio stations, such as RTL 4 Radio, RTL Radio, RTL Rock Radio, Happy RTL, and RTL FM. Between June 2007 and 1 January 2012 RTL Nederland owned Radio 538, one of the largest radio stations of the Netherlands.
Programming
Hits on RTL 4 include the RTL Nieuws, Editie NL, RTL Boulevard, Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden and the Saturday night family show Ik Hou Van Holland. Talent shows are also very popular on RTL 4, such as Idols, X Factor, Holland's Got Talent and The Voice of Holland. RTL 4 also owns the rights for American TV series.