Name | Super RTL |
Category | General German |
Country | Germany |
Super RTL, a German-owned free-to-air TV network, is owned by the RTL Group. The channel was originally launched as a joint venture by the RTL Group's predecessor company CLT–UFA and Disney’s Buena Vista International TV Investments division.
After Jeffrey Katzenberg's resignation on August 24, 1994, Disney Company underwent a reorganization in which Richard Frank was appointed head of the newly created Disney Television and Telecommunications (DTT). This included Walt Disney Television International which owned Disney's Super RTL stake. In 1995, the Luxembourgish CLT, owners of German RTL channels, made a deal to join Disney's RTL Disney Fernsehen GmbH & Co.
Super RTL live finally launched 28 April 1995 with The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh being its first program. DTT was split in April 1996 by Disney-CC/ABC. In the same month, Walt Disney Television International moved to Capital Cities/ABC. CC/ABC merged the international units of Walt Disney Television International (ACIBG) and CC/ABC International Television in July.
Fun & Action Tour is a Germany-wide event for children that was launched in 1997 with TV characters. Later, the tour was renamed to the Toggo Tour. The channel was voted the best-viewed channel among the target audience of 3-to-13 year-olds the following year.
The joint venture made a net profit in 1999 of DM 4.5 millions, launched its website, and established the Super RTL Licensing Agency, which will generate more revenue from TV licensing. In 2000, Claude Schmit became the new managing director of the venture.
The preschool program was also called "Toggolino" in 2000. Toggolino Club was established in 2002. It offers pre-school children educational content for a fee.
Toggo was established in 2001 to cover all activities for children aged 6-13 years old. The first Toggo Music CD was released by Sony BMG, Berlin Records in 2002. SuperRTL started using the "Family Cartoon" rating label in 2006 to allow family viewing of suitable animated films on Fridays and Saturdays.
Super RTL received a broadcast license in 2005 for Toggolino TV, a preschool-oriented pay-TV channel. This was granted by the government media regulators. It is intended for children aged 3 to 6. Toggolino TV never went on the air. In 2009, Bertelsmann handed over Scoyo, a learning platform, to Super RTL. The first ever deal between a German broadcaster, an over-the-top platform company, and Zattoo's live streaming service made Super RTL, RTL II, and four additional RTL channels available on Zattoo in mid 2013.
Super RTL announced the launch of a German-language Disney Channel channel. This caused a loss in Disney programming. In October 2013, Super RTL signed volume agreements with Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution (WBTVD) and Sony Pictures Television to acquire a slate animated features and DreamWorks Animation (DWA), for 1,200 hours of programming through 2020. DWA also included shows from Classic Media's library. To increase its viewing in the evenings, the channel acquired additional programming: ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars and ABC's Once Upon a Time and Scandal. Syfy's Lost Girl supernatural series was also added to its schedule for fall 2014. The broadcast version of Disney Channel launched 17 January 2014. Disney programming was removed from the channel on January 1, 2014. Disney retained its share in the station.
RTL Disney TV LP launched Kividoo subscription video on-demand (SVOD), services on 28 April 2015. RTL Disney Television LP was approved by the anti-media concentration committee KEK in February 2016. The company was granted a 10-year license. After receiving the broadcast license from ZAK, media authorities' licensing & supervision commission ZAK, RTL Disney TV named the second channel "Toggo Plus" on 15 March. Toggo Plus was to be launched on the 4th of June 2016. Super RTL expanded its Toggo brand and plans to launch Toggo radio channel at the end May 2020.
The RTL Group announced that they had acquired all of Disney's shares in Super RTL and the limited partnership on March 3, 2021. This gave Super RTL full control. Toggo will be renamed.