RTL (Hungarian TV channel)

RTL Klub

Type	General Interest
Country	Hungary
Availability	National; also available in Slovakia, Romania, and other neighbouring countries
Owner	RTL Group
Key people	Dirk Gergens, CEO Dr. Péter Kolosi, Programming Director
Launch date	October 6, 1997
Official website	http://www.rtlklub.hu

RTL Klub is a television station (M-RTL Zrt.) owned by RTL Group and broadcast in Hungary. It was one of Hungary's first commercial TV channels and was only two days after the main rival TV2 to begin broadcasting.

About RTL Klub

Since its start, RTL Klub has focused to gain viewers from the urban population. The channel airs programs mostly for a younger (18–49) audience.

RTL and TV2 aired two similar major reality series simultaneously. While TV2 purchased the rights of Big Brother, RTL Klub produced its own series called Való Világ (Real World). Való Világ has been on air for 4 seasons. Since its second season the show has been much more successful than the rival Big Brother.

RTL is the most watched TV channel in Hungary, thanks to the daily Hungarian soap opera 'Barátok közt' (Among Friends), which is the most watched TV programme in Hungary with more than 2 million viewers; the magazine show 'Fókusz' (Focus) and the game show Legyen Ön is milliomos (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?). Millionaire is off the schedule from September 2007 after 7 years and will be replaced by A Széf (Take It Or Leave It).

From the fall/winter season of 2005–2006 RTL Klub has started to broadcast popular American TV shows like Lost. The first episode of Lost had almost 2 million viewers, and a 50% share. This was a record. The next year Prison Break started with almost 1.6 million. Nowadays a TV show at primetime (21:00) can reach 1–1.5 million viewers. At season 2006/2007 Prison Break was the most watched American series in Hungary.

From the Fall season of 2007 RTL Klub has launched two new formats with great success. Poker Face ran like a tournament for 6 weeks with an average 38–42% share. The other new show was "Csillag születik," the Hungarian version of the RTL "Got Talent" format. Poker Face ended with the super final at 18 December and the time slot of it will be occupied by the new game show "A Széf" (Take It or Leave it).

RTL Klub has been the only licensed broadcaster of Formula One in Hungary.

The RTL Klub has been the only licensed bordcaster of Domino Day in Hungary, for 6 years (2004–Present).

Shows

Series name	Hungarian title	Timeslot	Season (Fall/Spring)	Premiered	Current season
Alias	Alias	Wednesdays 23:00	on hiatus	March 2003	4th
Bones	Dr. Csont	Mondays 21:20	Spring	March 2007	5th
Burn Notice	Minden lében négy kanál	Fridays 22:20	Summer-Fall	July 2009	1st
Cobra 11	Cobra 11	Sundays 19:00	on hiatus	March 1998	14th
Cold Case	Döglött akták	Thursdays 22:20	on hiatus	June 2006	4th
Chuck	Chuck	Tuesdays 21:20	Summer-Fall	July 2009	1st
Criminal Minds	Gyilkos elmék	Fridays 22:20	Fall	September 2006	4th
CSI: Miami	CSI: Miami helyszínelők	Mondays 21:00	Fall and Spring	February 2007	4th
CSI: NY	CSI: New York-i helyszínelők	Fridays 21:20	Fall–Winter	November 2008	6th
Damages	A hatalom hálójában	Fridays 23:20	on hiatus	January 2009	2nd
Dirty Sexy Money	Édes, drága titkaink	Fridays 22:00	on hiatus	April 2008	1st
Dollhouse	Dollhouse - A felejtés ára	Mondays 22:00	Spring	January 2010	1st
Domino Day	Dominó Nap	Friday 20:35	Autumn	from 18 November 2004	6th
ER	Vészhelyzet	Tuesdays 21:00	Fall and Spring		15th
Fringe	A rejtély	Mondays 22:20	Spring	March 2009	2nd
Grey's Anatomy	Grace klinika	Tuesdays 22:00	Fall and Spring	January 2006	4th
Lost	Lost – Eltűntek	Sundays 16:30	Summer	September 2005	5th
One Tree Hill	Tuti gimi	Sundays 13:00	on hiatus	September 2005	3rd
Prison Break	A szökés	Mondays 21:00	Summer-Fall	September 2006	4th
Private Practice	Doktor Addison	Mondays 23:00	Summer	June 2008	1st
Rescue Me	Ments meg!	Thursdays 23:00	Spring	March 2007	3rd
Rome	Róma	Tuesday 23:00	Summer	June 2008	1st
Supernatural	Odaát	Fridays 23:00	on hiatus	September 2006	2nd
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles	Terminátor: Sarah Connor krónikái	Tuesdays, 21:00	on hiatus	February 2009	1st
The Closer	A főnök	Wednesdays 23:00	Fall	October 2006	3rd
The Mentalist	A mentalista	Tuesdays 21:20	Spring	February 2009	2nd
The Shield	Kemény zsaruk	Thursdays 23:00	Fall		5th
The Tudors	Tudorok	TBA	Spring	TBA	1st
The Unit	Az egység	Wednesday 23:00	Summer-Fall	June 2008	2nd
The Vampire Diaries	Vámpírnaplók	Wednesdays	on hiatus	June 2010	2nd
Ugly Betty	Címlapsztori	Sundays 17:30	on hiatus	March 2007	1st

Other formats

• Barátok közt (Among Friends): the most watched domestically produced television soap of Hungary. The show started in the fall of 1998, one year after the foundation of RTL Klub. The show remarkably resembles BBC soap-drama, Eastenders. Initially, it didn't have the expected ratings (however, bound by the contract), RTL Klub had to keep the show running. Since 2000, the third season, the show has been rarely beaten in ratings in its own timeslot. Today, the average rating of the show is about 2 million viewers, and it's a solid foundation of viewers the channel occasionally builds on. Each episode of the series is 10 minutes long, and every weekday 2 episodes are aired. In between the two episodes, there is a news session as well as the highest value commercial block in Hungarian television.
• Benkő Feleséget Keres (Benkő is looking for a wife): RTL Klub's 2009 fall season reality about a search for a wife for Hungary's scandalous artist, Benkő Dániel.
• Celeb vagyok...Ments ki innen!: the licensed version of British TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! The 1st season premiered at the fall 2008. Before the first season premiere the 2nd season was announced as well. The 2nd season had even better ratings than the first season.
• Csillag Születik (A Star is Born): the Hungarian licensed version of Britain's Got Talent.
• Esti Showder: a very popular talk show being broadcast every second week (except summer) at Thursdays 21:00. It loosely follows the format of NBC's Tonight Show. The show features an opening session with the host cracking somewhat actualized jokes and rapidfire humorous monologues, followed by a regular session of Design Center, in which the host ironically presents absurd or downright ridiculous products created and sent to the show by viewers. After the design center, the show features a studio music session which presents successful or potentially successful Hungarian bands, and finally the show presents a talk session where Fábry sits down and talks to different Hungarian celebrities.
• Fókusz (Focus): It is a daily report magazine. It is on the air since the foundation of RTL Klub. (1997)
• Gálvölgyi Show: a parody show hosted by János Gálvölgyi, featuring short sketches which are parodies of TV shows, Hungarian and international celebrities, and commercials. The show also has several regular sketches, such as a conversation between two working-out rich men, which led to the birth of a decade-old Hungarian catchphrase "Gyúrunk vazze'" ("We're working out, damn it").
• Házon kívül (Outside the House): a political show, which deals with two or three actual political events or social problems every week.
• Heti Hetes ("The Weekly Seven"): a show where seven known Hungarian comedians (one host and 6 guests) talk about actual news, politics and public life.
• Legyen Ön is Milliomos: The licensed version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The series lasted nine seasons, hosted by Hungary's esteemed quiz host, hu:Vágó István, but it was not going to be renewed after the licensor changed to RTL's major game show format. In September 2009, the show adopted a slightly different format; the host was changed to comedian hu:Fábry Sándor, and the players are always a pair of celebrities. It is aired once a month.
• Kész Átverés (The Cheat): a show similar to the MTV's Punk'd where the host does pranks on Hungarian and currently visiting celebrities.
• Mónika Show: a daily tabloid talk show usually featuring and resolving family issues. It airs weekday at 17:30.
• Pókerarc: The Hungarian adaption of the RTL format PokerFace. It debuted at November 2007 and broadcasted every day at 19.00. At the end of the first season, before Christmas one player won 50 Million Ft. (200.000 Euro). The host of the game is István Vágó (the host of the previous game show Who wants to be a Millionaire? and Balázs Sebestyén (the host of Balázs show and Kész Átverés). The 2nd season started in fall 2008.
• A Széf: A licensed version of Take it or Leave it. It began airing during the 2007 fall season.
• Szombat Esti Láz (Saturday Night Fever): The show is based on the BBC One programme Strictly Come Dancing and the Fox reality So You Think You Can Dance. In it famous Hungarian people dance with professional dancers. This show is also very popular. The 2nd season finale had more viewers than the FIFA Football World Cup Final in Hungary. (Italy vs. France), it should however be noted that Hungary were not in the competition hence weakening interest. It had 3 seasons. 2 in 2006 (spring and fall) and 1 in 2008 (fall).
• XXI. Század (21st Century): a documentary series which usually deals with historical moments which happened in the 20th century. Recordings presented in the show usually originate from the communist era and therefore are black and white. RTL Klub purchases most of the presented material from Hungarian National TV (MTV or m1).
• Vacsoracsata (Dinner Fight): the licensed version of Come Dine With Me.

Past shows

Series name	Hungarian title	Finished
Traveler	Traveler - Az utolsó vakáció	October 2008
Point Pleasant	Titkok Városa	July 2008
Joan of Arcadia	Isteni Sugallat	July 2008
The Sopranos	Maffiózók	May 2008
The Nine	Kilenc túsz	April 2008
E-Ring	Titkos Küldetés	March 2008
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues	Kung-fu	December 2007
Martial Law	A harc törvénye	December 2007
Missing	Eltűntnek nyilvánítva	December 2007
Third Watch	Harmadik műszak	August 2007
The West Wing	Az elnök emberei	June 2007
Kingdom Hospital	A félelem kórháza	March 2007
Tru Calling	Tru Calling – Az őrangyal	July 2006
Invasion	Rejtélyek városa	July 2006

Previous formats

• Balázs Show: a daily tabloid talk show, which aired every weekday at 16:30. The show followed a slightly more lightened up format than its counterpart, Mónika show. It ended in 2007 after years of success, cited reason being that the host became popular and wanted more serious challenges.
• Győzike: a documentary-soap about a Hungarian gypsy family. The head of the family called Győző Gáspár, husband and father of two girls, who is a pop/rap singer and he had a band but after the show started in 2005 the band broke up. It used to be a very popular show, bearing similarities to MTV's the Osbournes. It had 7 seasons but the return of the show is unlikely.
• A Kísértés (The Temptation): the licensed version of Temptation Island. The show had one season on RTL Klub in 2004 and had moderate ratings and so it wasn't renewed for a second season.
• A Rettegés Foka (Fear Factor): It is a licensed version of the American Fear Factor. It was cancelled after 2 seasons, reruns however are still aired on Cool TV.
• Survivor – A sziget (Survivor - The Island): the licensed version of the famous hit reality show Survivor, whose international format rights are held by RTL. RTL Klub aired two seasons. The major difference between the Hungarian Survivor and the original one was the winner was selected by a public vote (via SMS or phone calls).
• Szeszélyes (Capricious): a show similar to long-running Szeszélyes Évszakok (Capricious Seasons). After the cancellation of the original show, RTL Klub launched its own version with the host Imre Antal, which ran until Antal's death of cancer in 2008. The channel didn't renew the license for the show because it had considerably lower ratings than the original.

Sister TV channels

RTL Klub has many sister Channels. One of the owners of RTL Klub is "IKO Kábeltévé Kft." which also owns Cool TV, Film+, SportKlub, SportKlub+ (which is a non-airing channel since 2009), DoQ, F&H, Sorozat+, Poén! (which became Prizma in December 2010), Reflektor and Film+2, all of which are in some way related to the IKO's primary channel, RTL Klub.

Cool TV

The target audience of Cool TV is 15–29 urban youths who love music, externals, clothes, trendy lifestyle and extravagance. The channel was launched in 2004 and it is available in the 46.7% of the country in 1.7 million households. The channel is on a 24/7 broadcast schedule, targeting audience not only during the day, but during the night as well. Cool TV airs reruns of series RTL Klub originally purchased or produced as well as series targeting today's youth. These include:

• South Park
• Cobra 11
• Married... with Children (Egy rém rendes család)
• 24
• Footballer's Wives (Futbalista feleségek)
• The L Word (L)
• Queer as Folk (A fiúk a klubból)
• The Unit (Az egység)
• Dead Like Me (Haláli hullák)
• Weeds (Spangli)
• Skins (Skins)
• Desperate Housewives (Született feleségek)
• Reruns of RTL Klub's reality programming.

In 2007, Cool TV launched a series of topical shows produced by the channel, such as Cool Live and Cool Night featuring younger hosts lent to Cool by RTL Klub. To date, only the mentioned pair of the shows survived, the earlier being a youth lifestyle show, and the latter being an adult show including interviews with Hungarian pornstars and producers, as well as occasionally shown softcore video clips.

In 2009, Cool TV purchased the airing rights of the successful Hungarian version of Whose line is it anyway?, Beugró.

Film+

Film+ was launched in 2004, the same time as Cool TV. The channel airs movies which previously aired on RTL Klub 24/7. According to 2009 Hungarian television ratings, Film+ is the fifth most watched cable channel in Hungary. Due to the early success of the channel, the parent company launched Film+2, which airs movies in the same fashion as Film+.

SportKlub

The channel was launched before the FIFA Football World Cup 2006. RTL Klub purchased the broadcasting rights of the World Cup but it didn't have enough airing time for all of the matches, and therefore Sport Klub was launched by the parent company to fill in. Now Sport Klub airs various sport activities, such as the German football league, tennis, poker, NCAA, athletics, futsal, box and reruns of the Formula-1 broadcast of the parent channel. It airs certain matches of the English and the Spanish league, however its main competitors, the sports channels ran by the Hungarian public service television MTV, Sport1 and Sport2, have the first pick of the matches they would like to air. To easen up the load on Sport Klub, the parent company also launched the channel SportKlub+, which airs sports events deemed to attract less viewers than the parent channel.

Sport Klub is also available in countries in close proximity to Hungary in which countries IKO also operates, including Romania, Poland, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia.

Reflektor

Reflektor TV is a spin-off of RTL Klub's celebrity news show which bears the same name. The channel airs a 24 hours news loop of celebrity news.

External links

• Official Site (in Hungarian)