# Channel 21 (German TV network)

Channel 21, originally launched as RTL Shop, is a German cable and satellite tv shopping channel based in Hanover. The channel was launched as part of Europe's largest media company RTL Group (itself ultimately owned by Bertelsmann) and is rebroadcast on more than 20 German-language stations. Channel 21 was launched as RTL Shop on 1 March 2001. Its main competitors are HSE24 (Home Shopping Europe) and QVC.

## History

Until September 2006, RTL Shop was produced at the Coloneum in Cologne. In the summer of 2006, a new broadcast center with administration and studios was built in Hanover, which was ready for broadcasts on October 1, 2006. Cologne Broadcasting Center (CBC), an RTL Group subsidiary, was responsible for building and operating the broadcast center.
RTL Shop was part of RTL's diversification strategy, aiming to diversify its sources of revenue away from traditional advertising revenue.
On 19 February 2008 it was announced that RTL would sell RTL Shop in the first half of 2008. Since broadcasting in 2001, the station had made losses every year despite relocating from Cologne to Hanover and restructuring. In the course of this, Walter Freiwald left the teleshopping channel in April 2008. The channel was bought by Aurelius AG, a group of investors based in Munich. The goal was to achieve profitability.
Starting on January 1, 2009, RTL Shop changed its name in two stages. Initially, it changed its name to "Channel 21 SHOP".Channel 21 became its official name on March 1, 2009.
From the second half of 2009 until September 30, 2012, the channel also broadcast a spin-off channel called Channel 21 Express.
On January 1, 2010, Michael Oplesch, the former managing director of the TV channel VIVA Germany, bought an initial tranche of shares in Channel 21 from Aurelius AG, using his investment vehicle with his Centuere AG. On February 16, 2010, the sale of remaining shares in Channel 21 to Centuere AG was announced. The sale was finalized on 1 March 2010 and Michael Oplesch took over the management of the company. On May 30, 2010, it was announced that the founder of and former managing director of EM.TV, Thomas Haffa had purchased Centuere AG's interests in the channel at the end of April and transferred them to Channel 21 Holding, which has operated the channels Channel 21 and Channel 21 Express since. On December 10, 2010, it became known that Channel 21 was at risk of bankruptcy. A large proportion of the employees were dismissed in December.
Channel 21, as reported by media news site DWDL.de in May 2012, planned to restructure, aiming to make the company economically viable. It was decided to fire almost the entire workforce as of August 31, 2012. As of September 2012, the station had only 15 employees. The restructuring took place as a result of the critical financial year in which Channel 21 lost many of its suppliers, including Wollpfannen, a cookware manufacturer, which was one of the few major suppliers of the shopping channel and now supplies QVC, a competitor.
Channel 21 still sells goods under the "Maxx" brand and does not sell any more broadly known brands.
Channel 21 has been broadcasting in 16:9 format since 31 October 2012. On-air design and studio were changed at the same time.
Broadcasting in HDTV started via Astra 1L on 30 January 2016. The resolution is 1440x1080.

## Presenters

* Ralf Kühler (2001–present)
* Walter Freiwald (2001–2008)
* Maren Gilzer (2001–2008)
* Alida-Nadine Kurras (2011–present)
* Max Schradin (2012–2014)
* Natascha Zuraw (2001–2005)
* Jenny Elvers (–2009)
* Anja Kruse (–2008)
* Alexandra Philipps
* Andrea Rubio Sanchez
* Anna Heesch
* Christian Schmidt
* Edwina Eidtmann
* Olaf Stannek
* Stephanie Frohmann (2015–)
* Claudia Peltzer
* Daniela Wieneke
* Dirk Zacharias
* Herbert Plum
* Gerald Wespiser
* Ricarda M
* Heike Schuberth
* Helga Nosek
* Jutta Leibfried
* Karima Becker
* Martin Vietmeyer
* Nicole Frenz
* Peter Fischer
* Winfried Miller
* Sasha Hughes
* Dominik Blagovic
* Serena Salecker
* Luisa Verfürth
* Caroline Babiel-Dicke
* Désirée Nick
* Mirja Du Mont
* Ute Schliessmann
* Natascha Ochsenknecht
* Isolde Semm
* Allegra Curtis