Super RTL

Super RTL is a German free-to-air television network owned by RTL Deutschland. The channel originally launched in 1995 as a joint venture between RTL Group predecessor company CLT-UFA and Disney's Buena Vista International Television Investments (later Disney International Operations) division.

The channel operates under three different programming slots - Toggolino, which is aimed at pre-schoolers, Toggo, which is aimed at mainstream children, and RTL Super, which is aimed at families and young adults.

History
On 24 August 1994, with Jeffrey Katzenberg's resignation, a reorganization of Disney Company took place in which Richard Frank became head of newly formed Disney Television and Telecommunications (DTT), which included Walt Disney Television International, which held Disney's Super RTL stake. The Luxembourgish CLT (owners of the German RTL channel) made a deal with Disney to form RTL Disney Fernsehen GmbH & Co. in 1995.

Super RTL
Super RTL was finally launched on 28 April 1995, with The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh as its first ever program (aside from showing Disney Channel's "TV" ident, Super RTL is not owned by Disney Branded Television, instead, it was owned by Disney's Buena Vista International Television Investments division). The Disney-CC/ABC merger led to DTT being split up in April 1996, Walt Disney Television International was transferred to Capital Cities/ABC in that same month. CC/ABC combined the international units, Walt Disney Television International and ACIBG, into Disney–ABC International Television (DAIT) in July. Around the same time, in the 1990s, Bertelsmann ultimately came out on top after having gradually increased its stake in the German television channel RTL. Following a legal dispute with RTL/CLT, Bertelsmann announced plans to merge the television businesses of UFA to form the joint venture CLT-UFA in April 1996. A merger agreement was signed on 8 July 1996. It was approved by the CLT board of directors on 5 December, and the formation of CLT-UFA was completed on 14 January 1997. As a result, German television channels such as RTL Television and VOX and international broadcasting services, including M6 in France, were all brought together under one roof.

The Fun & Action Tour, a Germany-wide roadshow event for children, was started in 1997 featuring TV program characters. The tour was later renamed the Toggo Tour. The following year, the channel became the top view channel by the 3-to-13-year-old target age group.

In 1999, the joint venture saw its channel make a net profit of DM 4.5 million, launched its website and started the Super RTL Licensing Agency to make more revenues from TV licensing. A new managing director, Claude Schmit, took charge of the venture in 2000.

Also in 2000, the preschool programming is labeled "Toggolino". Toggolino Club is started in 2002 and offers paid pre-school children education content.

The Toggo umbrella brand was introduced in 2001 for all activities for 6- to 13-year-old children. In 2002, Sony BMG label, Berlin Records, released the first Toggo Music CD. SuperRTL began using the 'Family Cartoon' rating label in 2006 for family viewing suitable animated films shown on Friday and Saturday night.

In 2005, Super RTL was granted a broadcast license for the preschool pay-TV channel Toggolino TV by the government media regulators for young children between the ages of 3 and 6. However, Toggolino TV was never launched. Bertelsmann turned over the learning platform Scoyo to Super RTL in 2009. In mid-2013, Super RTL, RTL II and four other RTL channels were available over Zattoo live streaming service under the first deal between a German broadcaster and an over the top platform company.

Program contents' changes, and post-Disney era
With the announcement of the launch of a free-to-air German version of Disney Channel causing a loss of Disney programming, Super RTL signed volume deals in October 2013 with Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution and Sony Pictures Television for a slate of animated features and DreamWorks Animation (DWA) for 1,200 hours of programming until 2020. The DWA deal included shows from the Classic Media library. The channel also acquired programming to expand its views in the evenings with more adult TV shows to debut in its fall 2014 schedule: ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars, ABC's Once Upon a Time and Scandal and Syfy's Lost Girl supernatural series. As of 1 January 2014, Disney programming left the channel, because the broadcast version of Disney Channel launched on 17 January. However, Disney continued to hold its stake in the station.

RTL Disney TV LP launched its Kividoo subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services on 28 April 2015. In February 2016, RTL Disney Television LP received approval for a second channel from the anti-media concentration commission KEK. granted the 10-year license to the company. On 15 March, RTL Disney TV announced that the second channel's name as "Toggo plus" after receiving the broadcast license from media authorities' licensing and supervision commission ZAK. Toggo Plus was planned to launch on 4 June 2016. Super RTL continued to expand its Toggo brand with plans to launch Toggo Radio channel, the first German children and family friendly channel, at the end of May 2020.

On March 3, 2021, the RTL Group announced they had fully acquired Disney's stake in the station and the limited partnership, putting Super RTL under its full control for the first time.

At the end of July 2023, it was announced that Super RTL would be renamed to "RTL Super" in the middle of August 2023. However, it was later confirmed that only Super RTL Primetime would rebrand under the name, and that the existing Super RTL channel wouldn't be affected.

Programming

Toggo
Abominable and the Invisible City
ALVINNN! and the Chipmunks
Angelo Rules
Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures
Barbie: It Takes Two
Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese
DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms
The Deep
Inspector Gadget
Karate Sheep
Grizzy and the Lemmings
Jade Armor
Mr Bean: The Animated Series
Lego City Adventures
LEGO DreamzZz
The Loud House
Mighty Express
 Mighty Mike
Ninjago
Nate Is Late
Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series
Petronix Defenders
Rabbids Invasion
Sally Bollywood: Super Detective
Scooby Doo and Guess Who?
SpongeBob SquarePants
Star Trek: Prodigy
New Looney Tunes
Teen Titans Go!
Tom and Jerry
The Tom and Jerry Show
Wild Kratts
Woozle Goozle
Zak Storm
Zig and Sharko

Toggolino
44 Cats
The Beachbuds
Caillou
Cocomelon
Dino Ranch
PAW Patrol
Peter Rabbit
Peppa Pig
Pocoyo
Ranger Rob
Super Wings
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!

RTL Super
 Angel
 Bones
 Columbo
 CSI: Miami
 Caïn
 House
 Monk
 Mr. Bean
 On the Case
 Rizzoli and Isles
 Snapped
 The Stalker Files
 Without a Trace
 The X-Files

Former Programming

Toggo
 Almost Naked Animals
 Angela Anaconda
 Ben 10 (Revival series)
 Butt-Ugly Martians
 Camp Lakebottom
 DreamWorks Dragons
 George of the Jungle
 The Jungle Bunch
 Lassie
 The Lone Ranger
 My Knight and Me
 NASCAR Racers
 Numb Chucks
 The Powerpuff Girls
 Sabrina: The Animated Series
 Sabrina's Secret Life
 The Skinner Boys: Guardians of the Lost Secrets
 Turbo Fast
 Zip Zip

Toggolino
 Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps
 Bob the Builder (original series)
 Bob the Builder (revival series)
 Blaze and the Monster Machines
 Calimero (2013 series)
 Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood
 Kate and Mim-Mim
 Justin Time
 Madeline
 Mike the Knight
 Octonauts
 Peg + Cat
 Pirates: Adventures in Art
 Strawberry Shortcake
 Trucktown

Ravensburger TV
 The Brothers Flub
 Brum
 Clowning Around
 Costa
 Donkey Kong Country (Series 2 only)
 Enid Blyton – Secret Series
 Flying Rhino Junior High
 George Shrinks
 Rotten Ralph
 Spielgalaxie
 Sweat
 Timothy Goes to School

Programming blocks

Super RTL's broadcast day is split between three different umbrella brands.
Toggolino - Airs shows aimed at preschool audiences. The brand was first introduced in 2000.
Toggo - Super RTL's main umbrella brand. Airs programmes aimed at a 6-13-year-old audience. The brand was first introduced in 2001.
RTL Super - Airs repeats of drama shows and family-oriented live action movies. The brand was first introduced in 2019 as Super RTL Primetime and was renamed in August 2023.

From 3 June 2001 until 2005, Super RTL also ran another block titled Ravensburger TV. Operated by RTV Family Entertainment (now Your Family Entertainment), this block aired for two hours every day except for Saturdays, and functioned as a bridge-in-gap between Toggolino and Toggo, airing programs aimed at both demographics.

Related services

Kividoo
A subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service that was launched on 28 April 2015. It features children's shows from DreamWorks Animation, Studio Hamburg, ZDF Enterprises, HIT Entertainment, BBC Studios and German publishing house Tessloff Verlag.

Toggo Plus

On 15 March 2016, it was announced that a timeshift service, Toggo Plus, would launch on 4 June 2016. The channel transmits Toggo and Toggolino's programs one hour later. Unlike the main Super RTL network, it is a paid service, and does not timeshift the "RTL Super" slot. Infomercials would fill out the remaining time. The launch allowed the Toggo/Toggolino strand to begin at 5:00am instead of 6:00am compared to before.

Toggo Radio

A online-only radio channel that was launched at the end of May 2020. The channel is on Super RTL platforms, online radio aggregators and smart devices, but not FM or Digital audio broadcasting initially. Content consists of chart music, children's songs and radio plays.

References

External links
  
Official Site of TOGGO TV 

Television stations in Germany
Television stations in Austria
Television stations in Switzerland
RTL Group
Mass media in Cologne
Television channels and stations established in 1995
Children's television networks
Former subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company