page_title: RTL (French radio)
section_title: Radio Luxembourg
hierarchical_section_title: RTL (French radio) / History / Radio Luxembourg
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Lage des Großherzogtums Luxemburg in Europa und in der Europäischen Union am 1. Januar 2007 English: Location of Luxemburg within Europe and the European Union on the 1st of January 2007. Polski: Położenie Wielkiego Księstwa Luksemburga w Europie i Unii Europejskiej jak w dniu 1 stycznia 2007.
context_page_description: RTL, formerly Radio Luxembourg, is a French commercial radio network owned by the RTL Group. Founded in 1933 as Radio Luxembourg, the station's name was changed to RTL in 1966. It broadcast from outside France until 1981, because only public stations had been allowed until then.
  It is a general-interest, news, talk and music station, broadcasting nationally.
context_section_description: On 19 December 1929 the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg established a state monopoly on broadcasting, but the law provided for possible concessions to private companies who wanted to use radio bandwidth, with the state charging a fixed amount for private use of radio.
  The Société Luxembourgeoise d'Études Radiophoniques (SLER) was founded on 11 May 1929 with the aim of obtaining an eventual broadcasting contract from the Luxembourg government. This company was run by Luxembourger François Anen, French publisher Henry Etienne, and French engineer Jean le Duc representing the Compagnie des Compteurs de Montrouge, which possessed 84% of the project's capital and which had signed a secret agreement to work with the group CSF, the main stockholder in Radio Paris. Radio Paris wanted to set up a powerful peripheral radio station in Luxembourg, outside of the strict French regulations, which only allowed public stations. An agreement between the SLER and the Luxembourg government signed on 29 September 1930 with a duration of 25 years ensured the Luxembourg government a fee of 30% on future profits of the station. The agreement also set up a committee for programming and a technical committee which allowed the government to regulate the private station.
  The Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion (CLR) was founded on 30 May 1931, officially replacing the SLER.
  On 14 January 1933 experimental broadcasts by Radio Luxembourg began, at 1191 mètres (200 kW), an unauthorized wavelength, from the longwave transmitter at Junglinster. The official opening of broadcast was on 15 March 1933 at 19:00 with a pre-recorded concert of light music. Radio Luxembourg broadcast each evening from 19:00 to 23:00, in German, French and Dutch and was therefore the only French-language private broadcaster available in France and Belgium. Programmes in English débuted on 3 December 1933 under the editorial guidance of Stephen Williams.
  The station closed down at the outbreak of World War II in 1939, but it resumed service after the War.
  Beginning in 1946, it could be heard easily in France. Until the 1980s, only the French public radio networks could transmit from France itself. Radio Luxembourg was one of private "peripheral" networks transmitting from abroad.
  Quickly, Radio Luxembourg gained a large audience in France. In the 1960s, it was faced with the success of another peripheral network from Germany, Europe 1, which adopted a modern tone and gained a young audience.
caption: Location of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (circled), illustrating its proximity to other countries.
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