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.
[edit] 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 was on for 3 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 is the licensed broadcaster of Formula One of Hungary.
| Series name | Hungarian title | Timeslot | Season (Fall/Spring) | Premiered | Current season |
| Alias | Alias | Wednesdays 23:00 | on hiatus | March 2003 | 4th |
| Bones | Dr. Csont | Fridays 21:00 | Spring | March 2007 | 2nd |
| Burn Notice | Minden lében négy kanál | Fridays 22:20 | Summer-Fall | July 2009 | 1st |
| Cold Case | Döglött akták | Weekdays 15:30 | on hiatus | June 2006 | 4th |
| Chuck | Chuck | Tuesdays 21:20 | Summer-Fall | July 2009 | 1st |
| Criminal Minds | Gyilkos elmék | Mondays 23:00 | Fall | September 2006 | 3rd |
| CSI: Miami | CSI: Miami helyszínelők | Mondays 21:00 | Fall and Spring | February 2007 | 4th |
| CSI: NY | CSI: New York-i helyszínelők | Fridays 21:00 | Fall–Winter | November 2008 | 1st |
| Damages | A hatalom hálójában | Fridays 23.00 | on hiatus | January 2009 | 1st |
| Dirty Sexy Money | Édes, drága titkaink | Fridays 22:00 | on hiatus | April 2008 | 1st |
| ER | Vészhelyzet | Tuesdays 21:00 | Fall and Spring | | 14th |
| Fringe | A rejtély | Fridays 22.00 | Spring | March 2009 | 1st |
| 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 21.00 | Spring | February 2009 | 1st |
| 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 |
| Ugly Betty | Címlapsztori | Sundays 17:30 | on hiatus | March 2007 | 1st |
[edit] 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. Inbetween 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 broadcasted 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 Gálvölgy, 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 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.
[edit] Current Schedule
[edit] Past shows
[edit] Previous formats
- Balázs Show: a daily tabloid talk show, which aired every weekday at 16:30. The show followed a format slightly more lightened up format than it's 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 Gáspár Győző, husband and father of 2 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 2nd 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 Evszakok (Capricious Seasons). After the cancellation of the original show, RTL Klub launched its own version the with 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.
[edit] 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+, DoQ, F&H, Sorozat+, Poén!, Reflektor and Film+2, all of which are in some way related to the IKO's primary channel, RTL Klub.
[edit] 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.[citation needed] The channel is on a 24/7 broadcast schedule, targetting 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 targetting today's youth. These include:
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+ 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.[citation needed] Due to the early success of the channel, the parent company launched Film+2, which airs movies in the same fashion as Film+.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] External links
