Photo: ©SMC

In the concession agreement with CLT-UFA, the state specifies which programs RTL must produce in return for millions in subsidies.

Finally, there is concrete information. The chapter „1.2. Commitments relative to the public service in television“ lists what content RTL must produce in order to meet the public service mission defined in the concession agreement.

CLT-UFA, the group behind RTL, is committed to addressing „the largest possible resident audience“ with a program that should be mainly in Luxembourgish. A „news bulletin“ should be broadcast daily. A kind of thematic and strategic orientation is also established; the program should make it possible to understand today’s world and address specific economic, social and scientific topics and questio ns around integration, solidarity and social responsibility.

Elements that should be firmly anchored in the program

  • A daily information program of at least 30 minutes, which should be redistributed with French subtitles during the evening. The „Journal“ on RTL does not really meet these conditions, the format is rather 25 minutes long and is framed by advertisements to fill the 30-minute slot, sometimes even 5 minutes of „Piccobello“ are squeezed into that slot.
  • One (or more) cultural programs with a total duration of one hour per week and that for at least 10 months of the year (to allow for a summer vacation). Here, RTL delivers with „No Art on Air“ and the still rarely appearing „Art Box“ a maximum of 30 minutes per week, of which the largest part is filled cost-effectively with a talk show.
  • One or more sports programs, also over a duration of one hour per week. With the „Sport Weekend“ and the „Goal“ program, each lasting half an hour, RTL is fulfilling its obligations here, but one has to wonder to what extent live broadcasts count as sports programs.
  • One or more programs as an information program with a total duration of one hour per week for the non-Luxembourgish communities in this country. There is no trace of such a program in RTL’s television program. The concession agreement for the period from 2021 to the end of 2023 already mentions such a program, however, with a total duration of 30 minutes per week. However, the less than 5-minute format „Portugais du Luxembourg“, which ran every second Saturday in 2023, was produced only for a short time.
  • One or more educational programs. Here too, according to the RTL television program, it is not clear which programs produced by RTL fall under this category. The suspicion arises that RTL would like to include various co-produced programs here, e.g. the program „Pisa“ („presented by FNR“), the energy tips (sponsored by the „Klima-Agence“) or the program „Where does it hurt?“ (sponsored by the „Hôpitaux Robert Schuman“)

In addition, political discussion formats are also included in the schedules, but without specifying a volume. There are special schedules for RTL during election periods and in various special cases, such as disasters, the TV is to be at the disposal of the state.

The chapter concludes with a number of points on transmission technology. RTL is once again explicitly given the right to broadcast permitted advertising, but is also obliged to draw up an accessibility plan for people with disabilities. In order to reach Luxembourg citizens outside Luxembourg, RTL is committed to ensuring transmission via satellite.

The next part of the series on the current concession agreement will deal with the provisions for the „radio“ component in the context of public service. So far in the series:

  1. „A particularly tight agreement that will still cause many problems.“

  2. „A „public service mission“ for a commercial broadcaster“

  3. Quality control at RTL?

  4. What goals and missions does RTL have - apart from making money?

  5. A „monitoring commission“ under the control of the ministry