This is how brutally RTL defends its radio monopoly

RTL had the monopoly on radio in Luxembourg for decades, and that is exactly what they want to get back. Driven by commercial interests, RTL is also going through (transmitter) corpses.

With the 1991 media law, which was made necessary by an EU directive, RTL’s monopoly on radio frequencies was broken for the first time in Luxembourg. A shock moment for the only radio station in Luxembourg until then. Internationally, RTL had wanted precisely this radio liberalization in order to break the monopoly of public-law media in other European countries and to be able to do good business with commercial media. But in Luxembourg, RTL did not want to give up its own privileges. Since then, RTL has been fighting in Luxembourg with all sorts of tricks to get its monopoly back.

Media monopolies are poison for democracy and pluralism of opinion. Luxembourg is shown the red card every year in the Media Pluralism Monitor of the EU. This has not changed anything, well, we are Europeans*we are Luxembourgers*we are only if it suits our fancy. However, it is not only against European values that are violated, but also against national laws. How could and can RTL still assert itself again and again?

The list of radio stations is short

Historically, and even today, in order to operate a „national“ radio station in Luxembourg, FM frequencies were required - and there are not very many of them. Until 1991, all the „good“, i.e. nationwide national frequencies, were in the hands of RTL. Other stations, for example the predecessor of Radio ARA, „Radio Grénge Fluesfénkelchen“, were essentially pirate stations broadcasting illegally and even had to do so from abroad. In 1992, 5 frequencies were released by RTL and finally there were alternatives: in addition to Radio ARA (which received two very weak frequencies), there were DNR, Radio Latina and Eldoradio. Radio 100komma7 was the first to join later and after a long dispute and was even the first to be included in the RTL afternoon program. Before 100komma7 received its frequency, RTL made it clear that this potentially dangerous competitor was not allowed to broadcast any advertisements, so there was no danger, at least in the advertising market.

Eldoradio

Eldoradio is a private company, known as „Luxradio S. à r.l.“, owned by a multitude of shareholders. Initially, these included Voyages Flammang, Polygraphic Services International S.A., Soparad Holding S.A., but also the magazine (which later became part of Editpress, i.e. „Tageblatt“) and even the publisher of „Lëtzebuerger Land“ (Source: Agefi, 2000).

In 1998, CLT-UFA, the company behind RTL, bought into the capital of Luxradio S. à r.l., i.e. Eldoradio, and gradually took over more shares of this competing station. The last share was taken over by RTL in November 2019, so that this company now belongs 100% to CLT-UFA. The regulatory authority ALIA, which is supposed to defend media pluralism, commented on this process by saying that there was no legal basis to prevent the deal.

DNR, RTL2 and L’essentiel Radio

„Den neie Radio (DNR)“ was initially the most promising competitor to RTL, while Saint Paul Verlag, the company behind the „Luxemburger Wort“, was RTL’s biggest media competitor behind DNR. Over the years, however, RTL has managed to dominate the advertising market in Luxembourg, mainly through its own advertising IP, to such an extent that DNR could not hold its own and the Luxemburger Wort, itself gripped by the press crisis, looked for a way to end this project. RTL had apparently been waiting for just that moment and put on the table plans for a French-language radio station called „RTL2“, but this proposal was blocked by ALIA because it would have completely changed the mandate provided for in the original concession agreement of the DNR and would have extended the audience of the station to people outside the Grand Duchy. That was the end of the DNR, and a closing message was issued in which RTL’s dominance was cited as one of the reasons for its demise.

However, it was not the end of RTL’s attempt to regain control of the frequencies and to conquer the French-language market. In 2016, shortly afterwards, the company „Radiolux S.A.“ was founded and applied for one of the DNR frequencies. CLT-UFA was on board and holds 25% of the shares. Although ALIA imposed special conditions to separate this new radio station from RTL in terms of organization and content, RTL ultimately had a seat at the table here too. In 2019, Essentiel Radio secured another open frequency and, as RTL wanted, once again prevented the emergence of potential competition.

Radio ARA and ARA City Radio

Radio ARA, or the operating company „Alter Echos S.A.“, is the only „free radio“ in the country. It is a union of volunteer radio enthusiasts, which is financed by the Ministry of Education’s „Graffiti“ program by and for young people and the multilingual broadcasts of „ARA International“. Radio ARA has always struggled for its survival from the beginning and was far too small for RTL to have bothered with the amateur station. Radio ARA financed itself by renting the broadcast time from early morning to 2:00 p.m. to a commercial, English-language station, „ARA City Radio“.

While RTL had planned to establish its own English-language station with „RTL Today“ in the medium term, the days of „ARA City Radio“ were numbered. A number of moderators who had formed „ARA City Radio“ were poached by RTL. Since advertising revenues were also unstable, ARA City Radio was closed in 2020. Radio ARA, which had lost its source of funding, went to the barricades and, after a long period of political back-and-forth, was able to be saved with the help of a state subsidy. Thanks to the new agreement between CLT-UFA and the state, Radio ARA will also receive support in its own field of activity, e.g. media education and cooperation with RTL’s competitor uni.lu.

Radio Latina

A radio station aimed at the Italian, Spanish and especially Portuguese-speaking communities was urgently needed in Luxembourg, but not necessarily lucrative - so never really interesting or dangerous for RTL. Shortly before the liberalization of frequencies, RTL nevertheless went on air with its own Portuguese program, it was Felix Braz, later Minister of Justice, who moderated RTL News in Portuguese for a short period of time. A short bluff with which RTL tried to play down the need for alternatives. But it was never meant to be serious. Radio Latina also partly belongs to the media group of the „Luxemburger Wort“, formerly Saint Paul, now Mediahuis.

RTL Radio 97.0 & 93.3

Like RTL Luxembourg, the German RTL belongs to RTL Group and is broadcast from Berlin. Just like RTL Radio Luxembourg and Eldoradio, IP is responsible for advertising sales.

In the overall picture, CLT-UFA owns number 1 (RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg), number 2 (Eldoradio) and number 4 (RTL Radio 97.0 & 93.3) and owns shares in number 3 (L’essentiel Radio). The legal radios, Radio Latina, 100komma7 and Radio ARA, together do not even reach 10% of the public in Luxembourg and do not represent any competition for RTL.

Is there more?

But RTL would not be RTL if it were satisfied with its extreme dominance. RTL knows that control of the market was already about controlling frequencies in 1991. The frequencies that are still operated in analogue via antenna will probably soon become obsolete, and according to the Ministry of Media, „DAB+“ technology is the future for broadcasting radio programs. RTL therefore needs control over DAB+, and they are already in the process of securing it.

The DAB+ multiplex will most likely be put in place by BCE, which has already carried out the test phase for the ministry. BCE is of course another subsidiary of CLT-UFA. The places on the multiplex are limited, and RTL is on time to make itself as broad as possible with the new web radios „RTL Gold“, „RTL Today“ and „RTL LX“.

Note for reasons of transparency. Richtung22, the group that built this website, had a program in the youth programs „Graffiti“ on Radio ARA, and two employees of Richtung22 previously worked for Radio ARA, or the Radio ARA project „Radio Art Zone“. There has been no direct connection between Richtung22 and Radio ARA for over a year. However, individual members of Richtung22 still cooperate with the station on various projects.