About Goldstar TV

Goldstar TV

Goldstar TV (GoldStar TV) is a German pay-television music channel devoted to Schlager — the beloved German-language popular music genre — operated by Mainstream Media. Launched in the early 2000s alongside its sister channel Heimatkanal, it broadcasts Schlager concerts, music programmes, and artist specials: Helene Fischer, Udo Jürgens, Falco, Jürgen Drews, and the stars of the genre, in high definition. With Romance TV and Heimatkanal, it completes the "Fernsehen mit Herz" (Television with Heart) trio.

Overview

Goldstar TV is the Schlager channel. Its schedule celebrates Germany's most enduring popular music: Schlager concerts, music shows, artist portraits, and specials — the genre that has soundtracked German life for generations. From Helene Fischer's stadium spectaculars to Udo Jürgens' timeless chansons, from Falco's pop legacy to Jürgen Drews' party anthems, the channel programmes the Schlager canon in high definition.

The channel is operated by Mainstream Media (Mainstream Media AG), active in the German-speaking television market since 2000, headed by CEO Tim Werner. Its launch — alongside Heimatkanal, under Gottfried Zmeck (the former DF1 head) — gave the company a nostalgic duo: Heimatkanal for film heritage, GoldStar TV for music heritage.

With Romance TV (romantic films) and Heimatkanal (German classics), GoldStar TV forms the "Fernsehen mit Herz" offering — bundled on HD+ as an IP-delivered package (€4.99 monthly) for the comfort-viewing and music-loving audience.

History

GoldStar TV received its broadcast licence in the early 2000s — part of the digital pay-TV expansion, launched alongside Heimatkanal under Gottfried Zmeck's leadership. The proposition: a dedicated channel for Schlager — the genre that dominated German popular music but had no televised home beyond the variety shows of the public broadcasters.

The channel's timing reflected Schlager's enduring commercial power: the genre's stars filled arenas, its compilations topped charts, and its television specials drew large audiences — yet no channel served the Schlager fan daily. GoldStar TV became that channel: concerts, shows, and specials, programmed around the clock for the genre's devoted audience.

Recent development includes the "Fernsehen mit Herz" bundling: HD+'s 2026 launch of the three-channel IP package brought GoldStar TV to smart-TV apps. The Schlager genre's continued vitality — Helene Fischer's record-breaking tours, the genre's streaming-era revival — sustains the channel's relevance into its third decade.

Programming and Content

Schlager concerts are GoldStar TV's foundation: full-length concert recordings — the arena spectaculars, the television galas, the open-air festivals — showcasing the genre's stars at their peak. Helene Fischer's stadium shows, the Schlager festival broadcasts, and the classic concert films provide the schedule's event programming.

Music programmes and artist specials fill the schedule: portrait documentaries, career retrospectives, and themed music hours — Udo Jürgens' chanson legacy, Falco's Austrian pop story, Jürgen Drews' party-Schlager reign, and the new generation of Schlager stars. The programming spans the genre's history: from the post-war Schlager through the disco era to the contemporary revival.

The channel's curation honours Schlager's cultural role: the genre that unites generations — grandparents, parents, and children singing the same choruses. GoldStar TV programmes that unity: the familiar songs, the beloved stars, the communal singalong, televised daily.

Coverage and Audience

GoldStar TV broadcasts via pay-TV platforms in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — on Sky, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, HD+, and others — in high definition. The "Fernsehen mit Herz" bundle delivers the channel via IP through the HD+ TV app.

The channel's audience is the Schlager public — spanning the generations, but concentrated in the middle-aged and older demographics who form the genre's core, plus the younger fans of the contemporary Schlager revival. The Helene Fischer generation and the Udo Jürgens generation meet in the schedule. Detailed ratings are published by the industry's measurement bodies.

Ownership

GoldStar TV is operated by Mainstream Media AG (Mainstream Media), the German broadcaster active since 2000, headed by CEO Tim Werner. Its sister channels include Romance TV, Heimatkanal, and the FAST portfolio.

As a commercial broadcaster, GoldStar TV is licensed by the German state media authorities and operates within Germany's dual broadcasting system.

Schlager: Germany's Enduring Genre

Schlager — the German-language popular song, sentimental, melodic, and unabashedly emotional — is one of European pop's most resilient genres. Dismissed by critics, beloved by millions, it has survived every musical fashion: the beat boom, disco, punk, hip-hop, and EDM all came and went; Schlager remained — adapting, absorbing, enduring.

The genre's television history is intertwined with German broadcasting: the ZDF-Hitparade, the Musikantenstadl, the Florian Silbereisen shows — Schlager's television showcases drew the mass audiences that proved the genre's power. GoldStar TV extends that tradition to a dedicated channel: the Schlager showcase, daily rather than weekly.

The contemporary revival — Helene Fischer's pop-Schlager crossover filling stadiums, the genre's streaming numbers, the "Schlager 2.0" generation — has brought new audiences to the music. GoldStar TV programmes both: the heritage (Jürgens, Drews, Falco) and the present (Fischer and the new stars) — the genre's past and future, side by side.

The Schlager Television Tradition

Schlager's relationship with German television is one of the medium's great love affairs. The ZDF-Hitparade — Dieter Thomas Heck's hit parade, running from 1969 to 2000 — was among German television's most-watched programmes: the monthly showcase where Schlager stars premiered their hits to millions. The Musikantenstadl — the folk-music barn party — drew similarly massive audiences. These shows proved Schlager's television power: the genre and the medium made for each other.

GoldStar TV inherits this tradition: the Schlager showcase as daily programming rather than monthly event. The channel's concerts, galas, and specials continue what the Hitparade began: Schlager stars, televised, celebrated. The genre's television grammar — the glamorous stage, the emotional ballad, the audience singalong — is the channel's visual language.

The public broadcasters' Florian Silbereisen shows — the contemporary Schlager showcases — demonstrate the tradition's vitality: millions still gather for televised Schlager. GoldStar TV serves the daily appetite those event shows reveal: the Schlager fan's everyday soundtrack, televised.

GoldStar TV's Concert Programming

The concert is GoldStar TV's signature format: full-length performances capturing Schlager's stars at their peak — the arena spectaculars, the open-air festivals, the television galas. Helene Fischer's stadium shows — among the most successful live productions in German music history — the classic concert films, and the festival broadcasts provide the schedule's event television.

The concert programming serves the genre's communal nature: Schlager is music for singing along, and the televised concert recreates the live experience — the crowd, the chorus, the shared emotion. For viewers who cannot attend the arena, the channel brings the arena home.

The artist specials complement the concerts: portrait documentaries tracing careers from breakthrough to stardom, themed hours celebrating songwriters and eras, and the new talent showcases introducing the genre's next generation. The programming spans Schlager's full history: the post-war pioneers, the disco-era stars, the contemporary revival — the genre's past, present, and future, in concert.

Digital Presence

GoldStar TV's programmes stream through on-demand services alongside its linear pay-TV distribution, and the "Fernsehen mit Herz" IP bundle brings the channel to smart-TV apps. The brand's social-media channels engage the Schlager audience with concert highlights, artist features, and music-event announcements — the singalong extended online, where fans celebrate the genre's stars — the Schlager community, gathered online as in the concert hall. Premiere broadcasts of new concert recordings and festival coverage keep the schedule fresh for the genre's devoted followers everywhere in German-speaking Europe.

For German-speaking viewers, GoldStar TV is the Schlager channel: the concerts, the stars, and the singalong — Germany's beloved genre, daily, in high definition. From the Hitparade tradition to the stadium spectaculars, the channel keeps the Schlager flame burning: the music that unites generations, televised with love.