About Auto Motor und Sport Channel

Auto Motor und Sport Channel

The Auto Motor und Sport Channel is a German pay-TV channel devoted entirely to cars and mobility — the television extension of auto motor und sport, Germany's leading automotive magazine. Launched on 1 July 2009 in the Unitymedia cable network (with the channel's public premiere announced for 1 July in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse), it broadcasts a 24-hour programme of car tests, reports, documentaries, and news around the automobile. Operated by Motor Presse TV — the joint venture of Motor Presse Stuttgart (51%) and media entrepreneur Jörg Schütte (49%) — the channel is receivable in the German-speaking region, Eastern Europe, and the Benelux countries, in multiple language versions.

Overview

The Auto Motor und Sport Channel is the TV variant of Germany's leading automotive magazine: 24 hours a day, the full range of automotive fascination — extensive tests, gripping reports and documentaries, current news, and more around the car. The channel's editorial team — working from Cologne and Stuttgart — produces the programming for the channel itself and for third-party broadcasters, online, and social-media platforms.

The channel launched as the television brand extension of auto motor und sport, the fortnightly magazine published by Motor Presse Stuttgart that has defined German automotive journalism since 1946. The magazine's reputation — critical tests, independent judgment, the "measure of all cars" — transferred to the television channel: the same testing rigour, the same editorial standards, on screen.

Distribution spans the German-speaking region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), Eastern Europe, and the Benelux states — with the channel available in the respective national languages in many territories. In Germany, the channel is carried on cable, satellite, and IPTV platforms including waipu.tv, where it launched as part of the service's streaming lineup.

History

The channel's premiere was announced for 1 July — the launch in Unitymedia's digital cable network in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, in the "Digital TV Sport & Mehr" package for men with 14 programmes on sport, entertainment, and news. Millions of car enthusiasts in Germany followed the magazine's trends, trusted its critical tests, and enjoyed its travel reports and service tips; now the leading medium among car magazines launched its TV channel.

The launch partnership was strategic: Unitymedia's distribution in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse gave the channel what Jörg Plathner, head of Motor Presse Stuttgart's automotive division, called a promising entry into German pay-TV. Maik Emmermann of Unitymedia praised the brand's unique journalistic quality and its uncontested status as opinion leader — expecting the TV variant to establish itself rapidly as a strong media brand among viewers.

The channel is operated by Motor Presse TV GmbH, based in Cologne — the joint venture of Jörg Schütte (49%) and Motor Presse Stuttgart (51%). Schütte, a media entrepreneur with a Vox background, had built the channel from 2009 alongside his other ventures. The joint venture also works as a commissioned producer for TV broadcasters and realises cross-media projects for advertising clients.

Internationalisation became the strategy: the channel expanded to five different language versions in 13 countries — receivable in Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Benelux states, with launches planned in Brazil and Argentina. A UPC deal brought the channel to cable networks and direct satellite and IPTV in Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic — seven platforms, in the respective national languages. The channel could eventually be received in 20 countries, including via a programme partnership in Russia.

The streaming era brought new distribution: the channel launched on waipu.tv, Germany's leading independent IPTV service, as part of its over-the-top linear television strategy. A Pluto TV channel extended the brand to free streaming. The YouTube channel — with nearly 400,000 subscribers — built the brand's digital video presence with new formats and exclusive events.

Programming and Content

The 24-hour programme covers the full bandwidth of automotive fascination: detailed, current car tests — the magazine's signature comparative testing, on screen; visually rich reports and documentaries on classic cars, sports cars, tuning, and the fascination of the great brands; historic motorsport programmes; and current mobility topics.

Signature formats include "Bloch erklärt" (Bloch explains) with technology expert Alexander Bloch — the engineering explainer that translates automotive technology for viewers — and the legendary "Fast Lap" with professional racing driver Christian Menzel driving the world's fastest sports cars. These formats embody the channel's proposition: the magazine's testing expertise, televised.

The programming is produced by the channel's editorial team — working worldwide from Cologne and Stuttgart — for the channel itself and for third-party broadcasters. All formats on the streaming platforms are produced exclusively by Auto Motor und Sport: the in-house production model ensures the brand's editorial standards across distribution.

The international versions adapt the programming to national languages: in Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, the channel broadcasts in the respective mother tongue — the strategy, in Schütte's words, of offering Eastern European viewers independent automotive journalism and first-class entertainment in their native language.

Coverage and Audience

In Germany, the Auto Motor und Sport Channel is available via cable, satellite, and IPTV — including the waipu.tv streaming platform — as a pay-TV offering. The channel's German-speaking reach covers Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; internationally, it broadcasts in Eastern Europe and the Benelux states in multiple language versions.

The audience is the car enthusiast: the millions of German-speaking viewers who follow automotive trends, trust critical tests, and enjoy travel reports and service tips. The channel's positioning — in the men's package "Sport & Mehr," in the automotive-enthusiast niche — targets the predominantly male car-interested audience with the magazine's authority.

The international audience extends the brand: Eastern European viewers receiving independent automotive journalism in their own languages, Benelux car enthusiasts, and the streaming audience on waipu.tv and Pluto TV. The channel's multi-language strategy — five versions in 13 countries — serves these audiences natively.

Ownership

The Auto Motor und Sport Channel is operated by Motor Presse TV GmbH, based in Cologne — a joint venture of Motor Presse Stuttgart (51%) and media entrepreneur Jörg Schütte (49%).

Motor Presse Stuttgart is one of the leading international special-interest media houses, active in publishing with licensed editions and syndications in some 20 countries. The group publishes around 80 magazines — including auto motor und sport, Motorrad, Men's Health, and Mountainbike — across automotive, motorcycle, aviation, lifestyle, sport, and leisure topics. The company's ownership: the founding families Pietsch and Scholten together with Dr. Hermann Dietrich-Troeltsch (with Gruner + Jahr historically holding a majority stake in earlier structures).

The joint venture model — publisher plus television entrepreneur — combines the magazine brand's authority with Schütte's television expertise. Beyond operating the channel, Motor Presse TV works as a commissioned producer for broadcasters and on cross-media projects for advertisers.

The Magazine Brand on Television

Auto motor und sport's transfer to television is a case study in brand extension: the magazine — Germany's most traditional car magazine, the flagship of Motor Presse Stuttgart, published fortnightly since the "Das Auto" first edition of Christmas 1946 — lent its testing authority to the screen.

The magazine's proposition — "the measure of all cars," independent and unique automotive journalism, testing expertise examining performance down to the last detail — became the channel's: the comparative test, the critical judgment, the engineering depth. The television channel doesn't just show cars; it tests them, with the magazine's methodology.

This brand transfer gave the channel instant credibility: in a market of generic car shows, the Auto Motor und Sport Channel carried the authority of Germany's leading automotive medium. The Unitymedia launch announcement explicitly invoked this authority — the decades-unchallenged opinion leadership — as the channel's foundation.

Internationalisation: Five Languages, Thirteen Countries

The channel's international expansion is its most distinctive business story: from a German cable launch to five language versions in 13 countries — Eastern Europe, Russia, the Benelux states — with plans for Brazil, Argentina, and China (as video-on-demand).

The strategy's logic is the universality of car enthusiasm: the comparative test, the sports-car fascination, the engineering story — these translate across cultures. But the execution is local: the channel broadcasts in the respective national languages — Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, Czech — because, as Schütte put it, the strategy is offering viewers independent automotive journalism in their mother tongue.

The UPC deal — seven platforms across four Eastern European countries — was the breakthrough: "a huge step forward in complete Eastern European coverage." The programme partnership in Russia extended the reach further. The international channel became a German media export: Stuttgart automotive journalism, worldwide.

Digital Presence

The Auto Motor und Sport Channel's digital presence spans its streaming distribution — waipu.tv in Germany, Pluto TV's free streaming — and the Auto Motor und Sport YouTube channel, with nearly 400,000 subscribers, offering new formats and exclusive events every two weeks.

The Motor Presse Stuttgart digital ecosystem — motorpresse.de, the magazine's online platforms, social-media channels — supports the television brand. The editorial team produces for the channel, for third-party broadcasters, and for online and social-media platforms from Cologne and Stuttgart.

For German-speaking car enthusiasts, the Auto Motor und Sport Channel remains the automotive television brand: 24 hours of tests, reports, documentaries, and mobility topics — "Bloch erklärt," the "Fast Lap," and the magazine's testing authority, on screen since 2009.