About RTL Living

RTL Living

RTL Living is a German pay-TV channel operated by the RTL Group — the lifestyle channel in RTL Deutschland's pay-TV portfolio. Launched on 1 December 2006 and based in Cologne, its programming consists of television shows about trends, lifestyle, life, and travel: the food, home, travel, and living topics that define the genre. Rebranded in November 2015 and again in September 2021, the channel broadcasts in high definition across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — RTL's lifestyle outlet for the German-speaking audience.

Overview

RTL Living is RTL Deutschland's lifestyle pay-TV channel: trends, lifestyle, life, and travel — the programming of how to live. Food shows, home and garden, travel documentaries, fashion and living trends: the channel's schedule is the lifestyle magazine, televised.

Launched on 1 December 2006 as part of RTL's three-channel pay-TV debut (with RTL Crime and Passion), RTL Living took the lifestyle segment: the genres that serve the viewer's daily life — the cooking inspiration, the home ideas, the travel dreams.

The channel broadcasts in 1080i HDTV (downscaled to 16:9 576i for SDTV) in German across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is owned by the RTL Group, operated by RTL Deutschland from Cologne, alongside the sibling pay-TV channels RTL Crime, RTL Passion, and GEO Television.

History

RTL Living launched on 1 December 2006 — the lifestyle member of RTL's pay-TV trio. The channel's concept was the living magazine: the trends, the homes, the kitchens, the destinations — lifestyle television for the German-speaking audience.

On 1 October 2015, RTL Group announced the relaunch and redesign of its three pay-TV channels — RTL Living, RTL Crime, and Passion (then RTL Passion) — effective 12 November 2015: new logos and graphics for the trio. RTL Living's identity was refreshed for the high-definition era.

On 15 September 2021, as part of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland's comprehensive rebranding, RTL Living was rebranded along with RTL Passion and the parent RTL channel — adopting the multi-colourful logo (replacing the earlier green) within the group's unified red-yellow-blue system.

Programming and Content

RTL Living's programming is the lifestyle spectrum: food and cooking — the recipes, the chefs, the culinary trends; home and living — interiors, gardens, renovation, the dream home; travel — the destinations, the journeys, the holiday inspiration; and trends — fashion, wellness, the contemporary lifestyle.

The channel's shows serve the viewer's life directly: the cooking programme inspiring tonight's dinner, the home show suggesting the weekend project, the travel documentary planning the next holiday. Lifestyle television's practicality is its appeal: the programme you use, not just watch.

The scheduling follows the lifestyle day: the morning's inspiration, the afternoon's projects, the evening's indulgence. The channel's German presentation serves the DACH audience's tastes: the regional cuisines, the European destinations, the familiar lifestyle references.

Coverage and Audience

RTL Living broadcasts in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland via cable, satellite, and IPTV pay-TV packages — the lifestyle channel in the subscription bouquet, in HD.

The audience is the lifestyle-interested viewer: predominantly female, spanning the demographics — the cooking enthusiast, the home improver, the travel dreamer. The lifestyle genre's breadth gives the channel a wide audience: the food shows drawing the gourmets, the travel programmes the wanderers, the home shows the nesters.

The channel competes in the lifestyle segment with the free-to-air offerings — the cooking shows on general channels, the travel documentaries on public television — but its pay-TV depth offers the genres around the clock: the lifestyle viewer never without inspiration.

Ownership

RTL Living is owned by the RTL Group, operated by RTL Deutschland from Cologne, Germany. The group's pay-TV portfolio — RTL Crime, RTL Living, RTL Passion, GEO Television — complements its free-to-air channels (RTL, VOX, Nitro, RTLup, VOXup, n-tv) and the RTL+ streaming service.

The Lifestyle Channel

Lifestyle television is the practical genre: the viewer doesn't just watch the cooking show — they cook from it; doesn't just watch the travel show — they book from it. RTL Living's programming embraces this practicality: the shows designed for use, the inspiration designed for action.

The channel's trend coverage keeps it current: the lifestyle world moves fast — the food trends, the interior fashions, the travel hotspots — and the channel's schedule tracks them. The lifestyle viewer returns for the new: the next recipe, the next destination, the next idea.

In the German market — with its strong living culture (the home as sanctuary, the garden as passion, the holiday as right) — the lifestyle channel taps deep needs: the viewer's home, kitchen, and suitcase. RTL Living programmes for all three.

The Trio's Lifestyle Member

Within RTL's pay-TV trio, Living is the daylight channel: Crime owns the night's thrills, Passion the evening's emotions, Living the day's inspirations. The three channels divide the viewer's week: the lifestyle morning, the drama evening, the crime late-night.

The 2015 and 2021 rebrands kept the trio visually united: the shared logo systems, the family resemblance. RTL Living's green (until 2021) gave way to the group's multi-colour: the lifestyle channel within the colourful RTL family.

Food Television's Practical Appeal

The cooking show is television you use: the recipe tried tonight, the technique adopted, the dish served. RTL Living's food programming embraces this practicality — the shows designed as instruction, the presenters as teachers, the viewer as cook.

This practicality builds the loyal audience: the viewer returns not just for entertainment but for utility — the week's meal plan from the channel's chefs. In the lifestyle bouquet, food is the daily need: the programme that feeds the household, literally.

Travel: The Dream Factory

The travel programme is television's dream factory: the destinations visited from the sofa, the holidays planned from the screen. RTL Living's travel shows serve the German wanderlust — the world's most travel-hungry nation, statistically — with the inspiration for the next journey.

The travel show's arc is the viewer's: the destination discovered, the hotel noted, the trip booked. The channel's travel programming converts dreams to departures: the documentary that becomes the itinerary.

Home: The Sanctuary

The home show is RTL Living's heartland: the interiors, the renovations, the gardens — the German sanctuary cult, televised. The home as the life's centre, the renovation as the journey, the garden as the passion: the channel programmes the viewer's most personal space.

The home genre's appeal is identification: the viewer's own rooms reflected, the ideas transferable, the transformation inspiring. The German living culture — the "Zuhause" as identity — gives the genre its depth: the home show as the viewer's mirror.

Wellness and the Good Life

The wellness trend — health, balance, the good life — is RTL Living's contemporary beat: the programming of self-care, the shows about living well. From fitness to mindfulness, the channel tracks the lifestyle moment: the viewer's aspiration to the better life.

This wellness coverage keeps the channel current: the lifestyle genres evolve, and RTL Living evolves with them — the fitness formats, the nutrition trends, the mindfulness programming tracking the culture's concerns. The good life, televised — the channel's promise across the decades, from the 2006 launch to the streaming-era present.

The Inspiration Economy

Lifestyle television runs on inspiration: the idea that changes the dinner, the room, the holiday. RTL Living's economy is this inspiration — the programme as the spark, the viewer as the maker. Every show is a proposition: try this, visit there, live like this.

The inspiration economy sustains the channel's loyalty: the viewer who got the idea returns for the next one. In the attention market, the useful programme wins — and RTL Living's usefulness is its two-decade business.

Digital Presence

RTL Living's digital presence includes its programme site (rtl-living.de) and carriage on the RTL+ streaming platform. Schedules appear in EPGs across DACH pay-TV platforms.

For German-speaking lifestyle fans, RTL Living is the inspiration channel: food, home, travel, trends — the living magazine on television, on pay-TV since 2006.