Vox

Vox is German commercial television network owned by Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. The channel broadcasts entertainment, series, news and magazines programmings.

History[]

Vox started transmitting on 25 January 1993. It competed with public television by broadcasting many live and informational programmes. The channel was originally owned by an assortment of German media companies:

UFA (Bertelsmann) – 24.9%
Westdeutsche Medienbeteiligungsgesellschaft (West German Media Holding Company) – 25.1%
Holtzbrinck-Verlag (Holtzbrinck Publishing House) – 14.5%
Warner Music Germany – 14.5%
Development Company for Television Program (DCTP) – 11%
Mittelständische Unternehmensbeteiligung (Middle Class Business Holdings) – 10%

The director of programming at launch was Ruprecht Eser. One year after the channel's launch it seemed clear that the original programme concept would not work. Market share among the target group relevant for advertisers was at 1.5%, too low to attract much advertising. Vox took significant losses. By February 1994, all the original partners except UFA and DCTP sold their stakes. As a result of the losses, the quality of programmes began to decline. Vox had to repeat its movies every few weeks to fill the schedule. On 1 April 1994, Vox went into liquidation. More than 250 employees were laid off.

Vox's logo consists of the letters V and X, with a red circle "eye" using negative space to create the O.

By November 1994, Vox had new owners:

News German Television Holding (News Corporation) – 49.9%
Groupe Canal+ – 24.9%
UFA (Bertelsmann) – 24.9%
DCTP – 0.3%

Gradually, Vox gained a foothold in the German television landscape. In 1998, Vox signed an output deal with 20th Century Fox, leading to more series and movies being broadcast alongside magazine-style shows. In December 1999, RTL bought out News Corporation. A short time later, Groupe Canal+ sold its share to UFA (Bertelsmann). 99.7% of the channel now belonged to RTL Group, with the remaining 0.3% held by DCTP.

Now, Vox is the most successful private television station of the so-called "second generation". The channel had so much success with series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: Miami that they were transferred to the more widely watched sister channel RTL. CSI: NY gets a market share of up to 21% on Vox.

Audience share in March 2008 was 5.4%, with share amongst 14- to 49-year-olds at 7.4%. In the 2011/12 television season Vox had a 5.6% share of all viewers, making it the 6th most watched channel, and 7.4% among viewers aged 14–49, making it the fourth most watched channel by that demographic.