VOX Live

Vox live stream, a German free-to air television channel, was launched 25 January 1993 by RTL Group. It broadcasts mainly documentaries, US series, and movies.

The series Medical Detectives / Forensic Files is an integral part of the night-time program. It regularly receives very high ratings, sometimes as high as 20%, which is quite unusual for the broadcaster.

VOX began transmitting on 25/01/93, replacing Lifestyle. It broadcast many informational and live programmes, competing with public television. An assortment of German media companies owned the channel in its initial form.

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%

Mittelstandische Unternehmensbeteiligung (Middle Class Business Holdings) - 10%

Ruprecht Eser was the director of programming during launch. It was clear one year later that the original program concept would not work. The market share of the target audience relevant to advertisers was 1.5%. This is too low for advertising to be very effective. VOX suffered significant losses. All original partners, except UFA/DCTP, had sold their stakes by February 1994. The quality of programmes started to drop as a result. To fill its schedule, VOX had no choice but to repeat its films every few weeks. On 1 April 1994, VOX went into liquidation. Over 250 employees were fired.

VOX's logo consists only of V and X letters, with a red circle eye using negative space to make the O.

In November 1994, VOX was sold to new owners.

News German Television Holdings (News Corporation), 49.9%

Canal+ - 24.9%

UFA (Bertelsmann) - 24.9%

DCTP - 0.3%

Gradually, VOX established itself in Germany's television market. VOX entered into an output agreement with 20th Century Fox in 1998. This allowed for more movies and series to be broadcast alongside magazine-style programs. RTL Television purchased News Corporation in December 1999. Soon after, canal+ sold its shares to UFA (Bertelsmann AG). RTL Group now owns 99.7%, while DCTP holds 0.3%.

VOX is now the most successful private TV station in the "second generation". The channel was so successful with series like CSI: Miami and CSI: New York that it was transferred to RTL Television, which is more popular. CSI: NY gains a market share up to 21% via VOX.

In March 2008, the audience share was 5.4%. The share of viewers aged 14 to 49 was 7.4%. VOX was the sixth most watched television channel in March 2008, with a 5.6% share among all viewers. It also had 7.4% among 14-49-year-old viewers, making it fourth-most-watched channel.