VOX

Vox is a German free-to-air television channel launched on 25 January 1993 and owned by RTL Group. The channel mainly broadcasts documentaries and US series and movies. An integral part of the night program is the series Medical Detectives / Forensic Files, which regularly gets very high ratings, sometimes up to 20%, which is rather unusual for the broadcaster. 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.