RTL Zwei (stylised as RTLZWEI), formerly spelled RTL 2 and RTL II, is a German-language television channel that is operated by RTL2 Television GmbH & Co. KG. RTL2 is a private television broadcaster with a full program (Vollprogramm) according to the Interstate Broadcasting Agreement (Rundfunkstaatsvertrag). For Austria and Switzerland, variants of the main programme are produced with nationally inserted advertising islands; these variants can be received via the cable networks in these two countries as well as via digital satellite. RTL Zwei is the second subsidiary of RTL Group in Germany. History On 26 September 1992, RTL II was scheduled to begin broadcasting; select programming guides were anticipating the channel's launch during that time. However, the channel's launch was delayed until 1993 because LPR Hessen (known as the Hessische Landesanstalt für privaten Rundfunk) repeatedly raised concerns about the channel's shareholder structure to the German media authorities. The shares of the channel's initial owners (RTL Television, CLT, Bertelsmann, Burda and FAZ) had to be reduced to below 25% before the licence for the channel could be awarded to RTL. The channel eventually started broadcasting on 6 March 1993 at 6:09 a.m., replacing Screensport (which ceased operations five days earlier due to its merger with Eurosport) on the Astra satellite service. The first programme on the channel was the movie Ein reizender Fratz. In 2000, RTL II began broadcasting the shows Popstars and Big Brother; Popstars ran on the channel for two seasons before it was moved to ProSieben, while Big Brother continued to air until 2011. The network began offering a video on demand service in February 2012. As of 7 October 2019, the channel was rebranded as RTLZWEI. The number 2 is written out for the first time in the station's history. The design was developed in cooperation with the agency mehappy GmbH. Visual identity (logos) Ownership The channel is operated by RTL2 TV GmbH & Co. KG, which was founded in 1992 and employs approximately 210 people. Since June 2014 its Managing Director has been Andreas Bartl. The company was originally headquartered in Cologne, but is now run in the municipality of Grünwald, to the south of Munich; only its news department is still based in Cologne, in order to share the production facilities of RTL news. The company is jointly owned by: RTL Group S.A. (35.9%), Bauer Media Group (31.5%), Tele-Munich Television Media Participation LP (31.5%, of which