# RTL+ new logo (2021)

> RTL+ launched a new logo in Nov 2021. Nov 2021: streaming service TVNOW renamed RTL+ under the new RTL Deutschland identity.

## Key facts

- Brand: RTL+
- Launched: Nov 2021
- What changed: Nov 2021: streaming service TVNOW renamed RTL+ under the new RTL Deutschland identity.
- Why: RTL said it wanted to strengthen RTL as the leading entertainment brand and harmonise its brand architecture so that offerings carry the RTL name.
- Industry: Streaming
- Logos: https://rebrandlog.com/logos/rtl-plus-2021/before.svg (before), https://rebrandlog.com/logos/rtl-plus-2021/after.svg (after)

## The rebrand, explained

DWDL.de's Thomas Lückerath broke the story on 16 February 2021: under the project name RTL United, RTL Group and Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland were overhauling their brand architecture, and the streaming service TVNow, introduced in 2018, would be buried and repositioned as RTL+. He called it a surprising U-turn, noting that the company was accepting the move less than three years after launching TVNow and spending heavily to establish it. Stephan Schäfer, then managing director for content and brands, told DWDL the aim was to strengthen RTL as the leading European entertainment brand and harmonise the brand architecture across the group, from corporate brands to channels, formats and digital platforms.

RTL's official release set out the rule behind the new look: content defines the brand. The three-colour rectangular RTL logo became a multi-colour logo whose colours can be customised for different themes and partnerships. The company said TVNOW would be renamed RTL+ on 3 November 2021, and the old linear channel RTLplus was renamed RTLup, which DWDL had reported as a consequence of the streaming rebrand.

When the design went on air on 15 September 2021, DWDL's Alexander Krei described the result. The familiar red, yellow and blue triad was retired; the logo still consists of three boxes, spaced further apart, with narrower letters, and a new house typeface called United. CMO Julian Weiss said RTL aimed to own all colours, and Schäfer summed up the logic: where RTL is inside, RTL is now written on the outside.

For the streaming service, this is the right call made late. TVNow was a name that told viewers nothing about who made it, and RTL+ borrows decades of recognition at a stroke. The cost was writing off a brand the company had paid to build. The plus sign is the weaker part: it makes RTL+ sound like an add-on rather than the destination the group says it is.

In short: TVNow buried, RTL written on the box.

## Sources

- https://company.rtl.com/de/rtl-praesentiert-neuen-markenauftritt/
- https://www.fernsehserien.de/news/aus-tvnow-wird-rtl-sendergruppe-rtl-deutschland-fuehrt-neues-logo-design-ein
- https://www.telekom.com/de/newsroom/aktuelles/news/2021/11/magentatv-tvnow-wird-rtl

## Cite this

Rebrand Log, "RTL+ new logo (2021)", https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/rtl-plus-2021/, last updated 2026-10-21.