On Wednesday 6 November 2024, Donald Trump won the US election to be named President of the United States for a non-consecutive second term. The run-up to the landmark election was characterised by intense campaigning from both Donald Trump and Democratic contender Kamala Harris, focusing on key issues such as the economy, healthcare and immigration. With independent journalism at the heart of RTL, our business units worked around the clock to provide in-depth, high-quality and reliable coverage of the tense battle for the White House.

Enex

Mark Evans, Head of News at Enex – RTL Group’s Luxembourg-based news association – gave his firsthand account of the election night:

“Wow! After a rollercoaster of a campaign came a dramatic election night that played out as few predicted. Many commentators thought President Trump would win again but few suggested The Comeback Kid would find it quite as easy as it seemed by Wednesday morning. For Enex, it was another step-forward technically, with all four channels of our 12-hour live coverage distributed via internet protocol rather than satellite. And that decision was vindicated, as a record number of our partners grabbed feeds of all the crucial live events, declarations, candidates’ parties, and CBS’s off-air election programming, culminating in President Trump’s historic victory speech. And, if yesterday’s result means nothing else, that appetite for coverage is unlikely to go away. Strap in, the next four-year news cycle may be a bumpy ride.”

RTL Deutschland

The highlight of RTL Deutschland’s coverage was US-Wahlen – Kampf ums Weiße Haus (US Election – Battle for the White House) – a joint programme from flagship channel RTL and news channel NTV running through the night from 5 to 6 November. Journalists Roberta Bieling and Christopher Wittich reported live from 01:00, while expert Peter Kloeppel was on the ground in the US, Stern Editor-in-Chief Gregor Peter Schmitz gave his assessment from Berlin, and other US correspondents captured the mood across the country.

Throughout the week, successful news programme RTL Direkt dedicated its coverage to the US election, with anchorwoman Pinar Atalay on the road in the US to find out what moves the people of America. In addition to the extensive news coverage, documentary highlights provided further insights: Donald Trump – Mythos, Macht & Manipulation (Donald Trump – Myth, Power & Manipulation) was shown on NTV, while White Noise – Uns gehört Amerika (White Noise – We Own America) was shown as a German premiere on Geo Television.

Online, RTL.de and NTV.de provided up-to-date information, live tickers, analyses, graphics, reactions and mood reports throughout the election night. US reporters provided updates on RTL Aktuell’s social media channels, while RTL News released several new episodes of the Voice of Washington YouTube format. In the latest episode of RTL erleben – der RTL Deutschland Podcast, journalist Christopher Wittich talks about his experiences as a US correspondent in Washington DC and shares his views on the election campaign – listen here (in German).

Groupe M6

News programmes 12.45 and 19.45 focused heavily on the presidential election, with a series of reports on the main topics – abortion, immigration, minorities, poverty, weapons and climate change – alongside analyses from correspondents on the ground and the latest news from experts. Thanks to synergies with RTL, M6 was present from the East Coast to the West Coast.

Besides extensive news coverage, documentary series Enquête Exclusive (Exclusive Investigations) tackled current topics in three special episodes: the first episode focused on the return of “tradwives” (traditional wives) in the US, the second episode focused on university campuses, and the third episode was presented from the centre of the election campaigns in Washington DC. Additional documentaries on W9 and Paris Première explored various aspects of American society.

RTL Nederland

In the run-up and during the election, RTL Nieuws kept audiences updated on RTL 4, RTL Z and via the ‘RTL Nieuws & Entertainment’ app and website. Reporters Erik Mouthaan and Sophie van der Meer sounded out sentiments in various states and reported live on election night. On the morning of 6 November, RTL Nieuws: Bestemming Witte Huis (RTL News – Destination White House) was broadcast from 06:00 to 10:00. The special edition of the popular news programme was hosted by Daphne Lammers and Robbie Kammeijer, with polls and resulted presented by Gijs Rademaker.

RTL Hungary

The evening edition of RTL Híradó (RTL News) reported extensively on the US election from 5 to 6 November, with RTL Hungary correspondents live in Washington and New York. A temporary studio was set up for special guests to comment on the latest developments, and RTL Hungary created new graphical elements to present high-quality data of the election results. In addition to the news coverage, which a crew of editors, reporters and directors worked on for several weeks in advance, infotainment programme Fókusz (Focus) covered the election with on-the-ground reports and coverage.

RTL Luxembourg

RTL Luxembourg turned night into day for the US election: the websites RTL.lu (in Luxembourgish), RTL Today (in English) and RTL Infos (in French) were continuously updated from 5 to 6 November. Audiences could also follow social media updates from journalist Annick Goerens, who was previously in close contact with the people of the West Cost. 

From midnight to 05:30 on RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg, presenter Loïc Juchem and Editor-in-Chief Roy Grotz provided information on the latest projections, exchanged views with correspondents on the ground, and entertained all political night owls with musical portraits of the US states.

In the build-up to the election, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg embarked on a multi-day road trip through ten US states with journalist Petz Bartz. Journalist Anne Wolff also reported from Florida, focusing on immigrants supporting Donald Trump. Luxembourg-based journalist Philip Crowther provided daily live broadcasts, and in a special edition of the popular talk show Kloertext, presenter Caroline Mart welcomed several guests to contextualise the election results.