The channel was launched as part of Europe's largest media company RTL Group (itself ultimately owned by Bertelsmann) and is rebroadcast on more than 20 German-language stations.

Since broadcasting in 2001, the station had made losses every year despite relocating from Cologne to Hanover and restructuring.

[2] The channel was bought by Aurelius AG, a group of investors based in Munich.

On January 1, 2010, Michael Oplesch, the former managing director of the TV channel VIVA Germany, bought an initial tranche of shares in Channel 21 from Aurelius AG, using his investment vehicle with his Centuere AG.

[6] Channel 21, as reported by media news site DWDL.de in May 2012, planned to restructure, aiming to make the company economically viable.

The restructuring took place as a result of the critical financial year in which Channel 21 lost many of its suppliers, including Wollpfannen, a cookware manufacturer, which was one of the few major suppliers of the shopping channel and now supplies QVC, a competitor.