Tipik
Tipik is RTBF's Belgian French-language television, radio and digital brand for young adults.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Tipik is a Belgian public-service media brand operated by Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française, commonly known as RTBF. It serves French-speaking audiences in Belgium through television, radio and online platforms, with a particular focus on young adults. The current brand was introduced on 7 September 2020, when RTBF merged its second television channel, La Deux, with the youth-oriented radio station Pure. The resulting identity was intended to create one coordinated cross-media offer rather than separate television and radio services aimed at overlapping audiences. The television service inherited a long and complicated history. Its network began on 26 March 1977 as RTBis, RTB's second television channel. It initially broadcast only on selected evenings and carried regional, educational, cultural and specialist material, while also relaying popular programming from the main channel. After RTB became RTBF in 1977, the service expanded its schedule and was renamed Télé 2 in 1979. Télé 2 developed an event-oriented profile, particularly around sport, cultural events and programme repeats, before being replaced by Télé 21 in March 1988. Télé 21 was conceived as a more complete second channel and took inspiration from the energy associated with RTBF's Radio 21. Its identity and schedule changed repeatedly as RTBF attempted to improve its audience performance and define a useful relationship with the main channel. The service was used for sports, cultural programmes, documentaries, children’s content, live events and repeats of expensive or specialist programming. During the 1990s, RTBF experimented with partnerships and programme splits involving Arte and Eurosport. These arrangements produced temporary services such as Arte/21, Sports 21 and Eurosport 21, but the agreements did not become a lasting structure. The channel subsequently evolved into La Deux, and later RTBF La Deux. A major relaunch in September 2002 gave La Deux a stronger identity and divided its presentation and scheduling into broad age-oriented zones for children, teenagers and adults. It carried programmes such as Ici Bla-Bla, G'nôme and youth and entertainment formats, alongside films, documentaries, culture, music, sport, current affairs and imported drama. Its role was generally complementary to RTBF's primary channel, La Une, rather than that of a direct commercial competitor. La Deux also carried news bulletins and specialist editions at different points in its history, including JT Soir, Le 12 Minutes and Le 15 Minutes. In 2020, Tipik replaced La Deux on television and Pure on radio. The rebrand also extended online, making Tipik a unified media proposition for young adults. Tipik's programming mix includes talk shows, local fiction, American and British series, films, comedy, documentaries, current affairs, music, sport and selected youth-oriented content. The brand can be understood as RTBF's French-language counterpart to a complementary second public-service channel, with programming designed to broaden RTBF's reach while retaining public-service obligations. Tipik is not an independently listed company or standalone broadcaster. It is a service brand within RTBF, Belgium's French-language public-service broadcasting organization. Its principal market is the French-speaking Belgian Community, and its distribution combines linear television, radio and digital services. Financial data, individual brand revenue and a separately identified corporate executive team are not established in the supplied reference material.
History
Tipik's lineage begins with RTBis, launched by RTB on 26 March 1977 as a second television service. It was initially a limited-hours channel, broadcasting on Monday and Wednesday evenings. Its brief included regional productions, Walloon-language theatre, adult education, cultural and educational programmes, specialist material and selected repeats. It also helped RTB use an older black-and-white transmitter network after the main channel moved to colour. In practice, relays of popular series, films, variety shows and games helped make the service more accessible than its specialist remit might suggest. After the broadcaster became RTBF in October 1977, the schedule expanded to four evenings a week. The service was renamed Télé 2 in October 1979 and adopted a more event-focused identity, particularly around sport and special programming. A major transmitter incident in October 1983 temporarily reduced access for a substantial number of viewers after high winds damaged an RTBF transmission mast at Wavre. During the following years, RTBF considered whether Télé 2 should become a subscription service, a stronger regional channel, or a dedicated sports and events outlet. None of these possibilities became the final long-term solution. Télé 2 closed on 20 March 1988 to make way for Télé 21, which launched the next day as a fuller second channel. Télé 21 initially sought to operate independently of the main service, except for selected news simulcasts. Its audience performance was unstable, and in 1989 RTBF repositioned it around events, sports and repeats of costly programmes. The broadcaster also explored partnerships with other European services and possible splits into cultural, regional and sports components. A partnership with Arte GEIE, signed in February 1993, led to Arte/21, which carried the French version of Arte programming together with Belgian cultural opt-outs and RTBF material. Sports output was grouped in a separate Sports 21 service. The arrangement ended in March 1994, after which the network returned to a simpler 21 identity. In 1997, the service was reorganized again: cultural, documentary and non-sporting live-event programming moved to La Deux, while Eurosport 21 carried RTBF sports windows within a relationship with Eurosport. Eurosport 21 ended in March 1999 after the relevant contract was terminated, and sports coverage returned to RTBF's principal free-to-air channels. La Deux became the principal identity of the second-service tradition from 2001. A substantial redesign, implemented on 2 September 2002, attempted to give it a clearer personality and a more deliberate relationship with La Une. Its visual language and scheduling distinguished children’s, adolescent and adult-oriented periods. The channel combined established children’s programmes with new youth formats, film blocks, entertainment, documentaries, cultural programming, music, sport and live events. It adopted a fully 16:9 presentation in December 2005. RTBF later launched La Trois in 2007, which changed the distribution of children’s and specialist material across the group. The second channel also carried several forms of news programming over time. It relayed or shared evening news editions, broadcast JT Soir during the 1990s, carried Le 12 Minutes from 2006, and introduced Le 15 Minutes in 2011 as part of a wider RTBF news redesign. These bulletins complemented, rather than replaced, the principal news operation on La Une. On 7 September 2020, RTBF merged La Deux with the Pure youth radio service and launched Tipik. The new brand was designed to work across television, radio and the internet, with young adults as its central audience. PureVision was renamed TipikVision at the launch. Tipik inherited the second channel's broad programming capacity while adding a more unified youth-media identity. Its current offer spans fiction, films, comedy, talk, music, documentaries, current affairs, sport, news and digital content. Tipik remains an RTBF service rather than an independent company, and its principal field of operation is French-speaking Belgium.
- 2020
Tipik launches
[1]La Deux and Pure are unified under Tipik across television, radio and digital platforms.
- 2005
Full transition to 16:9
[1]La Deux completes its move to widescreen 16:9 broadcasting.
- 2002
La Deux receives a major relaunch
[1]The channel adopts a stronger identity, redesigned presentation and programming zones aimed at children, teenagers and adults.
- 1997
La Deux and Eurosport 21 split
[1]RTBF reorganizes the second-service frequencies between La Deux and a sports-focused Eurosport 21 arrangement.
- 1993
Arte/21 and Sports 21 experiment
[1]An RTBF partnership with Arte produces a cultural service while sports programming is separated into Sports 21.
- 1988
Télé 21 replaces Télé 2
[1]RTBF launches Télé 21 as a more complete second television channel.
- 1979
Renamed Télé 2
[1]The second channel adopts the Télé 2 name and emphasizes events, sport and complementary programming.
- 1977
RTBis launches
[1]RTB launches a limited-hours second television service carrying regional, educational, cultural, specialist and selected popular programming.
Products and positioning
A French-language Belgian public-service media brand for young adults, combining television, radio and digital content across entertainment, culture, information, sport and fiction.
Television broadcasting · 2020
Tipik television channel
The linear television service replacing La Deux in 2020. It targets young adults while offering a broad public-service schedule that includes Belgian and imported fiction, films, entertainment, comedy, documentaries, current affairs, news, music and sport. The channel is designed to complement RTBF's main television service rather than duplicate it.
Radio broadcasting · 2020
Tipik radio
The radio component created when RTBF's Pure station was rebranded as Tipik. It brings the young-adult positioning into audio and forms part of the same cross-platform identity as the television and online services.
Digital media · 2020
Tipik digital service
Tipik's online presence extends the brand beyond scheduled broadcasts through digital editorial content and online access to its television and radio offer. It is integrated into RTBF's broader digital ecosystem.
Television identity · 2020
TipikVision
The former PureVision television identity was renamed TipikVision at the 2020 launch, aligning the television expression of the former radio brand with the new Tipik cross-media system.
Brand decisions
2020
Unification of La Deux and Pure under TipikStrategyBackground
RTBF had separate television and radio services with overlapping youth-oriented audiences and sought a clearer, more coherent cross-media proposition.
Action taken
RTBF replaced La Deux on television and Pure on radio with the Tipik identity, extending the brand online and positioning it around young adults.
Aftermath
Tipik became a coordinated television, radio and digital service within RTBF, retaining a broad schedule of entertainment, culture, information, fiction and sport.
1993
Partnership with Arte and creation of Sports 21StrategyBackground
RTBF was attempting to give its second network clearer cultural and sports roles while improving the use of limited channel capacity.
Action taken
RTBF entered a partnership with Arte GEIE, creating the Arte/21 programming arrangement and grouping displaced sports output in Sports 21.
Aftermath
The arrangement was suspended in March 1994, after which the second service returned to a simpler 21 format.
Sources2 sources
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