With its diverse line up of free-to-air programming for men, the channel's viewership is growing continuously. NITRO went on air in 2012 as RTL NITRO, and is the second newest free-to-air channel in the portfolio of RTL Deutschland. Within six years, the male-interest channel has seen its market share in the 14 to 59-year-old demographic grow from 0.4 to over 2 per cent. NITRO now tops the list of third and fourth generation broadcasters, and is hot on the heals of the big channels as the first of the "top ten runners-up".