Stefan Schafer has resigned as CEO of German TV giant RTL amid a change in management at Europe’s biggest commercial broadcaster.
Schaefer resigned on Wednesday, leaving a quartet of executives at the helm of RTL: co-CEO Matthias Dang, CFO Alexander Glatz, newly appointed COO Andreas Fischer and Oliver Radke, responsible for coordinating the strategic alliance between RTL and Gruner. . Jahr, the publishing giant controlled by RTL’s parent company, Bertelsmann.
Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe takes over as Chairman of the Board of Directors of RTL. Schäfer will remain associated with RTL in an advisory capacity.
The executive merger comes amid Bertelsmann’s effort to transform its largely legacy media operations into digital operations and seek synergies between them.
One of the first steps in this direction was the merger of RTL, which owns 15 TV channels, and Gruner + Jahr (G+J), which publishes premium magazines, including the Stern newspaper, and the Science Geo label.
“As a single company, RTL Deutschland and G+J are well positioned to become the national media champions in Germany,” said Schafer.
In addition to RTL and Gruner + Jahr, Bertelsmann also owns book giant Penguin Random House and music publisher and record label BMG Rights Management.
On Wednesday, RTL relaunched the German streaming service RTL+, adding a new music streaming offering through a deal with French music streamer Deezer. The plan is to continue adding new content, including podcasts, magazines and e-books, to Bertelsmann’s RTL+ portfolio.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
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