Long-serving RTL exec Stephan Schmitter has landed the large seat in Germany. He has been named CEO of RTL Deutschland, efficient January 1, 2024.
Schmitter is at the moment Chief Content Officer, a job he’ll retain in his new publish, which fingers him accountability for the RTL+ streaming service and restructured publishing unit Gruner and Jahr.
RTL CEO Thomas Rabe took on management of RTL Deutschland in August 2022, and has been looking for a brand new chief for the enterprise since then as Chairman. Previous CEO Stephan Schäfer exited his publish lower than a 12 months after taking the position.
Reports in Germany say Schmitter was the entrance runner from an early stage. Once he takes on the brand new position, RTL Deutschland’s Management Board will comprise Schmitter, Matthias Dang as Chief Commercial, Technology and Data Officer, Andreas Fischer as Chief Operating Officer and Ingrid Heisserer as Chief Financial Officer & Chief Human Resources Officer. Dang was beforehand a co-CEO with Schäfer.
“Rabe said Schmitter had “set the course for the future in a short amount of time,” including RTL was the “only main channel in Germany to increase its audience share in the key target group” previously 12 months and that RTL+ now has round 4.7 million subscribers.
“My sincere thanks goes to the entire management team and all colleagues of RTL Deutschland for their great support and commitment. Over the past 15 months, we have established a new Management Board at RTL Deutschland and, in a difficult market environment, we have invested massively in the transformation of our business – in first-class content, streaming, [digital magazine brand] Stern+, Gruner + Jahr and advertising technology.”
Last week, RTL posted Q3 monetary outcomes displaying group revenues at €1.6B ($1.7B), down about 10% because it wrestles with the poor TV advert market within the UK. Its predominant rival in Germany, ProSiebenSat.1, yesterday posted Q3 numbers that seem to point out the advert market lastly displaying indicators of enchancment, although income was nonetheless down year-on-year.