SVT programming chief to exit

SVT’s programming director Martin Österdahl is stepping down after 10 years at the Swedish pubcaster to pursue other interests.

Martin Österdahl

Österdahl took over from Annie Wegelius as part of a management shake-up last year and before that had been a commissioning editor at the broadcaster for five years.

Safa Safiyari, commissioning editor of SVT’s children’s programmes and head of children’s channel Barnkanalen, will step in as acting director of programmes from January 1, 2015, until a permanent replacement is found.

Österdahl, who will officially leave his post on December 31, said: “My focus as programming director has been to strengthen the impact of public service broadcasting in Sweden.

“The job was a natural extension of my five years as a commissioning editor at SVT. I am proud of how we have developed SVT’s offering in recent years. After a total of 10 years at the company, I now want to move on and I am grateful for all the experiences I have had.”

SVT’s outgoing CEO Eva Hamilton said Österdahl had a “winning mentality” and added: “During his years in SVT’s management team, he has developed our programming and initiated successes like Eternal Glory (Mästarnasmästare), The Great Swedish Adventure (AlltförSverige) and Moraeus& More (Moraeus med mera).”

“It was Martin who led the project when SVT broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013. In collaboration with Malmö Municipality it became a big success – within set financial limits.”

Earlier this week, SVT picked up two forthcoming UK dramas from Queer as Folk scribe Russell T Davies: Cucumber (8×60’) and Banana (8×30’).