Talpa hands dual role to Sanoma exec

Netherlands-based media outfit Talpa Holding has appointed Sanoma Media’s Netherlands CEO as both its chief commercial officer and CEO of its Dutch broadcaster SBS.

Peter de Mönnink

The appointment of Peter de Mönnink, who will take up the positions from January next year, comes after Talpa Holding completed a deal to acquire Dutch commercial broadcaster SBS from Finnish media group Sanoma in July for €237m (US$273m).

De Mönnink, who had been CEO for Sanoma in the Netherlands since 2014, has been working for both Talpa and SBS since the takeover.

His appointment comes two months after Talpa increased its stake in SBS by 67% to give it 100% ownership of the company.

Talpa founder John De Mol and Sanoma bought the broadcaster from Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 for €1.23bn in 2011, with Talpa Holding initially taking a 33% stake.

Karin de Groot, channel manager of SBS6, was named director of television for SBS all channels, which also include Net5, Veronica and SBS9, during the summer.

Susan Duinhoven, president and CEO of Sanoma, described De Mönnink’s “transition” to Talpa as “an anticipated and logical next step for both him and the Sanoma business.”

Sanoma said it would name a replacement for De Mönnink in due course.

Talpa Holding is the holding company for De Mol’s media activities. The company was founded in 2005 and owns Talpa Radio, the largest music entertainment company in the Netherlands, consisting of the channels 538, Radio 10, Sky Radio and Radio Veronica.

The Voice producer Talpa Media, formerly part of Talpa Holding, was acquired by UK commercial broadcaster ITV in 2015. It continues to be responsible for the management of the company and the creation and production of television formats and concepts.