RTL Group gives Jan Peter Lacher additional responsibilities for business development, AI strategy
RTL Group has expanded the role of its senior content VP, Jan Peter Lacher, to include additional responsibilities leading its business development and AI strategy.

Jan Peter Lacher
Lacher took over additional business development responsibilities, including coordinating the German media giant’s AI strategy and deployment, at the beginning of this month.
It comes after Stefan Kramer, previously head of strategy and business development at RTL Group, joined RTL Group-owned studio and talent management agency We Are Era on February 1 as executive VP of corporate development.
Lacher will continue to work on internal collaboration in areas such as content sourcing and production, as well as partnerships with external creatives and production companies. This now also includes the coordination of the group’s ‘synergy’ committees.
In addition, he will take over business development responsibilities such as market analysis and research and contribute to long-term strategic planning. He will report to Elmar Heggen, deputy CEO and chief operating officer of RTL Group.
Lacher started his career at RTL Deutschland in 2000 as executive assistant to the head of programming at flagship channel RTL.
Since then, he has held various executive positions in the areas of programming, strategy and transformation.
In February 2019, he was appointed RTL Deutschland’s executive VP of programme strategy and planning, followed by chief planning and cooperations officer and head of transformation office in March 2021.
From April 2022 to July 2023, he was chief transformation officer at RTL Deutschland. On 1 August 2023, he joined RTL Group’s corporate centre as senior VP of content.
Heggen said: “It is one of the key missions of the corporate centre to support and drive the transformation of our businesses. This has many aspects: from coordinating our approach to deploying AI solutions, analysing market trends and investment opportunities to fostering internal collaboration in areas such as content, streaming or advertising sales.
“Jan Peter Lacher has tremendous experience and expertise in the TV industry and an excellent network across RTL Group, Bertelsmann and the creative community. We are delighted that he takes over additional responsibilities and wish him the best of success in his new role.”