RTL names new COO

The former CEO of Germany’s ProSiebenSat1 Group has joined European broadcast group RTL in a newly created role to help drive domestic and international expansion.

Guillaume de Posch has been named chief operating officer and will take charge of corporate strategy and business development at Europe’s biggest broadcast group, including new media, based at the company’s Luxembourg headquarters.

He will also oversee broadcast operations in the Netherlands and Belgium, and radio in France, and become the fourth member of RTL’s executive committee. De Posch will also take an active role in RTL’s international growth ambitions, which include broadcasting in Asia, growth of its content arm and new digital services.

He will take up the role from January 1, 2012.

Gerhard Zeiler, CEO of RTL, said de Posch’s role will be “vital to drive RTL Group’s expansion in new businesses and markets. Guillaume has a truly unique expertise in all aspects of the international broadcasting business, combined with a deep understanding of the technological challenges for the media industry in the digital age,” he said.

De Posch began his broadcasting career in 1993 at Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), which became part of RTL in 2000. From 1997, he was deputy general manager and programming director of French pay-TV platform TPS, before joining ProSiebenSat1 in 2004, first as COO and later as chairman CEO. Since 2009 he has worked as an adviser to European and US broadcasters, including Greek media group Antenna TV.

He said: “This marks my return to the company in which I first started my broadcasting career in 1993. I am very much looking forward to working with RTL Group’s first-class international management team.”