Vox MD named chief of RTL Deutschland

German broadcaster RTL Deutschland has appointed the MD of its free-to-air channel Vox as its CEO following Anke Schäferkordt’s decision to stand down from the job after more than a decade.

Bernd Reichart

Bernd Reichart will take up the role of head of the German branch of Luxembourg-based media giant RTL Group at the end of December, with his successor at Vox to be announced in due course.

Reichart joined RTL Group in 2004, working as head of investor relations at the company’s Spanish subsidiary Antena 3. He subsequently held the role of MD of multichannel at Antena 3, where he was responsible for five free TV channels. He has been MD of Vox and a member of the RTL Deutschland management team since 2013.

“Bernd Reichart combines outstanding programming skills, management capabilities and international experience which he has demonstrated in various executive positions within our group,” said Bert Habets, CEO of RTL Group.

“Under his leadership, Vox has made a huge leap into the first league of German TV channels, repeatedly winning primetime audience leadership with hit formats such as Sing meinen Song and Club der roten Bänder.”

Anke Schäferkordt

The reshuffle comes after RTL Group and Schäferkordt mutually agreed not to renew her contract after 13 years at the helm of RTL Deutschland. Schäferkordt will now leave RTL Group after nearly three decades at the company.

Schäferkordt has held many positions at RTL Group over more than 27 years. Besides running RTL Deutschland, she was co-CEO of the entire firm for five years, expanding the company with her co-CEO Guillaume de Posch and making it more digital and international.

She served as CEO, programme director and chief financial officer at Vox. In 2005, she became chief operating officer and deputy CEO and finally CEO of RTL Television, whose German channels became RTL Deutschland in 2007.