RTL Group has appointed Henning Tewes, MD of the news provider Enex, as the new CEO of RTL Hrvatska with effect from July 1, 2014.
Tewes will succeed Johannes Züll, who will leave RTL Group to become CEO at the German production company Studio Hamburg.
Furthermore, following a proposal from Tewes, Ivan Lovrecek, currently editor-in-chief of RTL Hrvatska and a member of the company’s executive board, will be promoted to deputy CEO of RTL Hrvatska, also effective July 1, 2014.
Tewes joined RTL Group in 2005 and was VP corporate strategy before becoming part of the management team of Alpha TV in Greece, most recently as programme director. In July 2012 he became MD of he Luxembourg-based, RTL Group-led news exchange Enex.
Lovrecek joined RTL Hrvatska in March 2004 as a reporter covering major domestic and international events. In June 2005 he was promoted to Daily News editor, and in 2007 he was appointed editor-in-chief of RTL Hrvatska. Two years later, in September 2009, he became a member of the company’s management board. Prior to his career at RTL Hrvatska, he worked from 2000 to 2004 as a news producer and presenter at the BBC World Service in London and Zagreb.
Commenting on Tewes’ appointment, Andreas Rudas, executive VP regional operations & business development CEE and Asia at RTL Group and chairman of the supervisory board of RTL Hrvatska, said: “I am delighted that we have found such a dynamic and experienced management team for our Croatian family of channels from within RTL Group. Henning Tewes combines business acumen and leadership skills with a strong track record in programming. He is deeply familiar with RTL Group and the international TV industry and is an excellent choice to lead and grow RTL Hrvatska into the next phase of its development. I congratulate Ivan Lovrecek on his promotion to deputy CEO. His thorough understanding of the local market, leadership in news and magazines and experience in building our Croatian family of channels is key to our future plans.
“I would also like to thank Johannes Züll for his important achievements. During his time as head of RTL in Croatia, he ensured the financial sustainability of RTL Hrvatska and the re-licensing of the main channel RTL Televizija through 2029. At the same time, he built a complementary family of channels with two new channels – RTL 2 and RTL Kockica.”