ProSiebenSat.1 is facing the consequences from the ongoing turbulence in the company: CEO Max Conze will leave the German broadcaster with immediate effect.
With the move, ProSiebenSat.1 is reacting to the departure of several senior executives, criticism from within the company’s own ranks and the sharp drop in the share price. Conze, who was previously CEO of UK-based vacuum cleaner manufacturer Dyson, joined ProSiebenSat.1 on June 1, 2018.
At the same time, ProSiebenSat.1 is reorganising its executive board. CFO Rainer Beaujean has additionally assumed the office of chairman of the executive board. New appointees to the executive board are Wolfgang Link and Christine Scheffler. Link heads the entertainment segment and Scheffler continues to be in charge of human resources.
The decisions were taken by the supervisory board on Thursday evening, March 26, 2020.
Accompanying the reshuffle of the executive board is a change in relation to the strategic focus. ProSiebenSat.1 is returning the primary focus of its operating business to the entertainment sector in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The main emphasis will be on local and live formats, also in close cooperation with its production subsidiaries Red Arrow Studios and Studio71.
The group’s digital reach is to be further extended, for example through the streaming platform Joyn, jointly operated with Discovery.
The e-commerce subsidiary NuCom remains an important pillar of the group in synergistic terms. The existing equity shareholdings, which benefit from advertising on the entertainment platforms, will continue to be developed to generate value and sold in due course under an active portfolio policy.
