Stephan Schmitter will take over the leadership of RTL Deutschland as CEO on January 1, 2024.
In addition to his current role of Chief Content Officer, Schmitter will take on responsibility for streaming service RTL+ and the reorganised publishing business Gruner + Jahr (G+J) in his new position.
As of January 1, 2024, the Management Board of RTL Deutschland will be as follows: Stephan Schmitter (CEO), Matthias Dang (Chief Commercial, Technology and Data Officer), Andreas Fischer (Chief Operating Officer) and Ingrid Heisserer (Chief Financial Officer & Chief Human Resources Officer).
“Stephan Schmitter lives and embodies RTL. He is an entrepreneur with an extraordinary flair for content and a collaborative management style. As Chief Content Officer and member of the Management Board, he has set the course for the future in a short amount of time,” said Thomas Rabe, CEO of parent company RTL Group and current Chairman of the Management Board of RTL Deutschland.
“This year, RTL was the only main channel in Germany to increase its audience share in the key target group. VOX became the second most popular commercial channel, and our family of channels significantly expanded its market leadership. At the same time, we continued the growth trajectory of our streaming service RTL+, which currently has around 4.7 million subscribers. I am very much looking forward to continuing to work with Stephan Schmitter and I wish him every success in his new role,” Rabe added.
Schmitter said: “I am looking forward to taking on this new entrepreneurial challenge and would like to thank Thomas Rabe and RTL Group’s Executive Committee for their trust. I am convinced we have everything we need to continue shaping the transformation of our business, with great speed and from a position of strength. Our goal is to have leading brands in all genres that move and inspire our audiences in Germany, alongside outstanding colleagues full of creative power.”
Schmitter joined RTL Group in May 2004 as Managing Director of the Berlin-based radio station 105’5 Spreeradio. In October 2007, he additionally became Managing Director of 104.6 RTL, the local market leader in Berlin, and of RCB Radio Center Berlin (now RTL Audio Center Berlin). In January 2018, Schmitter became CEO of RTL Radio Deutschland, and in May 2019, he additionally took on the role of Head of Audio at Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland (now RTL Deutschland).
In September 2020, Schmitter additionally became one of the Managing Directors of infoNetwork, before being appointed Managing Director of the newly founded RTL News GmbH in February 2021. Following the combination of RTL Deutschland and Gruner + Jahr in January 2022, Schmitter took over as Chief Journalistic Content Officer at RTL Deutschland, before being appointed to the Management Board of RTL Deutschland in November 2022. As Chief Content Officer, he has since been responsible for all content (entertainment, journalism, fiction, sport and productions from RTL Studios) and brands of RTL Deutschland.
