Premiere Chief Exits

MUNICH, August 13: Georg Kofler is stepping down as the chief executive of German pay-TV platform Premiere at the end of this month to be succeeded by CFO Michael Börnicke.

Kofler has asked the platform’s Supervisory Board to release him from his contract. His resignation follows his successful negotiations with Arena to bring the rights to the valuable Bundesliga German football matches back to Premiere subscribers. He said in a statement: “After the successful transaction with arena, a new phase begins for Premiere. The company is set again for growth, the strategic position is excellent. In the upcoming months, important license rights for pay-TV programs will be tendered out. We are expecting contract periods up to 2012 or longer, accordingly strategic and operating decisions have to be taken on a long-term view. Having evaluated these requirements, I have decided that I am not prepared to continue my responsibility as CEO for such a long time horizon. Consequently, I am handing over the responsibility to my successor now—before these fundamental decisions for Premiere have to be taken. I believe that this is the right timing for a management change at Premiere.”


Kofler said that the reason for his departure is purely personal. “Over 25 years I have been involved in television covering every aspect of the business. For 19 years, without interruption, I have been working as CEO and shareholder in commercial TV companies. I am convinced that for me, this is the right time for a change: as entrepreneur I will build a new company group to be positioned in selected growth markets, however not in the media industry. I have experienced the media business in many details—now I am looking forward to focus my attention and energy on new topics.”

Kofler has been in the television business since 1985, when he joined Austrian pubcaster ORF. He later began working for Leo Kirch, and in 1988 took over as chief of Eureka Television, which he restructured and relaunched as ProSieben. After becoming CEO of ProSieben Media he successfully took the company public in 1997. He left ProSieben in 2000 and went on to launch HOT Networks, offering up TV shopping channels. He joined Premiere in 2002 and a year later invested in the platform for a 20-percent stake. He led the IPO of Premiere in 2005. Last week, Kofler disposed of his remaining Premiere shares, a total of 1.227 million, reflecting a 1.25 percent stake in the company.

His successor as CEO is Michael Börnicke, most recently CFO and deputy CEO. Deputy CFO Alexander Teschner will become CFO.

B?cke has been at Premiere since 1998, following a stint at ProSieben with Kofler. He said of his new role at the company: “I am looking forward to the new challenge. Premiere is certainly one of the most interesting European media companies. After the successful transaction with Arena, Premiere is strategically in an excellent position. The current sales and marketing results, especially seen in the last days, are encouraging and confirm our growth expectations. Exclusive programming—distributed via satellite, cable and IPTV—remains the key pillar of Premiere. The subscriber base of approximately 3.5 million customers is an extremely valuable and unique asset. The key targets for the upcoming years are to increase program exclusivity, to further grow subscriber numbers as well as the average revenue per subscriber (ARPU). I will focus on continuity and will carry on with the strategic direction Dr. Georg Kofler has set. In this regard, we will work closely together with rights owners and infrastructure players.”