RTL Television & Vox Getting New Heads of Entertainment

RTL Group has shaken up the entertainment teams of its German channels RTL Television and Vox.

Vox Editor-in-Chief and Head of Entertainment Kai Sturm is moving to RTL Television, where he will take joint charge of entertainment alongside Markus Küttner, who has been serving as head of comedy and real life at the channel. They jointly step into the role of Tom Sänger, RTL Television’s long-standing head of entertainment, show and daytime, who is leaving the company after 18 years.

Küttner and Sturm will be in charge of all the channel’s nonfiction programs. On top of his existing duties, Küttner will be responsible for daytime programming, supported by Mark Land, who as head of producers will also take over the responsibility for prime-time programs from Küttner.

Kirsten Petersen, head of program development at RTL Television, is heading to Vox, where she will work alongside Marcel Amruschkewitz, the channel’s head of creative unit, who has been responsible for program development and international format scouting, heading up the entertainment division and reporting directly to Vox’s new managing director, Sascha Schwingel. Petersen will focus on entertainment and reality formats and share responsibility with Amruschkewitz for the channel’s nonfiction programs. As the new editor-in-chief and head of entertainment, Amruschkewitz will be in charge of the further strategic development of nonfiction programs and the development of new formats.

Jörg Graf, managing director of RTL Television, said: “Bringing in Kai and Markus means that we’ll have two excellent, proven TV professionals with highly successful creative minds in charge of our editorial teams. I’m also pleased that Mark Land will take on new responsibilities to support Markus’s teams (…). Our new management team, which includes Philipp Steffens for fiction and Manfred Loppe for sport, will serve as an open, highly reactive and direct partner for our many talented and creative people both in front of and behind the camera.”

Bernd Reichart, the CEO of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland who will remain the managing director of Vox until relieved by Sascha Schwingel, added: “I’m very pleased to see successful program developers and program makers from within the company taking up fresh challenges. In Kirsten and Marcel, Vox’s incoming CEO, Sascha Schwingel, will have two creative talents to continue Kai’s successful programming and generate powerful fresh momentum, aided by the team of six outstanding executive producers and their editorial teams. The changes at our two main channels show how unbelievably great our potential is. And in the future, we will leverage it more efficiently by networking even more closely and drawing inspiration from each other. I wish Kirsten and all the colleagues I’ve mentioned from Vox and RTL Television every success.”

Stephan Schäfer, chief content officer at Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, said: “I haven’t really been here for very long yet, but I know enough to say that most of my colleagues are not just experts at what they do, but also impressive individuals in their own right. I’m happy to take on the responsibility for the content and brands of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland at such an exciting, forward-looking phase in its development. Openness and the will to win are the best drivers of successful change.”