RTL Deutschland Taps Netflix Exec

Inga Leschek is joining RTL Deutschland as program managing director for RTL Television and RTL+.

Effective March 1, the appointment marks a return to RTL Deutschland for Leschek. Until October 2021, she was managing director of the production companies RTL Studios and 99pro media, which she merged in 2020. Prior to joining RTL Deutschland in 2013, Leschek worked at the production company Tresor TV, where she was managing director for Austria since 2005 and Germany since 2010.

She joins RTL Deutschland from Netflix, where she has been responsible for nonfiction content in the German-speaking and Central and Eastern European regions since October 2021. In her new role, she will report directly to Stephan Schmitter, managing director of programming at RTL Deutschland.

Leschek said: “After an extremely exciting and educational time at Netflix, which I wouldn’t have missed for the world, it now feels like coming home. I would like to thank Stephan Schmitter for the trust he has placed in me. I am very excited about the challenging task of being able to align and help shape the linear and digital content of RTL Television and RTL+. I have known and appreciated many great colleagues at RTL Deutschland for many years, and I am very much looking forward to getting to know new colleagues and their creativity and passion for formats and content of all kinds. I am aware of the responsibility for established and new brands in a challenging and changing market; but I can’t imagine anything more exciting than working with a strong team to achieve our common goals. With a clear direction and in close cooperation with dedicated producers, we will succeed in inspiring people with our TV and streaming content.”

Schmitter added: “In terms of content and strategy, Inga Leschek is absolutely the ideal candidate for this central position. On the one hand, she has great expertise and passion for linear television and our viewers, and on the other hand, she has played a decisive role in shaping content from and in Germany at the world’s largest streaming provider. Together with our content teams and partners, we want to reclaim market leadership for RTL Television in the 14 to 59 target group, continue the strong growth of RTL+ in intense competition with international platforms, and further expand our leading position as a streaming broadcaster through the unified management of the linear and non-linear RTL brand. I am very much looking forward to the cooperation.”