Catherine Mühlemann says goodbye to MTV

 
Catherine Mühlemann, Managing Director of MTV Networks Central, will be leaving the Viacom subsidiary this summer. The 41-year-old from Bern wants to take on new challenges after seven years at the head of the music channel family, according to the website of industry publication W&V. Mühlemann said that she had achieved everything she wanted at MTV. MTV Networks in Germany has developed from a music channel into a media company with strong, cross-platform brands, and it is not yet clear who will succeed her. A new General Manager for MTV Central & Emerging Markets will be sought both internally and externally, according to reports. Mühlemann took up her post at MTV in May 2001. She initially took over the management of MTV Central (Germany, Switzerland, Austria). In 2003, her responsibilities were expanded to include the emerging markets, the growth markets in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Today, she is responsible for a total of 18 television channels with over 600 employees, reaching 64 million households in 22 countries.
According to strongly substantiated rumors, Viacom wants to sell its local music channel VIVA Switzerland. A PR agency from Zurich is apparently currently looking for interested parties for the station, which has been part of the MTV Networks broadcasting group since the takeover of the German television company VIVA Media AG in 2004. The music channel is considered highly profitable by insiders. For example, the studios of VIVA Switzerland were sold due to the high expected returns. The channel's programming is now handled entirely by MTV's broadcasting headquarters in Berlin.