SRF Head of Sports Urs Leutert retires
Urs Leutert has been working for SRG SSR for over 35 years; he currently serves as head of the Sports Department and a member of SRF’s executive board, as well as head of SRG’s Sports Business Unit. He has now decided to take early retirement at the end of 2015.
The 61-year-old Germanist and historian Urs Leutert began his journalistic career in 1978 at the former Radio DRS as an editor and presenter for information, tourism, cars and sport; in 1986 he took over as head of the sport department. In 1991, he moved to Swiss television: Urs Leutert became head of the sports department and a member of the management board. In 1997, SRG SSR also put him in charge of the Sports Business Unit, which he had initiated and built up - and with it the responsibility for implementing a uniform strategy in all SRG sports programs.
In the course of the merger of radio and television to form SRF, Urs Leutert succeeded in establishing a modern, trimedial sports department within a short space of time. His commitment over more than 35 years has been instrumental in shaping the current standing and status of sport within SRG's programs, as well as the high reputation of SRG sport in Switzerland and abroad, according to a press release. This high esteem is currently also demonstrated by the gold award of the International Olympic Committee for the best sports production of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games and the Radio and Television Award of Eastern Switzerland 2014. Urs Leutert stands for diverse sports reporting based on the three pillars of "Swiss athletes", "sporting events in Switzerland" and "top international events". Urs Leutert has now decided to take early retirement at the end of 2015. By announcing his departure early, Leutert wants to give the company enough time to find a successor.
Ruedi Matter, Director of SRF: "Urs Leutert's retirement marks the end of an era: In his more than twenty years as head of department, he has given our sports program a profile that is second to none. Thanks to his tenacity and negotiating skills, SRG now has the largest rights portfolio in free TV. I would like to thank Urs warmly for his extraordinary commitment - and I am delighted that we now have a few more months of collaboration ahead of us."
Roger de Weck, Director General of SRG: "SRG SSR has the best sports offering in Europe. This is thanks in particular to Urs Leutert. He combines quality and continuity, conceptual thinking and drive, passion and more passion."
