Christoph Bürge becomes new Head of Entertainment at Sat.1
The German commercial broadcaster Sat.1 is overhauling its entertainment and news divisions. Starting in August, the entertainment division will be led by Christoph Bürge of Switzerland. A native of Baden, Bürge is currently the managing director of SBS Romania. Starting May 15, the newly created infotainment division at Sat.1 will be headed by Edda Kraft, the channel’s former head of entertainment.
German private broadcaster Sat.1 is revamping its entertainment and information divisions. The entertainment division will be taken over by the Swiss Christoph Bürge from August. Born in Baden, he is currently Managing Director of SBS Romania, where he is responsible for the channels Prima TV and Kiss TV as well as various radio stations. ProSiebenSat.1 acquired the SBS station chain last year. In his new job, he will be responsible for shows, comedy and weekday daytime. Until he takes up his post, station boss Matthias Alberti will head the entertainment division on an interim basis. In addition, Sat.1 wants to focus more on infotainment and is creating a separate division for this purpose. From May 15, this will be headed by Edda Kraft, the current head of entertainment. She will be responsible for the externally produced magazines, docusoaps and series, third-party broadcasting commitments and the late night show. Kraft will report directly to Managing Director Torsten Rossmann.
Sat.1 has struggled with weak ratings in recent months. According to Matthias Alberti, the station now has an 11 percent share of the advertising-relevant audience in the current year. The restructuring of the program areas is intended to continue the renewal of Sat.1.
Alberi went on to say that he had "many intensive and good discussions" with the designated Head of Entertainment Christoph Bürge in the run-up to the appointment. Bürge worked from 1999 to 2001 as program director at the former Swiss private broadcaster TV3. From 2002, he advised TV2 in Hungary on strategic issues and was then Creative Director at TV2 in 2003/04. He then spent a year as Head of Development at Swiss Television before moving to Bucharest in 2005 to work for the SBS Group.
Sat.1 has struggled with weak ratings in recent months. According to Matthias Alberti, the station now has an 11 percent share of the advertising-relevant audience in the current year. The restructuring of the program areas is intended to continue the renewal of Sat.1.
Alberi went on to say that he had "many intensive and good discussions" with the designated Head of Entertainment Christoph Bürge in the run-up to the appointment. Bürge worked from 1999 to 2001 as program director at the former Swiss private broadcaster TV3. From 2002, he advised TV2 in Hungary on strategic issues and was then Creative Director at TV2 in 2003/04. He then spent a year as Head of Development at Swiss Television before moving to Bucharest in 2005 to work for the SBS Group.
