No jokes for Roschee

Television Schawinski's German adventure gets off to a false start: Sat1 loses Harald Schmidt.

Television Schawinski's German adventure gets off to a false start: Sat1 loses Harald Schmidt.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wanted to test the new Sat-1 boss Roger Schawinski on how he deals with the figurehead Harald Schmidt. The litmus test did not materialize: Schmidt announced a "creative break" for 2004, just three days after Schawinski's enthronement. Although the new boss had called Schmidt as his first official act to keep him at the station, as Schawinski told Der Spiegel. Officially, Schmidt's sudden reluctance has nothing to do with the change of leadership at Sat 1. But it is no secret that Schmidt is friends with the ousted managing director Martin Hoffmann. And at the beginning of the same week, during the recording of the show "20 Jahre Sat 1", the talk show host had answered the question of whether he wanted to do his show until retirement age with yes - connected to a lie detector, as the industry service Kress reported.
Hardly any sense of entertainment
The departure of the driving force Harald Schmidt is a serious setback for Roger Schawinski, even before he has really taken up his post. This is also shown by the assessments of companions interviewed by Werbewoche before Schmidt's decision. Markus Gilli, Michi Frank and Peter Rothenbühler agree that Schawinski's strength lies in the news sector. This is where Sat1 has so far lacked expertise and where Schawinski could make the biggest difference, believes IPM boss Frank, who marketed Schawinski's media for six years as Belcom Managing Director. "However, Schawinski has never really had a special flair for entertainment - where Sat1 is strong," says Rothenbühler, who tried his hand as program director of Tele 24 for six months in 2001 and is now editor-in-chief of Le Matin. "Schawinski now needs the best people for entertainment - but when you have Harald Schmidt on board, you already have the best man!"
Had. Now the former radio pirate is faced with the difficult task of finding a worthy replacement for a cult figure. The search is already
Schawinski told the tabloid Bild on Tuesday. His concept: The new show should be "more topical - the most important person of the day should be the subject or even be live on the show". In interviews, Schawinski dismissed the idea that he himself could host the show. The passionate talker was "an earlier incarnation".
Harald Schmidt obviously doubted this. On his show, he said that as good as Schawinski looked, he would soon be making his own show: "Only the cash counts." Peter Rothenbühler also reports complaints.
think of: "Roger is a program maker, he's screen-hungry. I doubt whether he will last long in his manager's office. But a TV director can't be a star himself on these big channels."
A man of power with responsibility
Even if Schawinski remains in the background, it will not be easy for him to make the popular and recently successful Martin Hoffmann forgotten. Especially as he is not known for wielding a fine blade. It remains to be seen whether the radio pirate will find his way in the hierarchy and intrigue of the large ProSieben Sat1 group. But former employees are convinced that he will. "Roger may be a man of power," says Frank, "but he can also take responsibility and delegate it to those he trusts." For Markus Gilli, already at Radio 24 in his pirate days and now program director of TeleZüri, Schawinski is above all an excellent motivator. "Every day, he was a spark to the Radio 24 team," says Gilli. "The spirit of Schawinski will certainly also be present at Sat1."
With around 180 employees, Sat1 is not even much bigger than Belcom AG at its peak. Nevertheless, a different wind is blowing in Germany - "the rough wind of competition that Schawinski always wanted for Switzerland," says Rothenbühler. Now he has to show what he can do. "I think it's absolutely fantastic that he is facing up to this test instead of resting on his elder mediaman status."
Must first digest "Dirty Harry's" departure: Roger Schawinski.

Stefano Monachesi

More articles on the topic