Tarkan Özküp leaves CH Media - marketing to be realigned

After six years at CH Media, four of them at Watson, Tarkan Özküp, Chief Commercial Officer and member of the Executive Board, has decided to take a new direction. "It has always been a great enrichment for me to work with dedicated colleagues and a privilege to make a joint contribution to the financing of journalism," says Özküp. "After six intensive years, I have made a conscious decision to gain new perspectives. I am looking forward to contributing my experience and skills in a new environment and developing personally." He will continue to oversee the transition until the end of 2025 and the large accounts.

CEO Michael Wanner thanks the outgoing CCO for his commitment: "Watson's success in the national advertising market is largely down to him. With the development of the All Media business for major clients and the Commercial Content and Innovation Unit, he has also set a decisive course for the future at CH Media."

New organization as of 1 April 2025

At the same time, CH Media is reorganizing its marketing as of 1 April 2025. The aim is to create a "powerful organization that addresses the challenges of the market environment in the best possible way while taking into account CH Media's strengths", the media company announced.

To this end, marketing will be more closely interlinked with the brands and media channels and will be the responsibility of the respective divisional heads Wolfgang Elsässer (national TV), Florian Wanner (regional e-media) and Thomas Wegmann (publishing). National key accounts including all media, digital marketing and the development of the new Commercial Content and Innovation business area, which offers customers comprehensive communication solutions, will continue to be managed centrally. These areas will continue to be managed by Tarkan Özküp until the end of the year.

"We have learned a lot over the last two years and now want to develop the organization further. On the one hand, we will link the individual sales units more closely with the products again, particularly in the regions. On the other hand, we continue to see great potential in all-media offerings in the national business and in offering creative services for large customers," explains Michael Wanner. "The new organization takes both into account and distributes responsibility across several shoulders."