Change of baton at Cinetrade: Elsässer succeeds Heinzelmann
After nearly five years at the helm of the Swiss rights and content trading company Cinetrade, CEO Wilfried Heinzelmann has decided to step down from his operational leadership role effective July 2019. Wolfgang Elsässer will take over as CEO. Wolfgang Elsässer currently heads the TV & Entertainment division at Deutsche Telekom in Bonn.
"With Wolfgang Elsässer, we have been able to bring a proven content and TV expert on board," says a delighted Urs Schaeppi, Swisscom CEO and Chairman of the Board of Cinetrade.
Cinetrade has developed strongly in recent years. Despite intense competition, the number of subscriptions increased in both the fiction and sports areas. The portfolio was realigned and new offerings such as Teleclub Now were launched. In the cinema business, new standards were set with innovative venues such as Gümligen near Bern.
Wilfried Heinzelmann will continue to be available to Cinetrade in an advisory capacity. "After more than 20 years in management responsibility at Cinetrade and almost five years as CEO, I have the desire to set other priorities professionally. In addition, I would also like to have more time for my family and hobbies," said the still acting CEO in a statement explaining his resignation.
After holding various management positions at Grundig, Premiere (now Sky) and SES Astra, Wolfgang Elsässer took over as Head of TV & Entertainment at Deutsche Telekom in 2016. There, he was responsible for the entire value chain, from development, operations, product management, the content areas of fiction, sports, VR and music, to communications, sales and marketing of all Magenta Entertainment products.
In this role, Wolfgang Elsässer decisively developed Deutsche Telekom's entertainment products, business models and content offering. He also opened up Deutsche Telekom's offerings to third parties such as Netflix and Amazon, as well as to OTT customers. He strengthened the offering with new partnerships, exclusive content, co-productions and in-house productions, as well as an innovative free-on-demand offering - the "Megathek.
"Swisscom TV and the Cinetrade offering are critical to our positioning in the mass market," said Urs Schaeppi. "In an increasingly competitive environment, it is important to bring relevant entertainment innovation to the customer. I am sure that with Wolfgang Elsässer we have found the right person for this task."
