Gerhard Zeiler
Gerhard Zeiler (born 20 July 1955) is an Austrian businessman who is the current president of Warner Bros. Discovery International, part of Warner Bros. Discovery.[1] Before taking up the role at Turner/Warner, Mr Zeiler was chief executive officer of the German media company RTL Group and a member of the executive board of Bertelsmann, the media conglomerate that owns the RTL Group.
Early life
Zeiler was born in
His early education took place in his native Vienna, after which he studied psychology, sociology and educational science at the University of Vienna.[3]
Career history
Summary
Zeiler has worked in
His former employer, RTL Group, operates 40
Early years
After graduating, Zeiler began his early career working as a scientific assistant at the Austrian Institute for Occupational Research.[5] After three years at the institute, his career took a change of direction when he began working as a freelance journalist. In 1979 he was appointed press spokesman for the then Austrian minister for education and the arts, Dr Fred Sinowatz. He followed Dr Sinowatz to the federal chancellor's office in 1983, going on to work for federal chancellor Dr Franz Vranitzky.[6]
Television
In 1986, Zeiler became secretary general of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) in Vienna. Despite being only 24, Zeiler had already realised that "television is part of my life".[2]
In 1991, he moved to
RTL Group
In November 1998, Zeiler joined RTL Group, being appointed CEO of
In March 2003 Zeiler became CEO of RTL Group.[5] In 2005, he passed the management of RTL Television to Anke Schäferkordt, so that he could focus solely on the company's international entertainment network.
Zeiler has been a member of the executive board of Bertelsmann AG since October 2005. He is also a member of the supervisory boards of Groupe M6 in France and RTL Television in Germany, and vice chairman of the board of the Greek Alpha Media Group.
In August 2010, Zeiler's contract was renewed until the end of 2015.[2] On April 18, 2012, Zeiler left RTL "by mutual and amicable agreement" and "at his own request" to take over the international business at Turner Broadcasting System. [7]
Warner Bros. Discovery
In April 2012, Zeiler became president of the Turner Broadcasting System International group,
Other activities
From 2002 to 2004, Zeiler was a member of the
Zeiler is a member of the Steering Committee[11] of the Bilderberg Group, a private, annual gathering of intellectual figures, political leaders, and business executives.
Outspoken
Zeiler is often outspoken in his views on the value of television as a medium, despite often challenging evidence to the contrary. In a 2010 interview with Dutch newspaper, NRC Handelsblad, Zeiler commented on the recovery of the television advertising market in 2010. "In Western Europe, our channels are now performing at the same level as in 2008… Other media, such as the publishing sector, have not bounced back anything like as strongly".[12]
He is convinced that
Zeiler has long been a strong supporter of
He is one of the few non-British recipients of the Royal Television Society (RTS) fellowship,[14] and was chair of the 2008 RTS international conference 'Opportunity Knocks'.[15]
He believes "Britain is an incredible centre for talent, creativity and ideas", and that even the US networks look to the UK for inspiration. He went on to say, "British production companies are the absolute best in the world when it comes to non-scripted, non-fiction formats".
Zeiler has also been outspoken in his support of calls to relax UK product placement rules, to help struggling commercial broadcasters.[16] He believes, "Product placement is a commercial fact of life… Carefully regulated product placement is a legitimate revenue stream and the money raised could be used to support the production of original content – content viewers want to watch".
Summarising his objective for RTL for the future, Zeiler commented: "We are developing our broadcasting operations into digital TV families with a presence on all new platforms. We will systematically meet the rising demand for attractive content and expand our production arm, FremantleMedia, with new talent, new formats and by doing business in new markets".[2]
Recognition
In 2004, Zeiler was voted media personality of the year at the
In January 2011, Zeiler will become the first non-American to receive NATPE's Brandon Tartikoff legacy award.[17] Named after arguably one of television's greatest programmers, the award was created to recognise television professionals who exhibit extraordinary passion, leadership, independence and vision in the process of creating television programming.
Zeiler shares the eighth annual award with Dick Ebersol, Mary Hart and Regis Philbin.
Commenting on the award, Rick Feldman, NATPE president and CEO, said, "We believe that Dick, Mary, Regis and Gerhard have remarkably shaped the global television industry on both business and pop cultural levels, and truly embody the spirit of the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award".
References
- ^ Plunkett, John (8 February 2012). "RTL chief Gerhard Zeiler to join Turner Broadcasting". the Guardian.
- ^ a b c d e Gerhard Zeiler: a portrait. RTL Group. http://www.rtlgroup.com/www/assets/file_asset/RTLGroup_PortraitGZ_engl_clear_20110102.pdf
- ^ a b "Gerhard Zeiler / Manager - Economy-point.org". Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
- ^ a b Zeiler, Gerhard (30 August 2009). "Gerhard Zeiler's Worldview Address: Adapting to the new market reality". the Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ a b c Bloomberg Business Week executive profile of Gerhard Zeiler. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=1133754&ticker=RTL:LX&previousCapId=1882362&previousTitle=SKY%20DEUTSCHLAND%20AG
- ^ 1 Bloomberg Business Week executive profile of Gerhard Zeiler. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=1133754&ticker=RTL:LX&previousCapId=1882362&previousTitle=SKY%20DEUTSCHLAND%20AG
- ^ Financial Times: Zeiler to quit RTL for Turner role
- ^ Hollywood Reporter: Zeiler to integrate the international business
- ^ "Menschen und Märkte: Erlen und Zeiler vervollständigen Kuratorium der Bertelsmann-Stiftung". Die Welt (in German). 30 August 2002. p. 11.
- ^ "Bertelsmann gehört jetzt mehrheitlich der Stiftung". Deutscher Drucker (in German). 14 October 1993. p. 4.
- ^ "Steering Committee". Bilderberg Meetings. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
- ^ IP Network Update. http://www.ip-network.com/rd/htm/newsFS.aspx?id=89CAC787A3684B84BCEC24C12B1B1082 Archived 13 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Zeiler, Gerhard (30 August 2009). "Gerhard Zeiler's Worldview Address: Adapting to the new market reality". the Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ RTS Annual Report 2007. p. 24. http://www.rts.org.uk/doclib/RTS.pdf[permanent dead link]
- ^ RTS annual report 2008. p. 11. http://www.rts.org.uk/doclib/RTS_low_res_AR_2008.pdfGuardian.co.uk[permanent dead link]
- ^ "RTL's Gerhard Zeiler urges UK to relax TV product placement rules". the Guardian. 30 August 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ Natpe press release. Dick Ebersol, Mary Hart, Regis Philbin and Gerhard Zeiler to receive Natpe’s 8th annual Brandon Tartikoff legacy award http://www.natpe.org/natpe/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=40:press-releases&id=387:dick-ebersol-mary-hart-regis-philbin-and-gerhard-zeiler-to-receive-natpes-8th-annual-brandon-tartikoff-legacy-award&Itemid=72 Archived 1 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine