Andreas Bartl to Become Media Entrepreneur

Unterföhring, February 23, 2012. Andreas Bartl, the Executive Board member in charge of TV Germany, will be leaving ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG at his own request, effective March 1, 2012, to become an independent media entrepreneur. His new company, Bartl Media, will be dedicated to developing new television stations, TV programming, and artistic talents. He will also be advising ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG in that capacity. His duties on the Executive Board will be assumed on an acting basis by ProSiebenSat.1 Group CEO Thomas Ebeling. The acting chairman of the management of ProSiebenSat.1 TV Deutschland GmbH will be ProSieben's Managing Director Jürgen Hörner. Said Andreas Bartl: "After 20 exciting years at ProSiebenSat.1, I'd like to pursue a long-cherished wish and take on new challenges as a media entrepreneur. I'm very grateful to the Group for the opportunities it has offered me on this long, exciting path. I've had a wonderful time working with many great artists and great makers of television. None of our successes would have been possible without them and my team. Thank you all! I'd also like to thank the Supervisory Board, Thomas Ebeling, and my other colleagues on the Executive Board for their outstanding support over the years. I wish the Group every success, and will still be maintaining friendly connections with it." Götz Mäuser, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ProSiebenSat.1 AG: "On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I'd like to thank Andreas Bartl for his dedication and empathy. His innovative vigor brought about the establishment of many of the very successful programs without which today's German TV would be almost unimaginable. Andreas Bartl has repeatedly provided crucial impetus for the entire group of stations to adjust and evolve its TV programming to fit audiences' changing viewing habits and needs. I'm happy to know that ProSiebenSat.1 will continue to have Andreas to assist us as a strong, deeply versed expert on the media industry, and on behalf of my colleagues on the Supervisory Board I wish him every imaginable success in his new business." Thomas Ebeling, CEO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG: "Andreas Bartl has helped shape ProSiebenSat.1 in ways that hardly anyone else can match. You could almost call his career with us a classic. He came out of the 'machine room,' as he himself likes to say, and built up more and more management experience on that solid foundation, until he finally came to manage Germany's largest integrated family of stations. I can't begrudge him his decision to go his own way now, after 20 successful years with the Group. There too he'll be a success, thanks to his creativity, his sound judgment, and his profound understanding of people. I personally want to thank him for three years filled with interesting conversations and important insights. I'm very glad that Andreas will still be providing us with his support." Andreas Bartl began his TV career in 1990 at ProSieben, where among other duties he headed program scheduling until 2000, and worked as head of programming. In his five years at the head of kabel eins, he successfully updated the former broadcaster of classics, including by introducing new U.S. series like "Cold Case" and "Without a Trace." In 2005 he returned to ProSieben as managing director, and was responsible there for the launches of such successful, prize-winning shows as "Schlag den Raab," "Germany's next Topmodel" and "Switch reloaded." He and his team built up the station to be consistently the most popular TV brand among the young media generation. In June 2008, Andreas Bartl was appointed to the Executive Board of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. From 2009 to 2011, in addition to his Executive Board duties, he headed station Sat.1. As the board member responsible for TV, he was in charge of the integration of the stations SAT.1, ProSieben and kabel eins into a modern, centralized organization, beginning with the relocation of SAT.1. The result was a substantial increase in the German stations' efficiency. Today, ProSiebenSat.1 TV Germany is one of Europe's most profitable television groups. Under Bartl's management, the stations premiered many outstanding programs, including "Danni Lowinski," "Der letzte Bulle," the multi-part "The Pillars of the Earth," the Eurovision qualifying competition show "Unser Star für Oslo," which produced the subsequent winner Lena, and just lately, the audience hit "The Voice of Germany," which recently won the "Golden Camera" for best German variety show. Andreas Bartl was also behind the launch of women's station sixx, which has been growing dynamically since its debut. Contact:
Julian Geist
Corporate Spokesman ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG
Medienallee 7
D-85774 Unterföhring
Phone +49 [89] 95 07-1151
Fax +49 [89] 95 07-91151 Email:
Julian.Geist@ProSiebenSat1.com Press release online:
www.ProSiebenSat1.com