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Katja Wildermuth
Photo: Steffen Junghans / dpa
She was considered a favorite and she made it: the media manager Katja Wildermuth becomes director of Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR).
For the first time in the history of the public broadcaster, a woman is at the helm.
The expectations are high: Like all ARD houses, the BR must manage the balancing act between the required austerity course and a modern program in the digital age.
The 55-year-old Wildermuth has been program director at Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) in Halle.
For a women's network in the BR, a plan worked out with her election on Thursday in Munich: When director Ulrich Wilhelm (59) announced in the summer that he would not seek a third term, the network immediately campaigned for a woman at the top.
In the Broadcasting Council, the electoral and supervisory body, there was soon a trend towards a common candidate among important representatives of social and political groups.
Wildermuth received 38 out of 48 votes in the first ballot, as the BR announced.
There was no need for a runoff among the three applicants.
Your internal competitor, BR administrative director Albrecht Frenzel, was now defeated in the secret election in the broadcasting council.
But the 54-year-old is directly responsible for human resources and finances under the directorship.
Several radio councilors think: "Wildermuth has programming experience, Frenzel Management."
Even before the election it was said: "Actually an ideal combination."
Four out of nine are women
With Wildermuth, four out of nine ARD state stations will be run by women from February 2021: in addition to BR, the Berlin-Brandenburg broadcasting company (RBB), MDR and Radio Bremen have already been run.
The outsider candidate for the BR top was the data management boss of the public radio and television (SRF), Christian Vogg (55).
Wildermuth is currently responsible at MDR for the areas of culture and knowledge as well as offers for younger people.
Before that, she worked for the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) for several years as head of the cultural and documentaries program on television.
Bavaria knows them well from previous years.
There she graduated from high school, she studied in Munich and was later also a lecturer there.
She is considered to be an early source of impetus for cross-media content at MDR and is now taking this experience with her for the digital change that is ongoing at full speed at Bavaria.
She stands for flat hierarchies in the company.
An open corporate culture is important to her, and she is very approachable, they say.
She is familiar with Bavaria
Wildermuth is married and has two children.
In Bavaria she did her Abitur and studied German, history and social studies in Munich for teaching at a grammar school.
She later did a PhD majoring in Ancient History.
She did a publishing traineeship, also in Munich.
At the start at the top of the BR next year, Wildermuth faces great challenges at the fourth largest ARD state station:
Employees
: The tri-media conversion of the station and the downsizing move the employees.
For the non-partisan Kaktus group of many organizations and associations in the Broadcasting Council, spokesman Hubert Weiger says: "It is now important to involve the workforce even more in these difficult times of change."
Women
: The BR women network has achieved the goal of becoming a director.
At the other management levels, however, there is still a need for action.
Overall, the proportion of women in the station is more than a third, according to the company.
Finances
: It is not yet certain whether the proposed increase in the license fee will come in early 2021.
You have to save anyway - in an emergency, there are also significant cuts in the program.
Audience
: TV consumption is changing with the digital revolution.
It is no longer just the ongoing TV program that is watched, but streamed on platforms.
International competitors such as Netflix, Amazon and Disney have long since established themselves in the German market.
The nine ARD stations respond to this with their own streaming offensives.
ARD
: The BR has recently taken opposing positions to the majority or to all other ARD stations on some important issues - including Wildermuth's MDR.
What is your future course?
Basis
: Like other public broadcasters, the BR has had to advertise for years to be anchored in society.
There is also criticism in the political arena, especially from the AfD.
A sticking point is always the radio license fee.
Wildermuth could bring her experience with her from the eastern federal states, where there was a comparatively high headwind.
And then another very visible construction site is waiting for Wildermuth: the huge new Freimann editorial center in the north of Munich.
The central building should be ready by the end of 2021, the equipment with all studios and transmission technology not until about two years later.
Then a good half of the first term of office of the "newcomers" has already passed.
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jat / dpa
