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Christine Strobl
Photo: Monika Maier / SWR
Continue digitization.
Carry out a generation change.
Don't forget to save.
Those were the three big goals that were formulated on Thursday morning at the press conference for the ARD directors' conference.
The WDR director and current ARD chairman Tom Buhrow seemed at the beginning very happy that he could start the meeting with the announcement of a personnel with which these goals seem feasible: Christine Strobl is to become program director.
It is probably the most powerful job in the federal network.
And the trickiest one.
Because it is important to orchestrate the inputs of the various institutions, which unfortunately are often enough crazy.
At the digital conference, Buhrow smiled his pastor's smile, as if inspired by the belief in the unity of the holy first German television, when he described the job profile: It was the "embodiment of our community program".
The fact that Strobl, 49, will now have this solemn task, was no longer news.
Since the end of last year, her name has been mentioned again and again in the vicinity of all ARD broadcasters when it came to the question of who would follow Volker Herres, 63, who will leave office in 2021.
Strobl, who eight years ago took over the once scandal-ridden ARD production subsidiary Degeto, which was difficult to manage, and got it going again, is considered communicative and accessible.
At the same time, she is power-conscious enough to clean up the squabbled ARD principalities and lead the broadcasting association through the difficult times ahead.
During her Degeto time, she was also involved in promoting the difficult-to-coordinate cooperation between ARD and the pay-TV broadcaster Sky, which enabled the series project "Babylon Berlin" to come about.
On Thursday she didn't say much, but this sentence: "It's only possible with each other."
Can be understood as a reminder to colleagues.
Digitization, yes, but not too expensive
Because the ARD, like public broadcasting, is facing major challenges overall.
On the one hand, the state parliaments have still not brought the state parliament's decision to increase the radio license fee to 18.36 euros from 2021, and on the other hand, the new, extremely capitalized competition from US streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video represents the old one German broadcasters face considerable structural problems.
In other words: digitization must be promoted.
But it has not yet been clarified whether the funds that have already been budgeted for this will really be available from next year.
In Saxony-Anhalt the factions of the CDU, the Left and the AfD continue to oppose the increase at a broad parliamentary level.
Buhrow announced that he would attend further parliamentary hearings on the issue.
Apart from the tactical exchange with politicians, the next few months and years will also be about entering into a direct dialogue with the audience.
How do you get the boys who are increasingly turning away from linear television?
And how do you get the older ones to feel comfortable in the media library?
Because a long time ago the motto "online first" was given in the ARD.
Series are now in principle put online before they are broadcast linearly, and some are even only produced for the media library.
But this strategy also requires a lot of high-quality fictional material.
Netflix in battle mode
Christine Strobl wanted to have contributed more to this with the Degeto.
At the beginning of the year, she announced a major series offensive, but Corona then cut the bill for the time being.
This year the Degeto will only produce three series, next year at least six.
That sounds modest compared to the 20 or so German in-house productions that were made this year and with which the new competitor Netflix alone wants to flood the local market.
In order to hold against the new power of the streamers, the ARD is now in demand for the Degeto.
There, Thomas Schreiber is brought into position as a strong new man.
He openly announced on Thursday in Berlin that he would go on the offensive against Netflix and Co.
His goal for the ARD series program: "You have to go to the media library if you want to know what's going on. You don't have to go to the expensive streaming services."
Schreiber is currently ARD entertainment coordinator and program manager at NDR in the area of fiction and entertainment.
As a program manager, he wanted to push Til Schweiger through as Nick Tschiller to become a "crime scene" superstar and quota bringer - the attempt is now considered to have failed.
As Degeto boss, Schreiber has to show more skill.
Schreiber is considered a power man and not a moderator, unlike his predecessor Strobl.
Most recently, he started a small, strong series offensive for NDR - which seemed a bit strange because ARD actually wanted to appear more united in the fight against the streaming platforms.
But that's still a problem.
This was shown drastically, for example, in the two Wuhan documentaries in which SWR as well as WDR and NDR were apparently tinkering side by side in a completely uncoordinated manner.
It is possible that the stations are making this murderous competition among themselves because they are under increasing pressure to legitimize the stronger the anti-front against ARD and ZDF in politics and the population.
Is it only possible with each other?
Christine Strobl will soon have her hands full.
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