Affair about the dismissed boss: ARD directors withdraw trust from the RBB leadership

The ARD community, with its nine state broadcasters, attaches great importance to unity. But now ARD boss Tom Buhrow explains that he has lost confidence in the management of RBB. The pressure is growing, also within the ARD.

The ARD directors have lost confidence in the current management of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) in dealing with the affair surrounding the dismissed broadcaster Patricia Schlesinger. “We, the directors of ARD, no longer have confidence that the station’s management will be able to process the various incidents quickly enough,” said ARD boss Tom Buhrow. According to dpa information, a lack of education in the controversial bonus system for executives is said to have played a role.

From ARD circles it was heard that sometimes after the director switched, there were completely new facts about allegations about RBB that had not previously been communicated by the broadcaster in the round. This means that the pressure on the management team around the managing director Hagen Brandstätter to resign from office is also growing within the ARD.

The ARD community, with its nine state broadcasters, traditionally attaches great importance to unity and acting with one voice. The position now communicated by the ARD houses is all the more remarkable. Shortly before, Friederike von Kirchbach, chairwoman of the Broadcasting Council, had announced her immediate resignation from the RBB control committee. The RBB board of directors will meet on Monday to discuss the concrete termination of the contract for the recalled director Schlesinger.

Buhrow, who is also director of West German Broadcasting (WDR), said in his function as ARD boss: “We want to send a signal: we want to help stabilize the broadcaster and that trust can grow again, so that predictable transparent Structures are coming in. We are convinced that this management is becoming more and more uneasy.” It is also becoming more and more restless in the RBB, among the employees instead of calmer. Buhrow added: “It seems so unstable that one can say that there is a risk that the structures of the RBB will begin to dissolve.”

The loss of trust also has consequences for director meetings. Buhrow explained: “We have been asked by the group of directors to advise us on individual questions without the RBB. But this cannot and must not become a permanent situation in the ARD.” It was reported from circles that there was an intendant switch without the RBB for the first time on Friday evening.

The whole crisis at the RBB revolves around allegations of nepotism and the felt against the resigned and recalled director Schlesinger and the resigned chief controller Wolf-Dieter Wolf. The allegations revolve around agreements between the two about Schlesinger’s salary, which has not yet been fully disclosed. There is a controversial bonus system for executives in the broadcaster, which only became known for the top directors after public and internal pressure. Schlesinger also received a substantial salary increase of 16 percent to 303,000 euros. Dinners for guests in their private apartment are said to have been billed at RBB costs with allegedly false bills.

The conversion of the station’s executive floor for 1.4 million euros also caused resentment, employees are angry because savings were made in the RBB program at the same time. An expensive Schlesinger company car with massage seats and a private chauffeur also caused a stir. Schlesinger’s husband and “Spiegel” journalist Gerhard Spörl also received orders from the state-owned Messe Berlin, where Wolf was also chief controller. In addition, there were controversial consulting contracts for an RBB construction project, which are said to come from Wolf’s environment. Schlesinger and Wolf rejected allegations against them.

The Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating against Schlesinger, Spörl and Wolf on suspicion of infidelity and acceptance of benefits. The presumption of innocence applies to all three. An outside law firm is investigating the whole case that has led RBB into an unprecedented crisis. The trade fair is also currently being investigated internally.