Ulrike Demmer is the new RBB director Photo: dpa/picture alliance
From Hildburg Bruns
White smoke over the broadcasting center in Potsdam: The scandal broadcaster RBB has a new director: Ulrike Demmer (50), ex-deputy government spokeswoman on an SPD ticket from the Merkel era.
Four-two-one. The field of candidates shrank more and more every day. In the end, only Demmer was still in the running. Her competitor Heide Baumann (50) withdrew her candidacy after two ballots.
Of the 30 Broadcasting Council members, 25 were present – 16 votes were needed for victory. Demmer only got it at the last attempt. Previously, she had received only 14 and 15 votes, respectively.
The new one will start working in mid-September at the latest – that’s how long Katrin Vernau (50) will remain in office.
The election was supposed to start at 2 p.m. But rbb staff representatives had demanded that the position be re-advertised. Selection procedures in particular were discussed for more than two hours.
It is unclear what the new one deserves. That has to be negotiated now. A sum of 180,000 to 230,000 euros/year was mentioned from the board of directors.
Demmer said after the election: “I know that this is a big task and the way there was not without bumps.”