By Gunnar Schupelius
After all the scandals, there were no real reforms at RBB. The self-service shop blew up, but the waterhead remains, says Gunnar Schupelius.
Last Friday, Ulrike Demmer took office as the new director of the RBB. She had previously made a name for herself as spokeswoman for the Merkel government.
Ms. Demmer’s basic salary is 220,000 euros gross per year. She gets significantly less than her fired predecessor Patricia Schlesinger, who received around 350,000 euros.
Nevertheless, Ms. Demmer’s still very high salary is surprising, because the governments of Berlin and Brandenburg have now decided to cap the director’s salary at 180,000 euros. The Interstate Broadcasting Treaty is to be changed for this, but that will take time, the change will not come into force until 2024.
The RBB management used this time gap to grant Ms. Demmer a far higher salary than politically intended for the future. She earns more than the Governing Mayor of Berlin or the Prime Minister of Brandenburg. Is that ok?
It shouldn’t be about envy and resentment, but about the broadcasting fee. At EUR 18.36 per household and month, this is very high and is compulsory. However, the RBB cannot cope financially, is heavily in debt and has to save. In this situation one could have saved on the director, but that was prevented.
And anyway, you have to ask the question of whether a broadcaster like RBB needs an artistic director at all, i.e. a huge management apparatus that sits above the other managements.
What is the usual situation with private broadcasters and newspapers? They have a managing director and an editor-in-chief at the top, nothing more.
At the RBB there are also such management levels below the directorship, two directors for program and administration. All tasks are covered with them and their departments. What’s left for the director?
There is an intendant in the theater or in the orchestra. There he should determine the artistic orientation. A broadcaster does not necessarily need this item.
No private broadcaster affords an intendant, only public broadcasting and there are nine (!) of them at ARD. Tom Buhrow (WDR) receives the highest salary with gross 433,200 euros per year, followed by Kai Gniffke (SWR) with 392,846 euros.
What do they do that the managing directors and editors-in-chief don’t already do? You probably can’t answer that question yourself.
And for the RBB one has to state that after all the scandals there have been no real reforms. The self-service shop blew up, but the water head remains, i.e. the completely overloaded top management. The state governments and especially the Berlin Senate lack the political will to really clean up and put an end to waste.
Is Gunnar Schupelius right? Call: 030/2591 73153 or email: [email protected]
Read all of Gunnar Schupelius’ columns here