Based in Berlin and reporting to Group COO and CEO Continental Europe Andrea Scrosati, Sascha Schwingel will join the Fremantle Global Leadership Team and begins his post with immediate effect. Sascha Schwingel succeeds Nico Hofmann, who now becomes Chairman of the company. Nico also remains closely connected to the parent company Bertelsmann, as an advisory board member of the Liz Mohn Center. Nico Hofmann has been CEO of UFA since 2017 and has had a long career within the Group beginning in 1998 when he set up teamWorx (now UFA Fiction). Over the years he has achieved vast national and international success for his work, including an International Emmy for Generation War and the series Deutschland83, the latter of which was the first German-language drama to air on a US network which launched to major critical acclaim.
Today, UFA produces for almost all German TV channels and global streaming offers that are active in the national market. UFA’s programmes reach an average of over 30 million viewers weekly (1st HY 2023). As CEO of UFA, Germany’s leading production company, Sascha Schwingel will have oversight and strategic direction of all aspects of the business including production output of its four main divisions UFA Fiction, UFA Serial Drama, UFA Show and Factual and UFA Documentary, as well as key corporate functions.
Schwingel is a seasoned media executive, who was most recently Deputy Chief Content Officer of RTL Deutschland (incl. RTL Television, RTL+, VOX). Prior to this role, he was CEO of the RTL Group-owned TV channel VOX Television (2019-2022) where he led the channel to become among the top three German commercial private broadcasters in the target group.
Schwingel is a seasoned media executive, who was most recently Deputy Chief Content Officer of RTL Deutschland (incl. RTL Television, RTL+, VOX). Prior to this role, he was CEO of the RTL Group-owned TV channel VOX Television (2019-2022) where he led the channel to become among the top three German commercial private broadcasters in the target group.
Sascha Schwingel started his career at teamWorx (now UFA Fiction) and was responsible as a producer of programmes including the historical two-part event series Die Sturmflut, Dresden and Die Hindenburg. In 2014 he moved to ARD Degeto, where as Head of Production & Program Management he was also responsible for award-winning programs such as Babylon Berlin and The Barschel Case.