German media group Constantin Medien, which will next year rebrand as Sport1 Medien, has announced that the Sport1 Media advertising and marketing division will fall under the umbrella of the Sport1 broadcast operation as of January 1, 2020.
Matthias Kirschenhofer, the current managing director of Sport1 Media and chief legal and finance officer of Constantin Medien, will form part of the new Sport1 management board alongside Olaf Schröder, chief executive of Constantin Medien and the current chairman of Sport1’s management board.
Matthias Reichert and Stefan Obstmayer, who took over the management of Sport1 Media in April, will assume management roles at Sport1 as of January 1.
Daniel von Busse, chief operating officer of TV; Pascal Damm, chief operating officer of digital; and Christian Barth, commercial director for all companies in Constantin Medien’s sports division, will remain on Sport1’s management board.
Schröder said: “From January 2020, the previously organisationally separated employees will be united under one roof – with a joint and even more closely networked management team.
“Thanks to this positioning, we can offer creative and profitable solutions for our customers and partners in the interaction between production and marketing with even greater effectiveness and efficiency. The focus will continue to be on TV marketing on a solid foundation and the further strengthening of our digital marketing – in particular through the development of new, innovative marketing models.”
The responsibilities of the 40-person team will include marketing the offerings of Sport1, which include the eponymous free-to-air channel and the Sport1+ and eSports1 pay-television channels, as well as Sport1.de, apps and social media channels.
The realignment comes after Constantin Medien last month reported a €10.5m ($11.6m) fall in first-half group revenues, in part due to its loss of rights to the Uefa Europa League club football competition. The company is poised to delist from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange after approving a proposal from parent company Highlight Communications.
Constantin Medien’s corporate portfolio also includes Magic Sports Media, Match IQ, Plazamedia and Leitmotif Creators.