On October 1, Peter Limbourg (53) will take office as director general
of Deutsche Welle (DW). He was elected as Erik Bettermann's successor
in this function by the Broadcasting Board in March 2013.
Limbourg was the Senior Vice President of News and Political
Information at ProSiebenSat.1 TV Germany until September 30. In the
past few weeks, he has already held a series of talks with different
editorial teams and departments at Deutsche Welle.
On Wednesday, October 2, Limbourg will officially take on his new
position at two staff meetings - at DW's headquarters in Bonn he will
be introduced by the Chairman of the Administrative Board Peter
Clever, and in Berlin by the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board
Valentin Schmidt.
Peter Limbourg said: "It is a great challenge and a fascinating task
to be at the helm of Germany's international broadcaster. Deutsche
Welle is a media organization that enjoys an excellent reputation with
its audiences worldwide. In a world, where a large number of
international broadcasters are now promoting a variety of views, it is
all the more important for us to persistently stand for our shared
values. We will continue to ensure the credibility that DW's staff,
with great commitment, has established over the last 60 years by
providing quality journalism. We will also consistently enhance DW's
multimedia profile."
Limbourg announced that by spring 2014 - after conducting extensive
talks with DW's staff, the Broadcasting Board, the Administrative
Board as well as political and social groups - he will set out a new
strategic plan for Deutsche Welle for the period from 2014 to 2017.
Erik Bettermann's term as director general ends on September 30. He
has headed Deutsche Welle since 2001 and has overseen the
broadcaster's strategic realignment in the last 12 years.
After his military service, Peter Limbourg studied law in Bonn and
passed the First State Examination of Law in 1987. From 1988 to 1989
he completed a journalistic traineeship at the German television news
agency Deutsche Fernsehnachrichten Agentur (DFA) in Bonn and London.
He worked as a reporter in Leipzig in the former GDR before becoming
the Europe and NATO correspondent for DFA and SAT.1 in Brussels in
1990. In 1996 he became the Head of the ProSieben studio in Bonn, and
in 1999 was appointed Co-Editor-in-Chief of N24 and Head of the
Political Department at ProSieben, a position which he also took on at
SAT.1 in 2001. In 2004/5 and 2008/9 Limbourg was the CEO of Pool TV, a
joint venture of private television stations in Berlin. From 2008 to
2010 he was the Editor-in-Chief responsible for N24's programming. He
was anchor of SAT.1 news from 2008 and Senior Vice President of
ProSiebenSat.1 TV from 2010 to September 30, 2013. Born in Bonn,
Limburg spent his childhood and youth in Rome, Paris, Athens and
Brussels. He is married with three children.
(DW Press Release)
