European broadcast and content company, RTL Group, has this morning confirmed that Richard Eyre, director of strategy and content, and an executive director of the board, will be leaving at the end of March. This announcement follows speculation in the press yesterday (see Eyre Understood To Have Quit RTL Post).
Tony Cohen, currently chief executive of worldwide production for Pearson Television, becomes chief executive officer RTL Group Production Businesses. Bruno Chauvat, managing director of RTL Group, will now assume responsibility for the strategy department. Cohen will also join the RTL Group Management Board.
Commenting on the former ITV chief’s departure, Didier Bellens, chief executive of RTL, said: “I would like to thank Richard for the tremendous contribution that he has made to the formation and development of RTL Group and for his role in the integration of Pearson Television. We understand his reasons for leaving and wish him all the best for the future.”
It is understood that Eyre was frustrated about his position following the Pearson/CLT-Ufa merger which created RTL last year.
In a statement today he just said: “The business logic for the merger of Pearson Television and CLT/Ufa was compelling, and RTL Group now has one of the world’s leading content businesses and is well positioned for growth. This was one of my primary tasks and now that it is complete I have chosen to take the opportunity to think radically about my next steps.”
