Roger de Weck soon gone?

According to NZZ am Sonntag, acting Director General Roger de Weck will hand over the office next year to his deputy, RTS Director Gilles Marchand. The position will therefore not be advertised this time, but the succession will be settled by appointment. The NZZ am Sonntag bases its statements "on several people in positions of responsibility at SRG".

With this approach, the SRG Boards of Directors want to ensure as smooth a handover of office as possible "in stormy times". However, the targeted path still requires the approval of the SRG delegates.

Roger de Weck is two years away from retirement age. As SRG President Viktor Baumeler confirmed to the NZZ am Sonntag, "personnel planning" is therefore an issue. However, the changes will not be announced until the end of the year.

The newspaper's presumed successor is described as strong in communications and competent when it comes to new media.

The thesis that it could be Merchand is justified, among other things, by the fact that he is already very familiar with the matter and would not need to be trained. Furthermore, a promotion seems necessary to prevent a possible RTS departure. The NZZ am Sonntag considers it unlikely that de Weck will step down only upon his retirement - and thus in the middle of the No Billag referendum campaign. Moreover, an early handover of the baton could circumvent the simultaneous resignation of de Weck and SRF Director Rudolf Matter.

In an initial assessment of de Weck's term in office, the reorganization of SRG and the harmonization of technology and processes are mentioned positively. In addition, de Weck had stepped up lobbying for SRG. On the negative side, the dispute with private publishers triggered by Admeira and the expansion of the online offering. In addition, de Weck has generally not succeeded in leading SRG into calm waters. (hae/NZZaS)

Header image: Photo Roger de Weck: SRG SSR / Zeljko Gataric; Photo Gilles Marchand: SRG SSR / Marcel Grubenmann