The 55-year-old is moving to Germany to the parent company ProSiebenSat.1Media SE, where he will be on the corporate board as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the entertainment division, it said in a press release on Monday. In Austria, a CEO duo takes over Breitenecker’s position: Thomas Gruber and Bernhard Albrecht.
Gruber previously worked as head of content at P7S1P4 and as program manager at ATV and Puls 4. Albrecht is also no stranger to the media company, as he works there as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Michael Stix completes the management of the Austrian subsidiary as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). “I can’t imagine a better management team for the great challenge of transforming the company from a broadcaster to a streamer and further driving Joyn forward,” Breitenecker said to his successors.
Focus on streaming and digital platforms
“The departure towards my new task is a big and at the same time emotional step. I am all the more pleased that I will be taking on responsibility for Austria on the board,” said Breitenecker, who controls the entertainment area in Germany together with the chairman of the board Bert Habets specifically focused on streaming and digital platforms. “I’m looking forward to working closely with Bert Habets and to further expanding Joyn together with this great team and developing it into one of the leading streaming players in the DACH region,” he was quoted as saying.
Breitenecker has headed the ProSiebenSat.1 Group business in Austria since 1998. Under him, the Austrian broadcasters Puls 4, ATV and ATV2 and Puls 24 were added to the company. In 2017 he founded the streaming platform “Zappn”, which has since been transformed into “Joyn”.
Gruber started as an intern at the ProSiebenSat.1Puls4 group in 2005. He continuously worked his way up in the company and worked as head of program research and planning, as deputy. Program director of Puls 4 and managing director of ATV and ATV2. It was not until 2023 that he took over the program management of Puls 4. Since 2020 he has also been working as chairman of the Teletest working group. Since 2010, Albrecht has been responsible for finance, human resources, production and technology at the P7S1P4 Group as COO/CFO.
