The controversial RBB million-euro construction project Digitales Medienhaus is history. The chairwoman of the board of directors of the ARD broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), Dorette König, told the German Press Agency on Thursday: “The board of directors has decided that we will end the digital media house.” Interim director Katrin Vernau had proposed the stop to the control committee.
The reasons given by the public broadcaster were the lack of acceptance among the workforce and the cost development of the project, which would have been significantly more expensive than originally planned – more than 300 million euros were last expected. According to the current status, the broadcaster will write a loss of 18 million euros as a result of the project, for which planning had already been started. In addition, it is checked whether there could be claims for damages.
The 300 million euros include planning, consulting and construction costs, as well as pre-construction measures and borrowing. There are also items such as moving and renting alternative accommodation.
Stopped in the middle of the crisis
The media house project was stopped amid allegations of nepotism against the director Patricia Schlesinger, who was fired without notice, and the resigned station chief controller Wolf-Dieter Wolf. The two denied the allegations.
Gradually it turned out that the originally mentioned costs would skyrocket. Part of the allegations are questionable consulting contracts for the project. Courts of Auditors are currently checking the controversial preparation of the media house construction project. The original plan was for the media house to be built on the RBB site in Berlin-Charlottenburg by 2026. Editorial offices should be able to work with each other in a more spatially networked manner. A kind of interim solution was realized in the old building with a modern studio and an open editorial room.
The ARD broadcaster is currently in a difficult financial situation. He has to hold back millions for the next few years – put them in a piggy bank and leave them untouched. The whole thing should have a mitigating effect on future costs and thus ultimately on the amount of the broadcasting fee that households in Germany pay to finance public broadcasting in the next contribution period from 2025.
More income due to the absence of a corona dent
The background is that the broadcasters have received more broadcasts than experts had predicted. An expected corona dent did not occur, so there was additional income. According to the RBB, these have already been firmly planned for the next few years – however, independent financial experts recently warned that the money should be put back untouched.
In addition, RBB has used its own reserves heavily in recent years. In the next few years, the station could slip into the red. According to the RBB forecast, liquidity could even show a minus of 174 million euros in 2028 if business continues in this way. That’s why the broadcaster, headed by interim director Vernau, who is supposed to lead the ARD house out of its crisis, is planning savings in the millions. Recently, the head of the station had already made clear the direction of the media house construction project: “There are no more high-flying plans and castles in the air.”
Meanwhile, it became known that program director Jan Schulte-Kellinghaus will stop working for the public ARD broadcaster at the end of January. According to RBB, the board of directors approved a corresponding termination agreement.
Only manager left
In the midst of the crisis at RBB over felt allegations, the management also came into focus. With Schulte-Kellinghaus’ departure, only operations director Christoph Augenstein is still actively involved from the original line-up.
Schulte-Kellinghaus and the broadcaster reportedly agreed on an amicable solution. The program director told the German Press Agency: “I want to actively make a fresh start possible, which is why I decided to take this step.”
It was not until February 2022 that he was confirmed for a second term and thus for five more years. He has been program director since 2017. Pension regulations for executives were also part of the criticism in the RBB crisis. This means that they are entitled to money if they no longer work for the station but are not yet of retirement age. According to RBB, Schulte-Kellinghaus will waive such post-contractual pension payments, as well as bonus payments.
The term of his five-year contract, which has been in place since March, has been shortened by a good two years, and on this basis he will be released from the RBB in the new year.
