Norbert Himmler
The television council elects him as the new ZDF director
Dr. Norbert Himmler was elected as the new ZDF director.
© ZDF / Markus Hintzen
The television council has decided: Norbert Himmler will succeed the outgoing ZDF director Thomas Bellut next year.
The ZDF has found a successor for the outgoing director Thomas Bellut (66): In the third ballot, the members of the television council decided in favor of the favorite Norbert Himmler (50). After the competitor, the head of the ARD capital studio Tina Hassel (57), surprisingly was only a few votes behind Himmler in the first two rounds, she withdrew her candidacy.
“In the interests of public service broadcasting and a strong ZDF, I want a small majority to become a large majority – that you will all vote for Dr. Himmler,” said Hassel about her withdrawal. She herself rides with “her head very high here from the court”. In the decisive election, Himmler got 57 out of 60 votes and will therefore take over the management of the station for at least five years from March next year.
The chairman of the television council, Marlehn Thieme, welcomed the clear vote. “I am delighted that we are entrusting an accomplished program designer and outstanding manager with the management of ZDF,” she said immediately after the election.
Norbert Himmler has been with ZDF for many years
Born in Mainz, Norbert Himmler has been program director of the Second German Television since 2012. The son of a police officer and a pharmacist studied German and political science and received his doctorate from the LMU Munich with an analysis of British foreign policy. During his studies he worked as a temporary worker for ZDF. After positions in the “heute” editorial team, at “Länderspiegel” and as planning editor, he became program director at Bellut’s suggestion.
Dr. Thomas Bellut, on the other hand, announced in March 2021 that he would not be available for another term as ZDF director. In a statement, he gave the reason that after 40 years in the media business, the time had come for a “new chapter in life”.