SBS channel chief steps down

Rene Oosterman

René Oosterman has resigned as channel manager of Dutch free-to-air channel SBS6.

SBS confirmed the news to TBI and said that Oosterman is leaving the broadcaster because of changes to the channel manager role after just over two years in the position.

The broadcaster said that Peter Lubbers, the director of SBS TV Broadcasting, will cover Oosterman’s duties on a temporary basis.

In a statement Oosterman said that there had been some ‘turbulent times’ at SBS recently but added: “As a channel manager you sit in a special place and I look back on that with pleasure.”

Peter Lubbers, who joined SBS earlier this year from Zodiak Media, added: “René has spent the last few years working in particularly competitive circumstances. I would like to thank very much for his contribution over the past years and wish him success in his next step.”

René Oosterman working for more than thirty years in various positions in the television industry, as a producer before becoming a channel manager. He has also been a programme director at SBS’s rival net RTL4.

SBS is owned by Talpa and Sanoma in the Netherlands, with Discovery recently tipped to make an acquisitions move for the broadcaster.