BCN Brand Community Network

Burda restructures into integrated AI-driven media house

Under Elisabeth Varn’s leadership, Hubert Burda Media is reorganizing its German publishing operations by merging BurdaVerlag and BurdaForward into a single integrated media house that groups brands into thematic divisions (e.g., Focus, Lifestyle, Women & Entertainment, Screens). Over the next 12–18 months the group will create central cross-functional teams for product, AI, revenue, technology, print production, finance and transformation to become leaner and more AI-driven. New senior appointments include Stefan Ottlitz as Chief Digital Officer, Rebecca Gottwald as Chief AI Officer and Wiebke Meeder joining as Chief Revenue Officer on Oct. 1, alongside other executive hires. Several long-serving managers, including BurdaForward CEO Daniel Steil and multiple Burda-Verlag leaders, are departing. International subsidiaries will gain greater autonomy and Burda International Holding will transition to a purely financial holding to secure long-term strength and accelerate innovation.

MVFP Chair Demands Zero Percent VAT for Press

At a Bavarian MVFP summer event in Munich, new Medienverbands der freien Presse (MVFP) chair Lars Joachim Rose called on politicians to strengthen economic support for the press, renewing his demand to reduce VAT on periodical press products to zero percent. Speaking before about 150 guests, Rose also criticized competitive conditions for publishers in the digital market, expressed concern about AI platforms disadvantaging journalistic content, and called for improvements to the draft 12th amendment of the German Act Against Restraints of Competition (GWB) and the planned Digital Media State Treaty. Bavaria's media minister Florian Herrmann endorsed the importance of independent quality journalism and urged adaptation of copyright and neighbouring rights for the AI era.

Björn Osterndorff joins BCN as Chief Revenue Officer

BCN has created a new Chief Revenue Officer role and appointed Björn Osterndorff to lead it. Osterndorff will head a newly formed Business Intelligence division that consolidates Agency Partnerships, Investment & Revenue Management and Revenue Intelligence, and he will join BCN’s management board. The move is part of a wider organisational restructuring at the Burda‑Funke‑Klambt‑owned sales house to centralise commercial decision‑making and steer revenues and market potential more centrally across all business areas. BCN says it represents more than 300 brands and roughly 500 media offerings from shareholders Hubert Burda Media, Funke Mediengruppe and Mediengruppe Klambt and reaches about 63 million people. Osterndorff brings over two decades of experience across marketing, media and commercial leadership, most recently as Chief Commercial Officer at a Dentsu agency holding.