Congratulations to Merja Ylä-Anttila for her appointment as CEO of Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

With 30 years’ experience in the media sector, Merja comes to the role with extensive managerial experience and a comprehensive knowledge of the country’s media landscape. She is also the first woman CEO of Yle.

Merja is currently Editor-in-Chief of Finland’s largest commercial broadcaster, MTV, and has also acted as managing director of production company Mediahub over the last three years.

In a sign of things to come, the future CEO has expressed hope for greater cooperation between public and private media under her tenure: “Now that the media in Finland is in the midst of fierce international competition, cooperation between public broadcasting services and the commercial media is more important than ever. We need a highly functional domestic media that is equipped to provide Finnish residents with the best possible content,”

Speaking about the appointment, Yle’s Chairman, Thomas Wilhelmsson, said that “Ylä-Anttila demonstrates a good combination of experience, skill and leadership. She knows the field and YLE’s activities well. She has an understanding of development needs brought on by social and technological pressures. As a manager, Ylä-Anttila is a motivator.”

Merja’s term will begin on 1 September 2018.

Moving on

The move follows the resignation of current Yle CEO, Lauri Kivinen, in January on the grounds of career development.

During his eight year term, Lauri steered the broadcaster through numerous changes and challenges, including the funding switch from a licence fee system to a tax in 2013 and the implementation of new digital strategies as well as the recent “Ylegate” saga.

We wish Lauri the very best in his future endeavours.


Header Image: New CEO of Yle, Merja Ylä-Anttila. Credit: Yle