Vienna-born Zeiler, who headed RTL Television before taking over as CEO for the whole group in 2003, is leaving by April 18 at his own request to take on a new challenge, RTL said in a statement.

Zeiler, a former journalist and spokesman for the Austrian government, has repeatedly been rumored to be a candidate for a position in Austria's government or as head of Austrian public broadcaster ORF, where he worked before joining RTL.

Zeiler will be replaced by Anke Schaeferkordt, who heads RTL's German unit, and Chief Operating Officer Guillaume de Posch, who joined RTL's board in January.

De Posch headed rival German broadcaster ProSieben from 2004 to 2008 and oversaw its sale to current owners KKR and Permira, and managed ProSieben's acquisition of SBS Broadcasting. The goal was to turn ProSieben into a pan-european broadcaster that could compete with RTL Group. However, that plan did not pan out and ProSieben sold parts of its European operations last year.

De Posch will take over responsibility for broadcasting operations outside of Germany and the group's production business, while Schaeferkordt will continue to manage the German TV business in addition to her role as co-CEO. The two executives will manage the company together with CFO Elmar Heggen, RTL added.

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