Sky Deutschland CEO Sullivan quits for Fox: sources

By Harro Ten Wolde and Georgina Prodhan FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Sky Deutschland Chief Executive Brian Sullivan is leaving the company and two sources familiar with the matter said he was headed for a senior post at Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox [NWSNA.UL]. The German pay-TV operator, which is also part of the Murdoch empire, said on Thursday Carsten Schmidt, currently in charge of sports, advertising sales and Internet, would succeed Sullivan when he left for the United States on June 24. Schmidt is currently responsible for Sky Deutschland's editorial work and production of sports programming, including the news channel Sky Sport News HD and buying sports rights. Sullivan became Sky Deutschland's chief executive in April 2010 after spending 13 years at BSkyB, and brought the German company fully into the Murdoch fold last year as part of a European pay-TV group including BSkyB and Sky Italia. Shares in the company more than tripled during his tenure. In 2012, he secured the broadcasting rights for the German Bundesliga in 2012 for another four seasons for 2.5 billion euros ($2.75 billion) in a process he described as the "most nerve-wracking" period in his life as a manager. One of the sources said Sullivan would likely take a senior management post in Los Angeles and report in his new job to Peter Rice, chairman of the Fox Networks Group, but cautioned that his contract was not yet finalised. Sky Deutschland gets the majority of its revenues from live sports events, including the Champions League, Formula 1 and golf. It also offers movies and television series from U.S. pay-TV channels including "Game of Thrones" and "House of Cards". Helped by the success of German soccer clubs in the Champions League, which resulted in an all-German final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in May 2014, Sky Deutschland continued to win subscribers. Last year the pay-TV operator booked its first quarterly net profit since 2007. At the end of 2014, Sky Deutschland had 4.1 million subscribers, up from 2.4 million before Sullivan started as CEO. ($1 = 0.9076 euros) (Reporting by Harro ten Wolde and Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Tom Heneghan)