Cologne, 29 April 2025 - An era in German television is coming to an end: Ute Biernat, Managing Director of UFA Show & Factual GmbH for many years, is announcing her retirement. On 30 September 2025, she will step down from her management role after a quarter of a century at the helm of the company. She is also relinquishing her position on the management board of the Hungarian UFA Produkció. However, she will remain involved in the TV industry as a consultant.

Biernat, who has been CEO of the Cologne-based production company since 1 June 2000, has played a key role in shaping German entertainment television. Her successes include ratings hits such as Germany is looking for the superstar, The super talent, Who knows that?, Take Me Out and Farmer seeks wife. Even with show classics such as The price is hot, Go all out! and Jerk Zuck she led the company to new successes.

"After 25 years as CEO, now is simply the right time for me to step down," explained Biernat. In her emotional farewell statement, she emphasised the importance of the team: "At UFA Show & Factual, we don't just produce entertainment, we live it with all our hearts. The colleagues here are simply incomparable."

Sascha Schwingel, CEO of UFA, honoured Biernat's work: "With her tireless energy and passion, she was and is a role model. She has built up strong UFA units and filled them with life."

Biernat can look back on an international career: after studying theatre, film and television studies, she worked in New Zealand, Australia and the USA for TV3, SBS, CNN and CBS, among others. In 1996, she joined what was then Grundy Television, the predecessor of today's UFA Show & Factual. Since then, she has moulded the company into one of the leading providers of entertainment and factual formats in Germany and abroad.

Her more recent projects include the management of the high-end documentary Arctic Driftwhich accompanied the largest Arctic expedition of all time. In May 2024, she also took over overall responsibility for the documentary genre at UFA Documentary.

With the departure of Ute Biernat, a formative designer leaves the limelight of the German TV industry - not without leaving a lasting mark.