Axel Springer Launches Creator Platform, Starting With BILD’s Paul Ronzheimer

Axel Springer has launched “Axel Springer Creators,” a new initiative that lets journalists develop and grow their own branded formats within the company’s media network. Paul Ronzheimer, until now Deputy Editor-in-Chief of BILD, is the program’s first participant, taking his podcast “RONZHEIMER.” into the new model.

“RONZHEIMER.” is Germany’s top-ranked podcast across all genres on the MA Podcast chart. The show recorded more than 12 million views and streams in September alone: 6.83 million streams per MA Podcast and 5.3 million views on YouTube, according to the announcement.

Under “Axel Springer Creators,” journalists and new talent get greater editorial and entrepreneurial control over their own formats and share in the financial results, while Axel Springer provides production, technology, marketing, and distribution across its media brands. Ronzheimer will step down from his BILD editor role to focus on expanding “RONZHEIMER.” into new audio and video formats with his team. He will continue reporting internationally, including from war zones and crisis regions, with that work appearing across Axel Springer brands such as BILD, Business Insider, Fakt, Onet, Politico, The Telegraph, and Welt.

Filipp Piatov remains in charge of “RONZHEIMER.” editorial operations and Daniel van Moll continues to oversee production.

“Paul Ronzheimer shows what successful journalism can look like today: original formats, a direct connection with the audience, and broad reach across platforms,” said Claudius Senst, Axel Springer’s Executive Board Member for Publishing. “With Axel Springer Creators, we want to open up this path to other journalists as well. We give them the freedom to pursue their own ideas, support them with the resources of our company, and give them a share in the financial success.”

“My team and I want to keep being where decisions are made and history happens,” Ronzheimer said. “That means talking to the people making important decisions and reporting on the ground in war zones and crisis regions. At the same time, we want to keep expanding ‘RONZHEIMER.,’ develop new formats, and reach even more people. Axel Springer Creators gives us the resources and freedom to do that.”

Ronzheimer will also remain part of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, a group founded in 2025 that brings together international reporters from Axel Springer’s newsrooms for investigative reporting, interviews, and analysis published across its brands worldwide. “Axel Springer Creators” is positioned as a complement to that network, giving journalists a path to build independent formats over the long term.