Yle’s units

Yle’s organisation is divided into six units and four departments, in charge of support services.

Yle’s units are Strategy and Audience Insight, News and Current Affairs, Sports and Events, Creative Content and Media, the Swedish-language unit Svenska Yle and the technology unit Technology and Development.

The departments – Personnel and Security, Communications and Brand, Finance and Legal – are in charge of the support services.

The directors of the units and support operations report to the company’s CEO, Merja Ylä-Anttila.

Yle’s highest decision-making body is the Administrative Council, the members of which are elected by Parliament. Yle’s Board of Directors is composed of external experts. The Management Group is responsible for strategic management and prepares matters for the Board.

Strategy and Audience Insight

The Strategy and Audience Insight unit is responsible for the company’s strategic planning model, as well as the strategy process, content, media and service strategies, overall company-level customer relations and customer relationship analyses, as well as public affairs.

Marit af Björkesten is the director of the Strategy and Audience insight unit.

Strategy

Together with the company’s management and Yle employees, the Strategy department is responsible for ensuring that Yle is going to the right direction at the right speed. The head of the department is Mika Rahkonen.

Public Affairs

The Public Affairs department develops and maintains Yle’s stakeholder networks, is responsible for the company’s media policy and engages in active dialogue about Yle’s role in society. The head of the department is Johanna Tuuri.

Ethics Office

The Ethics Office instructs and develops the compliance of journalistic ethics and engages dialogue with the audience about Yle’s journalism. The head of journalistic ethics is Timo Huovinen. The head of audience dialogue is Sami Koivisto.

Analytics and Intelligence

The Analytics and Intelligence department increases understanding of the things Finns value. In addition, it ensures that the understanding turns into meaningful customer experiences through Yle’s content and services. The head of the department is Jaakko Lempinen.

Management and Design of Digital Services

The Management and Design of Digital Services department directs the main services management team. The department guides the direction of the digital customer experience, design and development of the Yle's main services. The head of the department is Annika Ruoranen.

Transformation Design

The Transformation Design department is is responsible for managing change through design, focusing especially on Yle's offering and customer experience. The department plans strategic change projects and implements them together with content units. The head of the department is Cilla Lönnqvist.

News and Current Affairs

The News and Current Affairs unit is responsible for Yle’s Finnish news and current affairs and regional content in all distribution channels. The unit is also in charge of the production of content in Sámi, English, Russian and sign language.

The Director of the News and Current Affairs unit is Jouko Jokinen.

The unit’s director is also the responsible editor of all of the aforementioned contents on all media. The responsible editor of Sámi contents is the chief of Yle Sápmi.

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The editorial staff of News and Current Affairs

The editorial staff of News and Current Affairs is responsible for the reporting of, among other things, Finland’s national and international affairs, politics, finance, culture and everyday life topics as well as for current affairs journalism. The editorial staff is likewise responsible for the content planning and operational management of the news and current affairs operations as a whole. The editorial staff produces national event broadcasts and releases the unit’s contents on the radio, television and online. The Editor-in-Chief is Riikka Räisänen.

Regions

The Regions are responsible for regional news and current affairs operations. The Head of Regions is Karri Lehtiö.

Studio and Visual Production

The Studio and Visual Production department is responsible for filming, editing and graphics as well as the studio operation of television broadcasts. The Head of Department is Mika Lavonen.

Yle News Lab

The News Lab is responsible for the content and service development of News and Current Affairs. The following teams work within News Lab: Web Development, Customer Relationship Surveys, UA Strategic Direction, Algorithmic Exercise of Power and Robo Journalism. The Head of Department is Jukka Niva.

Sports and Events

The Sports and Events unit is responsible for Yle’s sports events and news. It also produces events and develops event concepts. The unit is furthermore responsible for Yle’s production and design as well as the planning of the production resource. The Director of Sports and Events is Panu Pokkinen.

The unit’s director is also the responsible editor of sports events and news as well as the events produced by the unit on all media.

Design and Production

The Design and Production department brings life to Yle’s content. The department is the realiser, maker and buyer of Yle’s production services. The Head of Department is Ville Venell.

Sports

Yle Sports offers audiences sports events broadcasting and daily sports news. The Head of Department is Joose Palonen.

Events

The Events department produces influential and multimedia events in cooperation with Yle’s different units. In addition, the department develops the company’s event concepts, creating interaction with various audiences and an entirely new kind of digital presence as well. The Head of Department is Jyri Kataja-Rahko.

Design

The Design department provides content makers with a partner for production design and is responsible for the efficient and effective use of production’s overall resources in Yle. The Head of Department is Lise-Lottie Ek.

Development

The Development department assists in the innovation of the unit’s new contents and is responsible for production development in cooperation with Yle’s other units. It also develops new forms of expression. The Head of Department is Hanna Jussila.

The Head of Sport Rights and Partnerships is Riku Saaranluoma.

The Head of Strategic Projects is Alex Fager.

Creative Content and Media

The Creative Content and Media unit is responsible for the following Finnish-language content: factual, drama, culture, entertainment as well as content for children and teenagers. In addition, the unit is responsible for the programming of the Finnish channels and Yle Areena, the service brands, release plans and online service development.

The unit is also in charge of the acquisition of domestic and international contents, the subtitling of programmes and other additional services required by law, the archives and the management of the broadcasting rights inventory as well as the marketing of contents and services.

The unit is headed by Ville Vilén.

The unit’s director is also the responsible editor of Finnish-language drama, factual, cultural and entertainment content as well as the content for children and young people, the editorial staff of the radio channels and the editorial staff of Yle Areena as well as the international, archive and marketing content on all media.

Strategy, Planning and Development

The unit's Strategy, Planning and Development department makes sure that the unit's employees have the best possible knowledge and understanding of the needs of different Finns, as well as the best know-how to create strong content for all target groups. The department is managed by Head of Department Antti Hirvonen. Head of Audience Insight & Research is Susanna Snell, Head of Product Development and Competence is Raimo Lång and Head of Planning and Production is Minna-Mari Parkkinen.

Cultural and Factual Content

Cultural and Factual Content produces cultural and factual content for Yle’s website, television and radio. The department includes cultural and music content, content related to lifestyles and learning, scientific and environmental content as well as engaging and interactive content projects. The Head of Department is Johanna Aho.

Children Content

Children Content produces children’s content for Yle’s website, television and radio. Yle’s children’s programmes are Pikku Kakkonen and Galaxi. The department is responsible for the domestic and international acquisition of children’s programmes. Some of the programmes are international co-productions. The Head of Department is Markku Mastomäki.

Youth Content and Entertainment

Youth Content and Entertainment produces content for teenagers and young adults as well as entertainment content of Yle’s own production for Yle Areena, yle.fi, radio, television and social media platforms. The brands of Yle’s teenager and young adult content include Abitreenit, Docstop, Summeri, Yle Kioski and YleX. The contents cover drama, documentaries, gaming content as well as factual and music content for young people. In terms of entertainment content, the department is responsible for Yle’s own production, meaning the Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, the Eurovision Song Contest and political satire. The Head of Department is Minna Peltomäki.

Yle Drama

Yle Drama develops, produces and commissions diverse TV and audio drama and podcasts and purchases the broadcasting rights of domestic fictional and documentary films. The Head of Department is Jarmo Lampela.

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) is Yle’s orchestra, through which the company executes its cultural and educational mission in the field of classical music. FRSO’s Chief Conductor is Nicholas Collon. FRSO’s General Manager is Tuula Sarotie. The general manager is in charge of the orchestra’s operations as a whole as well as its budget. The general manager also negotiates the agreements required by concert, touring and recording activities.

Acquisitions

The Acquisitions department is in charge of the acquisition of international content. It is also responsible for the acquisition of some domestic content. The department is headed by Tarmo Kivikallio.

Rights

The Rights department is responsible for the broadcasting rights of the contents developed, produced, acquired and sold by the units. The department is headed by Saila Löfström.

Yle Sales

The Yle Sales department is responsible for the international sales of Yle programmes. The department is headed by Jukka Kaivola.

Media

The Media department is responsible for the operational planning of Yle’s television and radio channels and Yle Areena. In addition, it is in charge of the development of the customer interface, archive, archive publishing, as well as translation and versioning. The department is headed by Petri Jauhiainen.

Marketing

The Marketing department is responsible for marketing content. In addition, it contributes to making contents and services easily accessible to target groups in the whole company. The department is headed by Hannu Haapasalo.

Minna-Mari Parkkinen is the Head of Planning and Production of the unit.

Creative Development ensures that the makers of creative content have the best possible knowledge and understanding of the needs of different kinds of people in Finland as well as the best expertise in terms of creating rich content for all target audiences. Susanna Snell is in charge of customer relations and research, Raimo Lång for product development and Antti Hirvonen for strategy.

Swedish Yle

The Swedish Yle (Svenska Yle) unit is responsible for Yle’s Swedish offering, on all distribution channels. The unit is in charge of the planning of Swedish media, services as well as the planning of the media programme chart and channel profiles, the compiling of channels and the realisation of programme charts.

Johanna Törn-Mangs is the Director of Swedish Yle.

The unit’s director is also the responsible editor of Swedish content on all media.

Journalistic and Creative Content

The Journalistic and Creative Content department is responsible for the production of Swedish Yle’s news, current affairs, sports, regional, child and youth, factual, cultural as well as drama and entertainment content on all distribution channels. The Managing Editor of society, foreign, sports, culture, facts, children and youth content is Anna Forth. The Managing Editor of the news desk and the Swedish speaking regional offices is Charlotte Sundström. The Managing Editor of the development is Mattias Erkkilä.

Media and Offering

The Media and Offering department is responsible for the profiling and brands of Swedish Yle’s publications and releases. The department is responsible for the brands and marketing of contents and services as well as accessibility in co-operation with responsible persons in the company-level. The department is responsible for planning, compiling and implementation of services and charts as well as publication planning, archives and the management of the broadcasting rights inventory. The Head of Department is Kaj Lindlöf.

Acquisitions and Collaborations

The Acquisitions and Collaborations is in charge of the unit’s programme acquisitions, co-productions, co-development with production companies and cooperation with media companies, organisations, schools and other operators in the society. The Head of Acquisitions and Collaborations also acts as the buyer of Swedish Yle in Nordvision. The Head of Acquisitions and Collaborations is Christoffer Forssell.

Media Production

The Media Production department is responsible for the planning and implementation of programme production and production resources as well as for the development of production skills and equipment. The Head of Department is Tommy Mård.

Strategy and Audience Research

The Strategy and Audience Research department is responsible for Svenska Yle’s overall customer relations, customer relationship analyses and the determination of customer relationship needs. The department is also responsible for strategic competence development and program development at Svenska Yle. The Head of Department is Alex Fager.

The Head of Administration is Peter Sjöholm.

Technology and Development

The Technology and Development unit is responsible for Yle’s technology management, technology, facilities and distribution. The unit is also responsible for the development of ICT and technical production and service platforms and the operation of the broadcasting unit.

The CTO of Technology and Development is Janne Yli-Äyhö.

ICT & Data

The ICT & Data department has operational responsibility for the company’s ICT. The Head of Department is Vesa Aalto.

Media Technology

The Media Technology department has operational responsibility for the company’s production technologies and distribution. The Head of Department is Sanna Tornivaara.

Live and Media Services

The Broadcasting and Media Services department is responsible for the company’s broadcasting and transmission services. The Head of Department is Olli Sipilä.

yle.dev

yle.dev is responsible for data and programme development expertise. The Head of Department is Juha-Matti Perttunen.

Facility Services

The Facility Services department is responsible for the company’s facilities and their development. The Head of Department is Matti Uotinen.

Technology Business Development is responsible for planning the unit’s operations as well as for the unit’s development portfolio, projects and their costs. The Head of Department is Juha Lehtosalo.

Innovations is responsible for the company's innovation activities. The Head of Department is Jari Lahti.

Joint operations

The development and overall use of the company’s resources are planned and coordinated by the joint operations, which are the Personnel, Communications and Brand, Finance and Legal departments.

Personnel and Security

Eija Hakakari is the company’s CHRO and heads the Personnel and Security Department, which is in charge of, among other things:

• the company’s HR strategy as well as the development of the working culture, management and learning

• strategic HR planning, employment relationship matters, the management of well-being at work and occupational health care.

Communications and Brand

The Director of Communications and Brand is Jere Nurminen, and the department is responsible for, among other things:

• the company’s internal and external communications, media relations, company’s brand and customer service.

Finances

Maisa Hyrkkänen is the company’s CFO and heads the Finances department, which is in charge of, among other things:

• external accounting and internal financial services, controller activities, outsourcing services as well as risk management and security.

Legal

The Legal department is headed by Legal Director Katri Olmo and the department is in charge of, among other things:

• the company’s legal affairs, compliance functions and internal auditing.