Roger Schawinski (né Szczawiński; born 11 June 1945) is a Swiss businessman, media pioneer and journalist who is primarily known for creating the Swiss consumer watchdog program Kassensturz (English: "cash check"), founding several private TV and radio stations (namely TeleZüri and Tele24) as well as developing German-speaking Sat 1 TV station.

Early life and education

Schawinski was born Roger Szczawiński to Polish-born immigrant father Abraham Szczawiński who had a modest textile business. He grew up in Zürich-Wiedikon. In 1946, his family was naturalized in Zurich and Germanized their name to Schawinski. He initially completed commercial school instead of going directly for the Swiss maturity. He later completed studies in economics at the University of St. Gallen (HSG).

Career

He founded Switzerland's first commercial radio station, Radio 24, and launched a nationwide television channel called Tele 24. In 2003, he gained international status when he joined the German television network Sat. 1 and became the managing director for three consecutive years. He earned a PhD in economics from University of St. Gallen. Schawinski pre-launched Radio 1 on 14 January 2008 and went on air with it on 17 March 2008. Radio 1 was the first radio station especially devoted to music and the taste for adults in their 30s–60s.

Personal life

In 1970, he married Priscilla Colon, who originally was from Puerto Rico and whom he met during his exchange studies at Central Michigan University were they pursued MBA studies. In 1981, he married Ina Schawinski, with whom he had two children. With his current wife, Gabriella Sontheim, whom he married in 1996 he has one daughter.