Whether if it’s online, mobile or on TV: Thanks to innovative offerings, ProSiebenSat.1 has secured an early lead in the new media world. The Group not only operates Germany’s most successful station portfolio; with the largest German video-on-demand portal, its own multi-channel network and attractive basic pay TV channels, the Group is also excellently positioned for the coming video age.
Digital & Adjacent: Multi-Channel Strategy
Are online videos the future of TV?
Sebastian Weil: Online portals respond to different needs than TV. They are mostly accessed on mobile devices. Watching TV online is not better or worse, just different. Nevertheless, the internet and TV are merging like never before. In the years to come, we will definitely see rising demand for web-only formats.
Does that not mean you are cannibalizing your traditional TV offering?
Sebastian Weil: Not at all. It is more that we are addressing additional and many young viewers with online formats. For example, our event format “Last Man Standing” brought us over a million live video views online. A great success. Of course, this is not yet giving us the reach of traditional free TV. So if an advertising customer wants to introduce a new product, a spot in the commercial break of a high-reach TV show is still always the first choice.
The ProSiebenSat.1 Group is consistently backing multiscreen concepts. Is the expense and work paying off?
Sebastian Weil: In the digital world, it is important to be a pioneer and to think in a 360-degree-approach for all age groups. We have succeeded in this. With our brands, we are present on all screens. We have promoted the merger of screens both in terms of content and technology through innovative offerings like maxdome, MyVideo, HbbTV and the 7TV app. Anticipating changes in media use, and having the courage to invest early and experimentally in this new TV world, is paying off. For viewers, for advertisers, for talents – and for us. <
Pay TV
10.2million viewers
reached by pay TV in Germany every month – as many as never before.
People are becoming more willing to pay. The German Private Broadcasting and Telecommunication Association (VPRT) estimates revenues in pay TV and pay video-on-demand at EUR 2.3 billion in 2014. The market is growing by a double-digit percentage. With its three basic pay TV stations – SAT.1 emotions, ProSieben FUN and kabel eins CLASSICS – ProSiebenSat.1 is benefiting from the momentum of paid television.
Advertising-Financed Video-on-Demand (Ad-VoD)
+119 %
is the increase estimated for the use of online video and internet TV content by 2018.
At this time, 14 to 49 year olds will watch films, series or shows via the web for nearly an hour every day. Mobile devices and PCs are mostly used to access free content funded by advertising. The advertising-financed online video platform MyVideo is one of the pioneers of live streaming in Germany. The ProSiebenSat.1 subsidiary is the leading German online video portal for premium content. The 7TV app launched in 2014 offers a free video library and broadcasts the ProSiebenSat.1 stations’ programming for mobile devices. With 2.5 million downloads as of 2014, 7TV is on the way to becoming the biggest German TV app.
Multi-Channel Network
3.4million subscribers
follow Gronkh on his web channel.
He is the most popular internet star in Germany. The live show “Let’s play together” with his pal Sarazar on the online portal MyVideo is a cult hit. Both are under contract with the ProSiebenSat.1 web video specialist, the multi-channel network (MCN) Studio71. The company, founded in 2013, produces exclusively for the internet with around 100 web stars. The videos are packaged in special channels and are available on online video platforms. With more than 200 web channels, Studio71 achieved over 250 million views a month as of the end of 2014. In just one year, Studio71 has thus become the second-strongest MCN in Germany. By investing in the US Collective Digital Studio, ProSiebenSat.1 wants to establish one of the leading global MCNs.
Pay Video-on-Demand (Pay-VoD)
480million EUR
This is the amount the German pay video-on-demand market is expected to reach in 2018.
In 2013, it was EUR 194 million. Thus, Germany still has a lot of growth potential: VoD’s market penetration is already at 28 % in the USA, while here it is only 3 %. ProSiebenSat.1 operates maxdome, the largest German online video library; it launched as the first online-based video-on-demand platform back in 2006. There are now over 60,000 entertainment titles available for TV, PC, laptop, games console, tablet und smartphone. maxdome is integrated in nearly all hybrid TVs and the Google Chromecast streaming stick.
Station portfolio Linear Free TV
260minutes
of television are being watched in Germany every day.
Traditional television is by far the most popular medium. Also in the years to come, forecasts predict stable use time. ProSiebenSat.1 made a considerable contribution to this confident market position and continuously strengthened it with programming and technological innovations: New stations, additional offers via smart TV or interactive television via HbbTV – the Group is always reinventing television and is prepared for the digital future. In 2014, ProSiebenSat.1’s free TV portfolio reached an audience share of 28.7 %, and the trend is rising.