Annual Report 2024

On January 1, 1984, SAT.1, then known as PKS, went on air as Germany’s first private broadcaster – a milestone for the media landscape. Together with VAUNET, the Association of Private Media, we celebrated this special anniversary and looked back on four decades of profound changes in the media industry. More than 600 guests from politics, business and the media accepted the invitation to the Telegraphenamt in Berlin to listen to the panel discussion with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other speakers. The focus was on the central importance of private broadcasting for democracy and the current challenges facing the industry.

In February 2024, ProSiebenSat.1 and RTL Deutschland entered into a groundbreaking advertising technology partnership to create a European alternative to US technology. The aim of the cooperation is to link the two companies’technologies and enable advertisers to run cross-platform campaigns. The AdTech initiative, which is also open to other European broadcasters, not only strengthens the technological independence of both partners but also sets new standards for innovation in marketing.

In 2024, ProSiebenSat.1 Group continued its commitment as media partner of Germany’s Special Olympics Winter Games in Thuringia to increase the visibility of athletes with mental or multiple disabilities. In addition, SAT.1 and Joyn have expanded their accessibilityofferings: The entire season of the music show “The Voice Kids” was made accessible with deaf performances and sign language. With these initiatives, ProSiebenSat.1 is promoting diversity and inclusion and bringing these important social issues into the public eye.

ProSiebenSat.1 Group and Deutsche Telekom have expanded their successful partnership. Since February, viewers have also been able to stream ProSiebenSat.1 content via their MagentaTV and Telekom hardware. Thanks to the cooperation, popular programs such as “Das große Promi-Büßen”, “Die Landarztpraxis”, “The Race” and “Reality Backpackers” are available to view directly via the latest MagentaTV hardware. The expanded collaboration extends Joyn’s reach, opens up new marketing potential and underlines both partners’ commitment to creating innovative and attractive streaming experiences for a broad audience.

Markus Breitenecker was appointed to the Executive Board of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE as Chief Operating Officer (COO). This has further strengthened the strategic focus on the entertainment sector. Markus Breitenecker has been with ProSiebenSat.1 for 27 years, during which time he has successfully developed both the broadcasting group in Austria and Joyn Austria into market leaders. Together with CEO Bert Habets, he will lead the Entertainment segment with a focus on streaming and digital platforms.

After their victory in the 50th episode of “Joko & Klaas vs. ProSieben”, Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf took over ProSieben’s Sunday program for 24 hours – with sensational success: ProSieben achieved market shares of up to 24.1 per cent in the 14 to 49 target group. Program highlights included a live walk through Berlin, a show broadcast backwards and an afternoon of games in the Olympic Stadium, where one viewer won EUR 100,000 live on TV. This successful day once again demonstrated the close cooperation between Joko Winterscheidt, Klaas Heufer-Umlauf and ProSieben.

Since this summer, Joyn has been available throughout the entire German-speaking region, including Switzerland. This is an important milestone on the way to establishing Joyn as the leading free entertainment platform in the German-speaking region. In October 2024, Joyn also recorded the most successful month in its history in Germany, with a 60 per cent increase in watch time and 45 per cent more monthly video users compared to the previous year, driven by popular shows such as “Promi Big Brother” and “The Voice of Germany”. These developments are crucial on our journey to becoming the superstreamer Joyn.

Polarizing debates, a sharp tone and an increasingly divided society: The relationship between Germany and its democracy is at a fragile point. To raise public awareness of the importance of democracy, ProSiebenSat.1 launched the emotional #OneTomorrow campaign in August under the motto: “Let’s stay together – your democracy”. The centerpiece of the campaign is a trailer in which democracy makes a direct appeal to us. The initiative aims to raise awareness of democratic values and encourage respectful dialogue in society.

Seven.One Media uses artificial intelligence for the first time to create a TV commercial for an innovative refrigerator. Parship has produced the campaign “Lovetopia” – a largely AI-generated world where love reigns supreme. The campaign shows how AI can take creativity and production to a new level, hand in hand with human expertise. Another highlight: Since October 2024, the news brand :newstime has been sending short daily voice messages on the most important news of the day via its WhatsApp channel. AI is used to automatically select the main topics on the :newstime website, summarize them and create professional voice scripts that are sent directly as voice messages.
2024 is thus a milestone for AI innovation. But this is just the beginning – there are many more exciting projects in the pipeline that will shape the future of AI.

A successful year for SevenVentures: In 2024, SevenVentures invested in several innovative start-ups, including The Dude Food Company, the company behind the Dogs’n Tiger brand, Formo, which sells the first animal-free cheese made from koji protein, and Planted, the Swiss company for healthy meat alternatives. SevenVentures also invested again in the company KoRo, which offers high-quality food in bulk packages. Another highlight was the SevenVentures Pitch Day, where The Female Company won a media budget of EUR 3 million with an emotional pitch and a convincing business model. These initiatives underline SevenVentures’ commitment to promoting brand awareness and growth for promising start-ups and building them sustainably through tailored media investment.

In September, ProSiebenSat.1 celebrated the premiere of its new news studio – one of the most modern in Europe – as well as the inauguration of the New Campus. All :newstime programs of SAT.1, ProSieben, Kabel Eins and Joyn are now produced and broadcast from here. With :newstime, ProSiebenSat.1 offers high-quality news and reliable information to a broad audience on all platforms. The new 22 square meter studiois equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including four fully automated cameras and a 22-meter- LED screen. This milestone underlines ProSiebenSat.1’s commitment to providing people with up-to-date, understandable, objective and unbiased information.

In October, Heidi Klum received the Blue Panther – TV & Streaming Award for her role as host and presenter of “Germany’s Next Topmodel – by Heidi Klum” on ProSieben. The jury particularly recognized her commitment to diversity and tolerance in the entertainment industry: The show offers people with different gender identities and body types the opportunity to showcase their unique qualities as a top model. In doing so, Heidi Klum sends out a strong message for diversity and tolerance, and acts as a role model in entertainment TV.

ProSiebenSat.1 has once again acquired the only exclusive live free TV package for the German Bundesliga. Every season, nine top matches, season openers and relegation matches are broadcast live and free of charge for every football fan in Germany. In addition to the Supercup and the season opening matches of the first and second Bundesliga, the package includes the matches before and after the winter break as well as all four relegation matches.