ProSiebenSat.1, TF1 Group, Mediaset found video ad exchange

Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1, France’s TF1 Group and Mediaset in Italy and Spain have jointly established the European Broadcaster Exchange (EBX).

The exchange is designed to address advertiser demand for brand-safe environments and pan-European video campaigns, and marks a “deeper strategic collaboration” by the JV partners on developing online ad technology.

The exchange will initially focus on programmatic video campaigns, which involves the automated and data-based management of digital ad purchases and sales.

However, the new company, which will be headquartered in London, also plans to form its own sales team to work alongside the automated trading platform for digital video ads.

“This joint venture is our answer to the current digital video landscape,” said Mediaset board member and the CEO of Mediaset Group-owned Publitalia 80, Stefano Sala.

“As leading Broadcasters in Europe, Mediaset, ProSiebenSat.1 and TF1, we all share the same strategic vision and values: we want our advertisers to reach their consumers in a qualitative and brand safe environment, with the transparency and efficacy that differentiates our product.”

With the establishment of the joint venture, the founding partners said they aim to create structures to compete more efficiently with global competitors and to design a joint innovation strategy for advertisers to reach their customers.

“Many international companies have a strong demand for high-quality and brand-safe advertising environments in the video sector,” said ProSiebenSat.1 Group COO, Christof Wahl.

“Our joint venture will offer them the opportunity to book pan-European campaigns in the premium video environment of an economic area with a population of over 250 million in an automated, user-friendly manner. This will allow us to gain access to additional advertising budgets that we were previously unable to address on a national level.”

The agreement is subject to approval by European competition authorities.