ProSiebenSat.1 aims to take European multichannel network lead

German broadcast group ProSiebenSat.1 is aiming to become the number one multichannel network in Europe as part of its new ‘digital first’ strategy, according to Thomas Port, the MD of ProSiebenSat.1’s ad sales division SevenOne Media.

Speaking at the Future TV Advertising Forum in London this morning, Port said that ProSiebenSat.1 now attracts 26 million unique visitors to its digital business and that it has 35 digital platforms, compared to its five linear channels.
“The most interesting growth business now is the video business with 150 million multiscreen video views per month, and as a sum we can aggregate it to a share of advertising for more than 40%,” said Port.

With its MyVideo portal, ProSiebenSat.1 is focusing on bringing through a new generation of local ‘webstars’. The firm is also looking to do more live shows on its digital platforms, said Port.

“Our strategy now is to become the number one multichannel network with this new content, and we try to distribute this content also to the whole world of digital publishers,” he said.

ProSiebenSat.1 has an additional policy of airing British and US shows that are aimed at the relevant demographic online first – broadcasting them two months ahead of their TV debut.

“We use this two-month period of cross-promotion to start with a higher TV audience, and it really works perfectly,” said Port, citing UK drama Misfits as an example of this.

“What we try and do here is to merge the TV audience with the digital video audience into one currency… We are really optimistic that we will have a solution maybe in 2015,” said Port.

In its third quarter earnings last month, ProSiebenSat.1 reported revenues to €576.9 million. Of this, €124.1 million came from ‘digital and adjacent activities’, up 21.5% year-on-year.