Sky to market Watch4 in Germany

Sky’s advertising business Sky Media will exclusively market AVOD Watch4 in Germany. 

Under this deal, Sky Media will provide direct sales service and programmatic advertising.

This deal serves as something of an extension of the one previously agreed with Sky in the UK, where Sky already handles the ad sales for Watch4.

The free-to-view platform offers a “curated mix of short form lifestyle, crime, movies and tv series.” It operates in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Austria and has a reach of more than 10 million viewers a month. The streamer is owned and operated by Video Solutions AG, which is chaired by Chris Sharp.

Chris Sharp is a well-known figure in the industry for over 30 years. He previously founded Zone Media, which was sold to Liberty Global in 2005, and served as chief programming officer of Liberty-owned Chello Zone and AMC Networks UK. Sharp also served on the board of four joint venture channels from CBS Studios International and AMC Networks UK.

Video Solutions AG’s founder and CEO is Phillipp Rotermund, whose past includes launching a number of broadcast channels and VOD services.