ProSiebenSat.1’s financial situation is stabilizing as the German-speaking advertising market begins to recover in the third quarter

ProSiebenSat.1’s financial situation in Germany stabilized, while the local TV advertising market showed the first signs of recovery.

The commercial TV giant, which experienced a difficult 2023, reported third-quarter revenue of €888 million and adjusted EBITDA of €110 million. This was very close to the 911 million euros and 108 million euros respectively recorded in the same period last year.

ProSieben noted that the TV advertising market in German-speaking Europe is again falling, although “to a lesser extent than in the first half of the year”. Europe’s major commercial networks benefited from an ad market late this year and shareholders are increasingly upset by the lack of movement, so the news should be welcome.

Digital once again contributed to ProSieben’s bottom line: streamer Joyn increased AVoD ad revenue by 58%, while total digital and smart ad revenue increased by 16%. Combined with good numbers in the Commerce & Ventures area, almost all declines in the TV advertising market were offset. However, the group’s turnover in the first nine months of the year still fell by 11% to 2.57 billion euros.

The entertainment segment – ​​which houses the Joyn television channels and production and program distribution facilities – generated revenue of 598 million euros in the third quarter, compared with 621 million euros a year ago. At 5%, the decline in the TV advertising market was “significantly lower” than in the first half of 2023, but overall the division recorded a 3% decline. ProSieben noted that the sale of its US manufacturing assets to The North Road Company had an “impact”, without which organic sales would have fallen 10% year-over-year.

The figures come after a difficult year The voice of Germany Broadcaster ProSieben had to lay off hundreds of employees and reorganize its management structure due to the collapse of the advertising market. Just as American broadcasters have been forced to limit spending as much as possible, major European companies have also made decisions to cut costs and accelerate their transformation into digital-first companies. For ProSiebenSat.1, this meant putting Joyn at the center of its strategy for the German-speaking region and largely withdrawing from productions outside Germany due to declining sales and profits.

“We used the market challenges as an opportunity to rearrange our group in terms of personnel and organization,” said Bert Habets, CEO of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group. “We are setting the course for the further expansion of our digital business areas. At the same time, we have now successfully implemented the cost efficiency program we launched at the beginning of this year.”

He added that the cost-savings initiative “primarily applies to the entertainment segment,” adding that the company “will fully realize the savings from our efficiency program in the fourth quarter of 2024.”