ProSiebenSat.1 bets on digital growth

Consumer uncertainty in a difficult macroeconomic environment is hitting core TV advertising revenues at ProSiebenSat.1, but the German media company reports robust growth in digital and smart advertising revenues.

Context

The Ukraine war, the subsequent energy crisis and associated consumer restraint led to a significant downturn in 2022 and that is still ongoing in 2023 – the net TV advertising market in Germany is still around 11 percentage points lower than pre-pandemic. 

What’s happening 

• Group advertising revenues declined by 7% in the third quarter and by 10% in the first 9 months. But a 6% decline in the DACH region in Q3 was half the 13% decline seen in H1.
• Digital and smart advertising revenue grew 16% in the DACH region; growth areas included streaming platform Joyn, the audio sector and programmatic trading.
• Joyn’s AVOD revenues grew by 58% compared to the same quarter the previous year. “This underlines that our focus on digital and smart advertising formats is already paying off,” CFO Martin Mildner told an earnings call. 
• Joyn is the focal point for digital activities, with continuous expansion efforts, including the introduction of fast channels and diverse content offerings, contributing to a 13% growth in monthly video users.

Key quote

“Joyn is the center of our digital activities going forward, and we are working full speed on its expansion” – Martin Mildner, CFO at ProSiebenSat.1.

Sourced from Seeking Alpha