During the prsentation of the Q3 figures, German private broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 said it will launch more channels and diversify its business.
Thomas Ebeling, CEO of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group said in astatement: “In the last few years, we have consistently invested in new growth markets. This is paying off today. With a revenue increase of nearly 50%, our Digital & Adjacent activities were the strongest growth driver in the third quarter of 2012 as well. We are developing ProSiebenSat.1 from a traditional TV provider to a digital entertainment powerhouse – and are thus setting the course for a long-term, successful development of the Group.”
In the Germany, the ProSiebenSat.1 Group achieved external revenues of EUR 391.4 million in the third quarter of 2012, 3.2% below the previous year’s figure (EUR 404.4 million). This development was mainly affected by a strong prior-year quarter.
With a growth rate of 5%, the third quarter of 2011 posted the strongest revenue growth in the last financial year. Into the fourth quarter of 2012 the segment made a positive start.
In the German TV audience market, the biggest influence were the Olympic Games, which were broadcast exclusively on the public channels. In the third quarter, the combined market share of SAt.1, ProSieben, kabel eins, and sixx was 26.8%, as expected below the previous year’s level (29.4%).
The female-focused channel sixx, which was only launched in May 2010, considerably increased its audience market share again, by 0.4 percentage points to 1.0%. In Austria, sixx Austria went on air in July 2012 and achieved a market share of as high as 1.1% in the third quarter of 2012.
“The successful development of new stations shows that the ProSiebenSat.1 Group will have attractive opportunities for growth in the traditional TV business in future as well. For this reason, in the coming year the Group will launch two further free TV stations, SAT.1 Gold and ProSieben Maxx.”
In addition, the Group is continuing to diversify its revenue sources consistently also in the core business. The ProSiebenSat.1 Group is represented in the HD packages of all major cable, satellite, and IPTV providers with its four German TV stations. In the third quarter of 2012, HD distribution revenues rose further.
In the third quarter of 2012, external revenues in the Broadcasting International segment increased by 8.8% to EUR 134.1 million (previous year: EUR 123.2 million). The revenue increase was again supported by the Northern European TV stations. Norway and Denmark in particular increased their TV advertising revenues further and capitalized their growing audience market shares.
The ProSiebenSat.1 Group is benefiting from the growth of new TV stations in the Northern European markets as well. In the last six years, the company has launched eight TV stations in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, which are rapidly and continuously gaining additional market shares. These include the Norwegian TV stations Max and Vox.
Vox went on air for the first time in January 2012 and achieved a market share of 1.2% in the third quarter. The men’s channel Max grew by 0.7 percentage points to 3.6%.
In total, the audience market shares in Norway rose by 2.4 percentage points to 19.4% in the third quarter of 2012. Moreover, higher distribution revenues – especially in Denmark and Sweden – contributed to the revenue growth in the Broadcasting International segment.
