media
ProSiebenSat.1 completely takes over the Joyn streaming platform
The television group ProSiebenSat.1 wants to completely take over the streaming platform Joyn. photo
© Fabian Sommer/dpa
In the streaming boom in Germany, ProSiebenSat.1 is sending a strategic signal: Joyn will soon be part of the group. Boss Rainer Beaujean says who the real competition is.
The media group ProSiebenSat.1 is sending out a signal in the booming streaming competition in Germany. The television group based in Unterföhring near Munich wants to completely take over the Joyn streaming platform. So far he holds half and wants to take over the outstanding 50 percent from joint venture partner Warner Bros. Discovery, as both companies announced on Tuesday. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval. The joint venture was founded with Discovery in 2017 and has been operating under the name Joyn since 2019.
In the streaming boom in Germany, global providers such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Sky and Apple are competing with national providers such as RTL and ProSiebenSat.1. There are also platforms like Magenta from Telekom, which combine several offers. And the public broadcasters of ARD and ZDF are also expanding their streaming offerings.
With the Joyn app, viewers can watch live television – also outside of the ProSiebenSat.1 offers – as well as stream the group’s own productions and US series. At the beginning of the year, ProSiebenSat.1 switched off the station’s own apps and justified this by focusing on a single offer. Unlike other streaming platforms, for example, the focus is not on taking out subscriptions. It’s about advertising revenue from the offers.
Beaujean: “Go much more into the community area”
ProSiebenSat.1 boss Rainer Beaujean told the German Press Agency on Tuesday: “Now Joyn is once again the focus of our digital strategy.” He added: “We want to continue to push the advertising-financed service and will focus even more on the young target group.” For example with Youtuber content. ProSiebenSat.1 wants to create a kind of entertainment ecosystem at Joyn.
Beaujean continued, “We’re going to be going much more into the community space.” The head of the group said about the streaming competition: “Our competition is on YouTube and Facebook in the advertising-financed area and not on Netflix and Co.” This is how Joyn should set himself apart: “We don’t go there and say: We’re going to do expensive productions or integrate print. For us, live, local and Germany are the differentiating factor.” The Joyn Plus+ subscription area will remain exclusive. For example, there are formats specially produced for this area.
ProSiebenSat.1 bundles access to websites, online offers and apps via a central access point – 7Pass. The group named the number of more than 20 million registered users. This is an important target group for Joyn as well, the users should be addressed in an even more targeted manner in interaction. For Joyn, the group named more than 30 million app downloads and 4 million unique users per month.
ProSiebenSat.1 did not provide any information on the purchase price. CFO Ralf Gierig initially expects the acquisition to have a negative impact. The purchase of Joyn is likely to burden ProSiebenSat.1’s operating result (Ebitda) by around EUR 25 million. Total revenue for the current year is expected to rise further to almost EUR 4.4 billion with a margin of plus/minus EUR 75 million after the previous year’s figure of around EUR 4.3 billion.
The adjusted net result in 2022 should now be at the previous year’s level of 362 million euros. Previously, the Executive Board had set a target of a level at or slightly above the previous year’s figure. The dividend for the current year is to remain at 80 cents per share.