Over the years, ProSiebenSat.1 Media has developed into one of Europe's leading media companies. The company's history began in 1984 with the founding of Sat.1, Germany's first private TV station. Five years later, ProSieben went on air. Both stations revolutionised the German television market with innovative formats and programmes.
On 1 January 1984 at 9.58 a.m., PKS (Programmgesellschaft für Kabel- und Satellitenfunk) went on air as part of the Ludwigshafen cable pilot project. This laid the foundation for the start of private television in Germany. The programme began with a welcome address by Jürgen Doetz, the station's managing director at the time: "Ladies and gentlemen, at this moment you are witnessing the launch of the first private television broadcaster in the Federal Republic of Germany." In fact, PKS was not the first German private television broadcaster, but "only" the first to be founded in Germany. In 1954, Telesaar went on air in Saarland, which was not yet part of Germany at the time. Nevertheless, it marked the start of private television in Germany. At the beginning of 1985, the channel was given a new name: SAT.1. The new name emphasised the fact that it was the first programme to be transmitted via satellite.
Eureka Television GmbH was founded in 1986. It operated the channel Eureka TV, the forerunner of ProSieben. The programme, planned as a mixture of information and teleshopping, suffers from a lack of viewers. Gerhard Ackermans looks for new co-shareholders: Thomas Kirch, the son of Leo Kirch, acquires 49 percent of Eureka TV on 13 October 1988. Dr Georg Kofler becomes managing director. ProSieben Television GmbH began broadcasting in 1989 with nine hours of programming. ProSieben had 70 employees at the start and can be received by 2.44 million cable households. On 1 October 1990, ProSieben became the first German station to broadcast around the clock.
A new era in television broadcasting began on 8 December 1989: ProSieben and Sat.1 are broadcast with RTL plus for the first time via the Astra 1A satellite. The stations can now be received throughout Western and Central Europe with little technical effort. The presence of attractive private programmes contributes significantly to the commercial success of the Astra satellites. In addition to reception via cable TV, direct satellite reception represents an attractive increase in programme diversity. In the new federal states in particular, direct satellite reception quickly becomes one of the strongest pillars of programme distribution.
1990s: The growth and consolidation of the broadcasting landscape led to the founding of ProSieben Media AG in 1995. Sat.1 and ProSieben established themselves as leading entertainment providers. The merger of the two companies in 2000 created ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. This merger laid the foundation for the future expansion and diversification of the company.
2000s: The company expanded continuously and extended its portfolio. In 2003, ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG was floated on the stock exchange, which provided additional financial resources for expansion. In the same year, N24 GmbH was founded, specialising in news and information programmes. The station family was expanded through the acquisition of further TV stations such as Kabel Eins and the founding of Sixx.
The 2010s were characterised by the digital transformation. ProSiebenSat.1 invested heavily in digital media and expanded its online and streaming offering. The launch of the video-on-demand platform maxdome in 2006 and the acquisition of myvideo.de were important steps in this development. In 2013, the company acquired the e-commerce platform Stylight, which marked its entry into digital commerce. In 2010, ProSiebenSat.1 sold its channel N24. The purchase agreement was signed between the private broadcasting group and the newly founded N24 Media GmbH. Its management includes the former editor-in-chief of the news magazine Der Spiegel, Stefan Aust. The Axel Springer media group later acquired 100 per cent of N24 Media GmbH and planned to merge N24 with the Welt Group in order to establish the leading multimedia news company for quality journalism in German-speaking countries. This took place in 2014 and the previous company was dissolved. WeltN24 GmbH has been the sole operator of N24 since 1 January 2015.
In 2016, ProSiebenSat.1 was transformed into a European stock corporation (SE) in order to promote international expansion. In the same year, ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4 GmbH launched in Austria and took over the stations ATV and ATV2, which strengthened its market presence in Austria. The company has been listed on the MDAX since 2018, having previously been relegated from the DAX.
While Silvio Berlusconi returned to politics at the age of 82 and entered the European Parliament for "Forza Italia", his son Pier Silvio Berlusconi bought into ProSiebenSat1 Media with the family media holding company in 2019. The Milan-based media giant Mediaset initially held 9.6 per cent of the shares in the German TV station, but increasingly increased this stake in the following years. Silvio Berlusconi was Mediaset's main shareholder at the time.
The launch of the streaming platform Joyn in 2019 was another milestone. Joyn offers users access to a wide range of TV and streaming content and quickly positioned itself as one of the leading streaming services in Germany. The partnership with Discovery, Inc. and the acquisition of sports rights such as the NBA and NHL contributed to the attractiveness of the offering.
2020s: In 2022, Bert Habets took over the position of CEO and ushered in a new era focused on the further digitalisation and expansion of the streaming offering. The corporate strategy focuses on growth through innovative media and advertising strategies and the development of new business models.
In 2023, Renáta Kellnerová acquired a 9.01% stake (including financial instruments) in ProSiebenSat.1 Media, making her the media company's second-largest shareholder. She currently holds 11.6 per cent of the shares via her holding company PPF, but only has a 98.9 per cent stake in the holding company itself.
Today, the company operates the free TV channels ProSieben, Sat.1, Kabel Eins, Sixx, ProSieben Maxx, Sat.1 Gold and Kabel Eins Doku as well as the three German pay TV channels ProSieben Fun, Sat.1 emotions and Kabel Eins Classics. In addition to its linear TV offerings, ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE has a strong position in the digital entertainment sector, supported by a diversified structure comprising TV stations, digital platforms and production companies.