Development of the Audience Market

ProSiebenSat.1 Group operates advertising-financed free TV stations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and offers these in both SD and HD quality. The following tables provide an overview of audience shares by country (Fig. 39):

In the core market of Germany, the free TV stations SAT.1, ProSieben, kabel eins, sixx, SAT.1 Gold, ProSieben MAXX and kabel eins Doku achieved a combined market share of 28.0 % among viewers aged between 14 and 49 in 2016 (previous year: 29.5 %). This equates to a decline of 1.5 percentage points compared to the record-breaking year 2015. At 29.5 %, the comparative value marked a ten-year high. At the same time, the TV year 2016 was characterized by two major sporting events, the European soccer championship and the Summer Olympic Games. These were broadcast primarily by public stations. In this environment, ProSiebenSat.1 Group’s audience shares in all markets developed at a comparable level to that in previous sports years overall (Fig. 40).

Audience shares of ProSiebenSat.1 Group in sports years (Fig. 40)

The Group is still leading in the German audience market. In the reporting period, ProSiebenSat.1 stations were 3.2 percentage points ahead of the stations marketed by IP Deutschland (RTL, VOX, n-tv, Super RTL, RTL Nitro, RTLplus). These stations had a combined market share of 24.8 % (previous year: 24.6 %).

The Austrian station group ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4 achieved a combined market share of 23.0 % among viewers aged 12 to 49 in 2016 (previous year: 23.1 %). ProSiebenSat.1 Group thus remains by far the strongest private station group in Austria. The TV family in Switzerland generated a market share of 17.8 % among 15- to 49-year-olds (previous year: 18.6 %).

The tables below give an overview of the market shares of the individual advertising-financed TV stations in the German-speaking markets (Fig. 41 – 43).

Ongoing digitalization is opening up new opportunities for free TV stations in Germany to refinance their programming range. Among other things, the distribution of programs in high definition (HD) offers an attractive growth opportunity with recurring revenues that are independent from the TV advertising market. This is why, in addition to audience shares, HD user numbers are also gaining increasing importance for the Group. The number of users of the satellite digital platform HD+, which distributes private TV stations in Germany, is continuously rising. In Germany, ProSiebenSat.1 HD stations had 7.2 million users in 2016 (previous year: 6.2 million). Here, we participate in the technical service fees that end customers pay to the respective providers for programs in HD quality. The Group also broadcasts its programs in HD quality in Austria and Switzerland.

Numerous partnerships emphasize ProSiebenSat.1 Group’s strategy of offering its programming via as many distribution channels as possible and expand their technical reach. Against this backdrop, the Company again concluded numerous new distribution agreements in 2016, including Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Waipu TV, an online-entertainment service. Besides reach and market shares, awards are an indicator of the popularity and quality of our formats. In 2016, the Company again received numerous awards (Fig. 44).