ProSiebenSat.1 and MediaForEurope are now having “meaningful co-operation”

German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 has begun collaborating more closely with fellow European broadcaster MediaForEurope, its largest shareholder, in areas including advertising, technology, and content. The statement marks progress for MediaForEurope’s ambition to build a pan-European TV giant.

Bert Habets, CEO of ProSiebenSat.1, told the Financial Times that executives from his network had in the past few weeks begun “meaningful co-operation” on advertising, technology and even content with colleagues from MediaForEurope, which is majority-owned by the family of the late Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Furthermore, Habets, a Dutch TV executive who took to the helm of the embattled German broadcaster in November last year, said that the company was now in “a much more constructive dialogue to really seek co-operation models” with MFE, a move that comes after the Italian company gained two places on ProSieben’s supervisory board in June. It also follows several attempts at national TV mergers that were blocked by European regulators that have, for some executives, heightened the appeal of cross-border co-operation, the Financial Times said.

“I think our industry is changing really at a very fast pace,”  said Habets, adding that the rise of streaming giants has altered how advertisers assign their budgets. “We, as a local player, need to seek solutions on how to continue to get access to these global budgets being allocated on a more pan-European basis,”  he continued.

Habets also said that there was strong potential for collaboration between MFE and ProSiebenSat.1 on technology, and that there may possibly be scope for collaboration on content, pointing to the ability of Netflix to make a success of series produced in countries such as Spain in other international markets.