"The downsizing we are preparing for is significantly more extensive than the previous restructurings we have had in our Group," said CEO Bert Habets on Tuesday evening in Frankfurt. Most recently, around 120 full-time positions were cut in 2019. Habets was not more specific. The talks with the works council should be concluded first. Then a difficult summer lies ahead when the redimensioning will be implemented. Habets wants to make the group around ProSieben, Sat.1 and Kabel 1 fit again by cutting costs and focusing on the entertainment business.

The streaming platform Joyn is to become increasingly important here. It is expected to double its monthly reach of four million users in up to two years. Joyn will remain largely free of charge, said Habets. After that, it will be examined how more money can be earned with it. In the beginning, however, the focus will be on growth. Making a profit is more of a long-term goal, said the Dutchman, who has been in office since November. He confirmed that there will be cooperation with other partners, such as the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.

The largest investor in Bayern is the Italian company MFE-Mediaforeurope, which is controlled by the family of the recently deceased former head of government Silvio Berlusconi. Number two is the Czech PPF Group owned by billionaire Renata Kellnerova. Both shareholders are clearly behind the strategy of focusing more on entertainment, said Habets. Cooperations would be examined where the logic of the industry allowed. To this end, the ProSiebenSat.1 CEO signaled that working groups with MFE, for example, were being explored. However, he conceded that ProSiebenSat.1 is focused on local content and therefore the potential for synergies here is rather limited.

MEDIA WATCHDOG - NO STRONG INFLUENCE OF MFE ON PROSIEBEN

MFE currently holds 26.58 percent of ProSiebenSat.1 directly and around 29 percent in total via financial instruments. According to the Commission on Concentration in the Media (KEK), this does not currently lead to "a dominant influence or an influence comparable to control" of MFE on the Bavarian group. However, the media watchdogs emphasized that a de facto majority of voting rights held by the Italians at the ProSieben Annual General Meeting on June 30 "could lead to a different assessment and consequently to an attribution of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group's programs to MFE". This would then be re-examined by the KEK. MFE did not comment on this.

The supervisory authority scrutinizes investors who hold more than 25 percent of media companies. The President of the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for New Media (BLM), Thorsten Schmiege, recently told the news agency Reuters that the increase in MFE's shareholding would be examined primarily from the point of view of state neutrality. This may now be invalid. Berlusconi, who was a senator and leader of one of Italy's governing parties, died on Monday.

How Berlusconi's death will affect ProSiebenSat.1 depends on what his children ultimately decide, Habets explained. "Anything we can say about that would be speculative," the manager emphasized. "But the fact that there will be a new dynamic is clear to everyone."

Regarding the future of the dating division ParshipMeet Group, Habets said that an IPO or sale would not take place until the second half of 2024 at the earliest.

(Report by Klaus Lauer, edited by Ralf Banser; - If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)).