German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 and Discovery announced plans to build Germany’s leading local streaming platform by integrating their services 7TV, Maxdome and Eurosport into one OTT platform. The joint platform will offer a full entertainment package including live streams, an extensive media library with both local content and Hollywood productions as well as sports content and will launch in the first half of 2019, said ProSiebenSat.
The platform will be offered to customers in a free-to-air variant with advertisements as well as in an “attractively priced” advertising-free tier and a premium for-pay tier with exclusive access to films and sports content. The two companies joined forces to launch an OTT streaming service last year as the first step in setting up their wider joint-venture platform.The companies said they will dedicate “very significant resources” and investments to the project, including a team of over 200 professionals to build the platform, with the aim of providing 10 million users with bespoke content within the first two years. CEO of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group Max Conze said he is also “inviting” RTL and German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF to join them in building up “one German champion” in digital entertainment.
The joint-venture team will be led by former Google and YouTube executive Alexander Vassilev, while ProSiebenSat.1 CEO Max Conze will head the joint venture’s board and Discovery Networks CEO Jean Brian Perrette will represent Discovery on the board. The proposed joint venture still requires the approval of the regulatory authorities, said ProSieben.
