After months of speculation, MediaForEurope (MFE) has formally announced its intentions to increase its ownership stake in German commercial broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 beyond the 30% threshold needed to trigger a mandatory buyout offer under German law.

An initial advantage of this strategy for MFE would be the additional revenues generated by ProSiebenSat.1 in the German market. Current Ampere forecasts for 2025 place the combined TV advertising revenue of MFE following an acquisition of ProSiebenSat.1 at approximately €3.6bn – representing nearly 25% of the total TV advertising market across Europe’s 'Big 5' territories.

This offer has provisionally been accepted by ProSiebenSat.1, though the deal is still awaiting regulatory approval from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).  But the full acquisition of ProSiebenSat.1 would significantly bolster MFE’s pan-European strategy, giving it a further presence beyond its Mediaset markets of Italy and Spain, and helping the group’s goal of creating a consolidated European media group capable of competing with larger global streamers.

Indeed, in addition to TV, the acquisition will also help digital revenue generation: The two broadcast groups’ combined VoD and FAST revenue reached €162m in FY 2024, placing the group’s VoD revenues on a par with Netflix’s 2024 advertising revenue across the region. A consolidation of revenues will therefore be a key element of MFE’s strategy to remain competitive with global players in a rapidly evolving media landscape.

As a larger Pan-European TV and media powerhouse, the new entity might also hold stronger negotiating power with US and international distributors, helping it secure valuable acquired content to complement its European originals. This will enhance the diversity and appeal of MFE’s owned platforms and channels, broadening audience reach and supporting ambitions for new audience growth and existing audience retention.

As commercial broadcasters internationally look to remain buoyant within a difficult climate, consolidation among local players will help them compete on a more equal footing with global giants.  As such, this acquisition, once formalised, will help provide greater stability and impetus to MediaForEurope, and support its strategy of defending the European broadcast market, at least in part, against current industry challenges.