Despite the ongoing weakness in the advertising market, German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 has largely held its ground in the first quarter of 2025.
Group revenues fell only slightly by 1% year-on-year to €855 million. However, profitability was hit much harder: adjusted EBITDA dropped by 39% to €44 million, mainly due to a decline in high-margin linear TV advertising.
As CFO Martin Mildner put it, ProSiebenSat.1 continues to face ‘a challenging economic environment’, but anticipates a recovery in advertising revenues in the second half of the year. Nevertheless, the company reaffirmed its full-year guidance, expecting group revenues of around €3.85 billion and adjusted EBITDA of €520 million.
While traditional advertising revenues declined, the group’s streaming platform Joyn showed strong momentum. The ad-supported service reached a new record in marketable reach, attracting 8.3 million average monthly video users (+26%) and generating 13.5 billion minutes of total viewing time (+48%).
Joyn’s advertising-based video-on-demand (AVOD) revenues surged by 39%, while subscription revenues (SVOD) also grew by 16%. According to the group, this strong performance confirms its strategic focus on building a free, advertising-financed streaming platform for the German-speaking market. In a further boost, Joyn is now available in select Mercedes-Benz in-car systems, with broader rollout planned.
Looking ahead, ProSiebenSat.1 expects the advertising market to remain difficult in the first half of 2025, followed by a moderate recovery later in the year.
The group also announced further cost-saving initiatives in the second quarter to support the digital transformation and improve profitability. These measures are expected to have a growing impact on adjusted EBITDA over the course of the year.
