ProSiebenSat.1 pivots toward Joyn as primary digital advertising hub

The strategic elevation of Joyn signals ProSiebenSat.1's move to defend its core advertising business against the fragmentation of linear TV audiences. By integrating its local broadcast portfolio into an IP-based catch-all, the group is transitioning from a traditional broadcaster to a digital tech platform capable of delivering addressable ad inventory at scale. This move is critical as global SVOD players like Netflix and Amazon increasingly compete for German ad budgets with their own lower-priced tiers. Watch for Joyn's monthly video user (MVU) targets, as success depends on keeping mass audiences within a proprietary environment rather than third-party aggregators.

The strategic pivot comes as MFE-MediaForEurope, controlled by the Berlusconi family, consolidated significant control over ProSiebenSat.1. Per Broadband TV News, MFE reached a 75.6% stake by September 2025, facilitating a closer alignment with a pan-European media strategy that includes operations in Italy and Spain. This leadership shift saw MFE executive Marco Giordani appointed as CEO, who subsequently placed Nicola Lussana at the head of the ad sales arm, Seven.One Media, in October 2025 to harmonize cross-border data and ad tech strategies.

Financial indicators underline the urgency of the streaming shift; for the full year 2025, ProSiebenSat.1 reported an 8% drop in traditional advertising revenues in the DACH region, according to VideoWeek in March 2026. However, the digital side has shown resilience. Per Advanced Television, Joyn reached a total of 12.4 million viewers by December 2025, briefly surpassing its primary local rival RTL+ in total reach. This growth is supported by a broader market trend where ad-supported streaming tiers in Germany grew their reach by 33% year-over-year by early 2025, according to GroupM data.

Technically, Joyn is leveraging its position as a hardware-agnostic replacement for cable receivers. In August 2024, the platform expanded its distribution via a long-term agreement with Sky Deutschland to appear on Sky Q and Sky Stream hardware. This follows a trend where German viewers are increasingly prioritizing free content over rising SVOD costs; per Bitkom reporting in September 2025, the share of German adults watching streaming (87%) has officially overtaken linear TV viewing for the first time, though linear remains the 'base' reach for the over-50 demographic.