Governance & Compliance

Transparency and Independence

Transparent communication with the capital market and the public and independent reporting are very important for ProSiebenSat.1 as a publishing company. For this reason, ProSiebenSat.1 strives to ensure a trusting relationship with journalists and financial analysts and follows internal guidelines for preserving journalistic independence.

  • Our public relations and investor relations work is guided by the transparency guidelines of the German Corporate Governance Code. Accordingly, we communicate fully, promptly and frankly with journalists, investors, analysts, and shareholders, whereby the equal treatment of all market participants is our standard. We therefore provide detailed information in German and English about our business activities, the ProSiebenSat.1 share, and the financial results on the Company website www.ProSiebenSat1.com.
  • To protect journalistic independence and fundamental journalistic conditions, ProSiebenSat.1 Group formulated guidelines back in 2005, which all of our program creators in Germany are obliged to uphold. The “Guidelines for Ensuring Journalistic Independence” can be viewed on the corporate website. The media group’s journalists are free to shape their contributions and report independently of social, economic or political interest groups.

Youth Protection

Youth protection officers make sure that ProSiebenSat.1 Group offers age-appropriate programming on TV and online. They are professionally independent and ensure that content that is inappropriate for children is broadcast only at the legally prescribed broadcasting times. At the same time, they guarantee technical methods of protection for the distribution of unsuitable content on the Internet. The youth officers are therefore involved early on in the production and purchase of programs at ProSiebenSat.1. At an early stage, they assess screenplays, accompany productions and formats, and compile reports. Independently, ProSiebenSat.1 Group’s TV and online editors receive regular training on youth protection requirements.

In addition to internal guidelines and training, we also campaign for youth protection via various organizations: The Company is represented on the Board of the Voluntary Self-Regulation of Television Association (Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Fernsehen e. V., FSF) and the Board of the Voluntary Self-Monitoring of Multimedia Service Providers Association (Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia-Diensteanbieter e. V., FSM). The FSF and FSM are organizations for the voluntary self-regulation of private television broadcasters and multimedia service providers and are recognized as independent supervisory bodies for television and the Internet by the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz, KJM). In addition, the Group is one of the first major providers of online games in Europe to be a member of the German Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body (Vereinigung Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle, USK).

Data Protection

For a media company like ProSiebenSat.1, data protection is of particularly high importance, especially in light of advancing digitalization. ProSiebenSat.1 has set down the data protection principles in its data protection policy, the Code of Compliance, and in additional guidelines.

We understand data protection as an important competitive aspect that influences the customers’, users’, viewers’, applicants’, employees’, and business partners’ trust in the products and brands of ProSiebenSat.1 Group and can thus have a long-term effect on the Group’s financial success. We respect and protect the privacy of all individuals who share their data with ProSiebenSat.1 Group. The Group therefore does not process or use any personal information without fully complying with applicable laws. ProSiebenSat.1 fully guarantees the right to be informed about the use of personal data and to request a necessary correction of this data. The same applies to the individual’s right to disallow the use of their personal information or to demand the deletion or blocking of this data.