Public Value
ProSiebenSat.1 Group reaches around 42 million households every day with its TV stations and an additional more than 30 million users per month with its digital platforms. The distributed content helps to shape the opinions of viewers and users. We are conscious of this responsibility and use the large reach of our media to draw attention to important ecological, social and political issues. We have launched numerous initiatives in recent years and campaigned with lots of projects in 2015. The objectives of our public engagement are:
- creating opportunities,
- engaging culture,
- communicating values, and
- building knowledge.
Back in 2011, the Group placed its corporate responsibility activities in a larger social context and established an Advisory Board. The interdisciplinary body chaired by Bavaria’s former Prime Minister Dr. Edmund Stoiber advises the media group on relevant socio- and media-political as well as ethical issues and provides suggestions regarding the Group’s media offerings. In financial year 2015, the Advisory Board met three times. Members of the Executive Board and other decision-makers in ProSiebenSat.1 Group participated in these events.
At the ProSiebenSat.1 Advisory Board’s suggestion, ProSiebenSat.1 launched the ”SchoolsON” video competition with the support of the German Children and Youth Foundation in 2015. The nationwide initiative was aimed at young people between the ages of 14 and 18 and called on them to produce TV and online reports alone or in groups. The objective was to actively give young people a closer understanding of how to deal with audiovisual media responsibly. To accompany the competition, ProSiebenSat.1 and the German Children and Youth Foundation provided students and educators with online tutorials and materials. They explained what should be considered when creating a report and also provided suggestions on how to integrate complex issues such as the protection of privacy and copyright into teaching. The “SchoolsON” initiative is part of the Advisory Board’s current focus on “Digital Education.”
Other projects such as “Green Seven” are also intended to familiarize young people with relevant issues. ProSiebenSat.1 as a media group has a key role to play here: Private stations like SAT.1 and ProSieben have been reaching considerably more young viewers than the public stations for many years. In addition, the Group is familiar with young peoples’ lives and speaks their language. This factor is also a crucial advantage for the station group when communicating ecological, social and political issues: ProSiebenSat.1 can use its access to young people to raise the next generation’s awareness of important issues.