Development of the Audience Market

On the audience market, ProSiebenSat.1 Group has a complementary portfolio. In the past five years, the station group startet three stations with the aim of reaching new target groups on the audience and TV advertising market. sixx and SAT.1 Gold are a successful example of this: The programs of these two stations are aimed specifically at female viewers since there is a particularly strong demand for this target group on the TV advertising market. Via the strategic expansion of the station portfolio, ProSiebenSat.1 has continuously increased its advertising market shares among women in recent years. Another advantage of complementary programming is efficient programming exploitation: Thanks to its broad station portfolio, the Group can fully make use of its extensive rights from license packages in a target group-oriented environment. In addition, short-term fluctuations in the market share of individual stations can be offset by the station group. With this strategy, ProSiebenSat.1 increased its market shares in all three countries in 2015 — in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Key target groups of the free TV stations

On the core market of Germany, the six free TV stations ProSieben, SAT.1, kabel eins, sixx, SAT.1 Gold and ProSieben MAXX achieved a combined market share of 29.5 % among viewers aged between 14 and 49 in 2015 (previous year: 28.7 %). This represents a year-on-year increase of 0.8 percentage points and the highest combined market share in ten years. In 2015, the station group gained additional market shares in the female target group in particular, which is relevant to the advertising market; in addition, the newer TV stations SAT.1 Gold and ProSieben MAXX performed particularly well. ProSiebenSat.1 Group also further strengthened its leading market position: With a lead of 5.2 percentage points, ProSiebenSat.1’s stations were once again well ahead of the stations marketed by IP Deutschland (RTL, VOX, n-tv, Super RTL and RTL Nitro) in 2015. Its direct competitor lost 0.4 percentage points year-on-year (previous year: 24.7 %).

In 2015, the individual free TV channels of ProSiebenSat.1 Group developed in Germany as follows:

• ProSieben achieved a market share of 10.9 % of viewers aged 14 to 49 (previous year: 11.0 %). The station is a market leader in the relevant target group of 14- to 39-year-olds and has increased its competitive edge over its main rival RTL; here, ProSieben’s audience share amounted to 15.2 % (previous year: 15.4 %).
• SAT.1’s development was virtually stable with a market share of 9.5 % in the relevant group of viewers aged 14 to 59 (previous year: 9.6 %). In the 14 to 49 year old target group, the station exceeded the previous year’s figure although shows such as “Mila” and “Newtopia” did not hit the viewer’s tastes and were discontinued within a short space of time. The market share of 14- to 49-year-olds rose by 0.1 percentage points, amounting to 9.3 %.
• kabel eins closed 2015 with an audience share of 5.3 % among viewers aged between 14 and 49. This value was 5.5 % in the previous year. In addition to the “Knochenbrecher” Tamme Hanken, program highlights also included Frank Rosin with his shows “Rosins Kantinen — Ein Sternekoch undercover” and “Rosin weltweit — andere Länder, andere Fritten.”
• sixx increased its market share in the relevant target group of 14 to 39 year old women by 0.1 percentage points to 2.6 %. Among 14- to 49-year-olds, the women’s station achieved a stable market share of 1.4 % (previous year: 1.4 %). sixx was founded in 2010 and is now one of the most popular German television brands not only on TV but also on digital platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
• SAT.1 Gold nearly doubled its market share among viewers aged between 14 and 49, achieving a market share of 1.3 % (previous year: 0.7 %). The result in the relevant target group of 40 to 64 year old women also demonstrates this year’s success: At 2.3 % over the year as a whole, this value was above the two percent mark for the first time (previous year: 1.2 %).
• ProSieben MAXX also steadily increased its market share: The men’s station ended the year with a market share of 1.2 % (previous year: 1.0 %); in the relevant target group of 14 to 39 year old men, the market share rose to 2.0 % (previous year: 1.9 %).

2015 was also a successful year for the Austrian station group ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4: SAT.1 Österreich, ProSieben Austria, kabel eins austria, sixx Austria, SAT.1 Gold Österreich, ProSieben MAXX Austria and PULS 4 posted a combined market share of 23.1 % in the relevant target group of 12- to 49-year-olds (previous year: 21.7 %). ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4 is thus 1.4 percentage points above the previous year’s figures and is the strongest private station group on the Austrian TV market. ProSieben Austria is the station that saw the strongest increase in 2015, with an annual market share of 9.8 %. Once again, PULS 4 closed the year as the strongest private TV station in Austria: It achieved 4.0 % of viewers aged 12 to 49 (previous year: 4.1 %) and 3.1 % of viewers aged 12 and up (previous year: 3.6 %). As a result, PULS 4 is the market leader among Austria’s private full service broadcasters.

The Group is also pursuing a multi-station strategy in Switzerland. SAT.1 Schweiz, ProSieben Schweiz, kabel eins Schweiz, sixx Schweiz, SAT.1 Gold Schweiz, ProSieben MAXX Schweiz and Puls 8 are stations that are included in the portfolio and aimed at different core target groups. The station Puls 8 has supplemented the portfolio since October 2015; its relevant target group comprises viewers aged between 20 and 49. Since then, the station has already achieved market shares of around 1 % every month. Overall, the TV family reached a market share of 18.6 % of viewers aged 15 to 49 in Switzerland (previous year: 17.3 %).

HD user numbers are a second measurement parameter for the reach of our free TV stations. The number of users of the digital satellite platform HD+, via which private stations in Germany are distributed, increases continuously and notably. In Germany, the ProSiebenSat.1 HD stations amounted to 6.2 million users in 2015; in 2014 they were at 5.3 million. ProSiebenSat.1 Group also broadcasts its programs in HD quality in Austria and Switzerland. Many partnerships emphasize ProSiebenSat.1 Group’s strategy of providing viewers attractive add-on programs such as HD television, and of offering their program across as many distribution channels as possible. In light of this, the company concluded many new contractual agreements in 2015, for instance, with the distribution platforms Couchfunk and Zattoo, the online platform TV Spielfilm and the cable network operator Unitymedia. These contracts for cooperation with distributors as well as for the distribution of programs through the platform HD+ increase the reach of ProSiebenSat.1’s offerings. Thus, they offer us new refinancing models through which the Company generates recurring and non-cyclical revenues in addition to traditional TV advertising.

In addition to the high market shares achieved by stations owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Group in 2015, awards are an indicator of the popularity and quality of the shows we broadcast. The table below shows the most consequential prizes: