After the postponed presentation of the balance sheet, ProSieben-Sat.1, the German mother of the two Austrian private broadcasters Puls4 and ATV, will soon provide information regarding its strategy.
The new company boss Bert Habets will present the television group’s plans on March 28 at a press conference in Unterfoehring near Munich, the group announced on Monday.
According to insiders, ProSieben-Sat.1 wants to focus primarily on television and entertainment and expand the streaming business. This should meet with the approval of the Italian major shareholder MFE-Mediaforeurope, the family of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
The German group was initially unable to comment on whether there was already a date for the presentation of the 2022 balance sheet. This was recently postponed due to open regulatory issues relating to the business of the voucher subsidiary Jochen Schweizer mydays.
The new Czech ProSieben-Sat.1 major shareholder PPF is demanding a place on the supervisory board of the Bavarian television company. The company, controlled by billionaire Renata Kellnerova, has increased its stake in ProSiebenSat.1 from 9.1 to 10.1 percent. PPF is the second largest shareholder behind MFE-Mediaforeurope.
Waiterova’s holding also wants to be represented on the supervisory board and has already contacted the company, according to a recent statement. ProSiebenSat.1 must ensure that the largest shareholders are fairly represented on the board. According to insiders, however, it is questionable whether PPF will get a seat.
The former Mediaset and now MFE of the Berlusconis also claims representation on the supervisory board. So far it has been said in industry circles that the Italians might even get two mandates given a participation of around a quarter.
In October, MFE brought TV manager Katharina Behrends from NBC Universal and appointed her to be the governor for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The appointments of three members on the ProSieben Supervisory Board will expire this year. One position is vacant following Habets moved to the top post on the board in the fall.