Court decision paves way for regional advertising on national TV channels

Unterföhring, December 23, 2021. Today, the Stuttgart Regional Court implemented a ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and finally ruled that regional advertising on national TV channels is lawful. Regardless of the distribution channel, this clears the way to broadcast regionalized advertising campaigns on the stations of Seven.One Entertainment Group and thus to tap into new customer groups.  Wolfgang Link, Member of the Executive Board of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE and CEO Seven.One Entertainment Group: “The addressability of TV advertising campaigns is an important growth factor for our sales. Today’s court ruling opens up new potential, because it enables us to serve the great demand for regionally addressable advertising starting in 2022. At the same time, this judicial decision is an important step toward fair competitive conditions with internet platforms, which already have wide-ranging opportunities for regionalization online.” The background to today’s ruling is a lawsuit by the Austrian fashion retailer Fussl Modestraße, that wanted to broadcast its TV campaign regionally on ProSieben in Bavaria. The ruling means this is now possible and legal certainty has been achieved. In February 2021, the European Court of Justice had already pointed out in this proceedings that the German ban on regional advertising for national television channels could be unlawful, as internet platforms are permitted to provide corresponding advertising services. Thomas Wagner, Managing Director and Chief Sales Officer Seven.One Entertainment Group: “Finally, regional advertising is also legal on TV. Television stands for rapid reach build-up and thus high levels of attention. Regional advertising on TV now opens up additional potential – e.g. for customers focused on individual federal states. On the basis of this groundbreaking court ruling, we can now offer a solution for this and bring TV advertising to the places where it is most effective for our customers. Together with our customer Fussl Modestraße, we will now implement an initial campaign in the short term.” Ernst Mayr, Managing Director FUSSL Modestraße: “It came as a surprise to us that a regional TV campaign in Bavaria used to be legally impossible. As a regional fashion company, however, this is extremely important for us and was a competitive disadvantage compared with national companies. Furthermore, we thought this unequal treatment of local media and international digital platforms was wrong, since television, for example, has an important social function and is important for the pluralism of our society. We strongly welcome the ruling and will soon be seen on Seven.One Entertainment Group’s channels.”