ProSiebenSat.1 and Facebook cooperate on content and production
Munich, June 12, 2019 – ProSiebenSat.1 and Facebook have concluded an agreement concerning the video platform Facebook Watch. This agreement includes multiple components. The Facebook video destination will offer its users a wide-ranging catalog of videos from the German media group. The content includes clips and short episodes of popular shows and infotainment such as “Germany's Next Top Model – by Heidi Klum,” “Galileo,” “Late Night Berlin,” "SAT.1-Frühstücksfernsehen," and many more. The cooperation will start around the new show “The Masked Singer,” which premieres June 27 on ProSieben. Through the partnership, ProSiebenSat.1 will increase its digital reach and generate additional revenues in the content and production business. Watch is Facebook’s new core video platform. It plays all social and interactive video experiences, including live video and Watch Party. Users can expect a personalized video feed that offers up-to-date videos as well as in-house productions – from entertainment to sports to news and much more. All content on Watch is focused on the social aspect: users can interact with others and use interactive survey tools to help shape how content evolves. A little more than a year after its worldwide launch, more than 720 million people a month and 140 million people a day spend at least one minute on Watch. Average use is 26 minutes. ProSiebenSat.1's video inventory includes up-to-date video content of TV shows and programs as well as archived and timeless content. This content on Facebook is curated by Studio71. In addition, ProSiebenSat.1 will produce exclusive clips for Facebook Watch, giving viewers access to behind-the-scenes of their favorite shows, including backstage interviews and other information. ProSiebenSat.1 will also produce special content such as posts, stories and live streams via its TV stations and digital unit Studio71 that will be simultaneously posted to both Facebook and Instagram. Eun-Kyung Park, Chief Digital Officer Entertainment at ProSiebenSat.1: “Our cooperation with Facebook is unique in Europe and the starting point for further collaborative opportunities. With specially prepared content, we are consistently introducing our strong TV brands to additional digital worlds and increasing our reach significantly via News Feed.” Jens-Uwe Bornemann, Director of Media Partnerships Central and Eastern Europe at Facebook: “We look forward to working even more closely with ProSiebenSat.1 and to introducing some of the best-known German TV successes, which people are already sharing with friends and other fans on our platform daily, to Facebook Watch with all the new interactive possibilities. This will enable us to create even more video experiences around current TV formats. Experiences that focus on people and the community.” ProSiebenSat.1 is the first TV group in Europe to enter into a similar partnership with Facebook. In the United States, the American department of Studio71 cooperates with Facebook Watch and shows its influencer production “Fetch Me A Date” with the Internet stars Jonathan Bennett and Dorothy Wang on the video platform. Similar productions with Studio71’s German creators are also scheduled for Germany.