ZDF and ProSiebenSat.1 Join Forces in Streaming Deal
Germany’s ZDF and ProSiebenSat.1 have become the latest traditional European rivals to team up on a streaming deal, a move aimed at countering the growing threat of global tech players in the European media landscape.
The partnership will see ZDF’s on-demand content integrated into ProSieben’s streaming service, Joyn, from the fourth quarter of this year. This will enable Joyn users to access a wide range of ZDF’s news, documentaries, cultural, factual, and entertainment programs for free, without any advertisements. However, ZDF’s own streaming portal will remain the central digital home for its public broadcasting content.
The deal has been struck in an increasingly international platform landscape, with both ZDF and ProSieben emphasizing their focus on a partnership that strengthens access to high-quality, ‘Made in Germany’ journalistic and cultural content. This move is part of a broader trend among European players to pool resources and collaborate more closely in order to compete effectively with global tech giants.
Recent examples of this trend include Channel 4’s talks with the BBC in the UK, highlighting the growing need for European media outlets to work together in order to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving media landscape.
Global streamers have also been making significant deals with European broadcasters, with France’s TF1 recently launching its streaming and channel suite on Netflix, France Télévisions launching channels on Prime Video, and Disney+ striking content-sharing deals with ITV, RTVE, M6, and ZDF in the past year.
In a statement, Florian Kumb, Director of Audience at ZDF, emphasized the importance of reaching as many people as possible with high-quality content. By making ZDF’s streaming content available on Joyn, the company is strengthening the visibility of public broadcasting journalism in the digital space.
Nicole Agudo Berbel, Chief Distribution & Partnerships Officer at ProSiebenSat.1, added that the partnership demonstrates how public and private media can work together to find innovative responses to digital competition. By sending a strong, forward-looking signal for the dual system and the media industry as a whole, ProSieben and ZDF are paving the way for a more collaborative and competitive European media landscape.
As the media landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how this partnership between ZDF and ProSiebenSat.1 develops and whether it serves as a model for other European media outlets to follow.
