ProSieben, Discovery pact for OTT drive

ProSiebenSat.1 (P7S1) and Discovery Communications have joined forces to push OTT in the German market with a combined streaming service.

The pair are also looking to add third party channels to a new joint venture streaming service.

German TV and media giant P7S1 and global channel operator Discovery will stream a raft of their channels and content under the 7TV brand, which will be a 50/50 joint venture.

P7S1 channels on 7TV will ProSieben, Sat.1, Kabel Eins, Sixx, ProSieben Maxx, Sat.1 Gold and Kabel Eins Doku. Discovery’s free-to-air German channels DMAX and TLC will be included.

7TV exists already as P7S1’s mobile offering and has registered six million downloads since 2014.

The new version of the service will utilise the same app and underlying tech, but the expanded streaming service will have a wider selection of content. Discovery and P7S1 added that they would “welcome talks with other content providers to participate”.

P7S1’s SevenOne Media will sell the new service’s ad inventory when it launches later this year. A CEO for the new service will be recruited.

Discovery is expanding its free TV profile in Germany soon after resolving a bitter dispute over carriage fees for its pay TV channels with the Sky.

“Our new agreement with Sky in the key UK and German markets includes new opportunities to launch new channels and services,” Discovery CEO David Zaslav told analysts in the wake of that agreement.

Discovery said it will bundle 7TV with its direct-to-consumer Eurosport Player service in Germany, which recently secured Bundesliga soccer rights.

“Germany is a priority market for us and poised for new growth fuelled by our recent investments,” said J.B. Perrette (pictured left), president and CEO of Discovery Networks International. “We are excited to be partnering with ProSiebenSat.1 and eventually other media groups to provide German fans with a robust offering of their favourite content.”

Christof Wahl (pictured right), chief digital entertainment officer of ProSiebenSat.1, said: “This initiative with Discovery Communications is an important step forward which will allow us to develop top technology and over time include additional channels.

“Our viewers will benefit from an enhanced, premium range of content.”