Italy’s Mediaset has acquired a 9.6% stake in Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 Media, which is Europe’s second-largest TV group in terms of TV home penetration.
Mediaset is Italy’s top commercial free-to-air broadcaster. Its purchase of a stake in ProSiebenSat.1, for a reported $368 million, comes amid a wave of consolidation in Europe’s television market as traditional networks struggle with declining advertising as younger viewers gravitate towards Netflix and other streamers.
“European media companies like us need to join forces if we are to continue to compete [with], or even just resist, in terms of our European cultural identity, possible attacks by the global giants,” Pier Silvio Berlusconi said in a statement.