ProSiebenSat.1 saw its group revenue fall 9% in the first half of 2026, landing at €1.5 billion ($1.73 billion), as a shrinking TV advertising market and the loss of World Cup rights to rivals took their toll. Deadline

The German broadcaster's Entertainment segment — its core business covering free-to-air channels and streaming — dropped 5.8% year on year to €952 million. Group CEO Marco Giordani pointed to three factors behind the decline: disposals of business units, a weakening TV ad market, and the fact that competitors held the rights to screen the soccer World Cup, which typically pulls massive audiences and the advertising spend that follows.

Yet beneath the falling revenue, the company swung to a profit. ProSiebenSat.1 posted an EBITDA profit of €124 million for the first six months of 2026 — a measure of operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation. That reverses an EBITDA loss in the same period a year earlier, when the group's adjusted EBITDA had stood at €99 million, down 40% from the first half of 2024. ProSiebenSat.1 H1 2025 Report

The turnaround came from deep cost-cutting. Programming expenses — the money spent on acquiring and producing shows — fell from €496 million to €404 million. Personnel costs dropped by €117 million to €299 million, following job losses across the group. Fewer shows on the schedule and fewer people making them, in other words, made the numbers work even as revenue shrank.

There was one bright spot in the digital business. Joyn, ProSiebenSat.1's streaming service, saw revenue rise in both its ad-supported tier (AVOD — ad-supported video on demand, where viewers watch for free with commercials) and its subscription tier (SVOD — viewers pay a monthly fee to watch without ads). The company did not disclose specific Joyn figures, but the growth in both revenue streams suggests viewers are finding the platform either way.

The broader context is a tough stretch for ProSiebenSat.1. Group revenue was €1.695 billion in the first half of 2025, meaning the 2026 figure represents a decline of roughly €195 million in a single year. Q1 2026 revenue was €775 million, down 9% (€80 million) from the same quarter in 2025. Advanced Television The Entertainment segment's first-half 2025 revenues had already fallen 4% to €1.113 billion, so the latest numbers extend a downward trend rather than starting a new one. Broadband TV News

For viewers and producers, the cuts to programming spend are the number to watch. ProSiebenSat.1 spent nearly €100 million less on content in the first half of 2026 than it did a year earlier. That is budget that funds everything from scripted dramas to reality formats — the shows that fill the schedule and, in turn, the ad breaks that pay for them. The company has previously said it expects slight organic revenue growth in 2026, but the first-half numbers show that recovery has not yet arrived. ProSiebenSat.1

What stands out is the tension in these results. Revenue is still falling, the ad market is still soft, and a World Cup cycle passed ProSiebenSat.1 by. But aggressive cost reductions — fewer shows, fewer staff — have pushed the group back into operating profit. Whether that holds when the savings from disposals and job losses are fully absorbed is the question the second half of 2026 will answer.