Bundeskartellamt clears 7TV expansion by Maxdome and Eurosport

Today the Bundeskartellamt cleared plans by ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE and Discovery Communications to expand their joint video platform 7TV, in particular with their video streaming services “Maxdome” and “Eurosport-Player”.

Already last year, 7TV was set up by ProSiebenSat.1 and Discovery and the Bundeskartellamt cleared the project. The platform offers video on demand services and live streams of TV programmes broadcast by its two parent companies. Both offers are financed through advertising. With its added business areas “Maxdome”, which is offered by Pro7 and “Eurosport-Player”, which is offered by Discovery, the joint venture is not expected to gain a dominant market position.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “While Maxdome is well-known for offering a wide range of videos and Eurosport-Player has become known for offering Bundesliga matches, the market for paid video on demand services continues to be a fast-expanding one, with powerful competitors like Amazon, Netflix, iTunes, Sky and public broadcasting services.”

The parties’ merger application exclusively involved the expansion of their services as mentioned above. The Bundeskartellamt examined the project and issued a merger control clearance under these aspects only. Should 7TV wish to add further content or cooperation partners in future, such a project will have to be examined again, taking account of the current market situation and the specific cooperation structure.