A year ago, Hannes Hiller became head of the private broadcaster ProSieben. How do you preserve television’s role as a national campfire – at a time when many people no longer own a television? How do you run a media company when trust in traditional media is declining? And what does Hiller say about the TV comeback that former ProSieben star Stefan Raab will be making with the competition? We asked him.
Mr. Hiller, Stefan Raab, once the face of ProSieben, will soon be making his screen comeback – on RTL. Was your offer not attractive enough for him? Or is Raab no longer attractive enough for your audience?
(Laughs.) Raab is an outstanding piece of ProSieben history. A monument. But our future looks different. ProSieben stands for innovative, modern television. That’s why ProSieben is the number one show channel for young viewers in Germany. We launched the biggest entertainment brands of recent years – I’ll give you examples of “The Masked Singer” and “Wer stehlt mir die Show”. And we want to continue down this path.
Joko and Klaas have long since taken over the role of the ProSieben creative machine. If the two win 15 minutes of broadcast time in their duel show without editorial control, linear television will become an event again. Can the medium still be a national bonfire?
You have just given the best example that this can work. The inspiration and crazy ideas that Joko and Klaas and their production company Florida keep coming up with is, for me, unique. Of course, we see that with the huge range of entertainment content available, it is becoming more difficult to inspire the masses. But we have proven time and again that it still works to bring several generations together in front of the screen for a show. Just think of the last season of “Germany’s Next Top Model”, which featured male models for the first time. The launch of “The Masked Singer” in Germany. Or the “TV total” comeback with Sebastian Pufpaff. The campfire may be burning a little smaller, but it is still burning. And we are convinced that we will succeed in lighting it with “The Superduper Show”. Katrin Bauerfeind hosts the show with a lot of fun and heart. This is entertainment for the whole family.
You’re announcing a lot of shows and events for the fall, several information programs – and one new reality format. What’s behind this emphasis?
ProSieben is often associated first and foremost with entertainment content. Which is not surprising and is also completely correct. For me, this includes all the shows, our comedies, which we successfully established on Wednesday. And it also includes the right amount of well-made reality. I am particularly excited about “Destination X”, a new adventure reality show in which eight celebrities, including Tina Ruland, Andreas Elsholz and Ekaterina Leonova, travel through Europe in an opaque bus and have to determine their location under difficult conditions. The format originates from Belgium and is already in its second season there. And in the Netherlands, the show was a huge success – even though it was running against the European Football Championship at times.
And in the area of information?
ProSieben not only stands for entertainment, but also for high-quality prime-time reporting. With Linda Zervakis, Jenke von Wilmsdorff and Thilo Mischke, who won the German Television Award in 2023 for his Afghanistan documentary, we have three outstanding journalists for our major themed evenings. No other broadcaster shows as many reports at 8:15 p.m. as ProSieben. In addition, we have had almost two and a half hours of live information programming on air every early evening during the week for decades with “taff”, “:newstime” and “Galileo”. I see ProSieben as a full program and we see it as our obligation not only to entertain our viewers, but also to inform them.
Young viewers today watch TV on smartphones and tablets, which also have Instagram, Tiktok and streaming apps installed. How do you make television for people who no longer have a television?
The Joyn app is certainly installed on smartphones. Today, anyone can watch our content on the big TV or on their mobile device at any time. That’s great! In the end, it’s about reaching as many people as possible with our shows – no matter how. And the numbers show that it works. For shows like “Germany’s next Topmodel” or “Wer stehlt mir die Show” we now reach a significant proportion of the reach via Joyn – they are a huge success on traditional TV and at the same time the two shows are absolute reach drivers for our super streamer.
“All of our group’s major programming decisions are geared towards Joyn,” says ProSiebenSat.1. What does that mean? How does it change series, shows and reality formats that they are tailored to a streaming audience?
In the past, TV ratings were the measure of all things. Today, the total reach across all platforms is what counts for us when assessing the success of a show. In concrete terms, this means that before making any programming decision, we sit down together and consider whether and how a new format will benefit Joyn. This is much less about cast or concepts, as you might think. It is much more about a serial narrative or episodes that build on each other in terms of content in order to keep customers in the app.
Nevertheless, you also focus on event shows.
We are in the midst of what is probably the biggest transformation process in the media landscape. And along the way we must not lose sight of our audience. Event shows such as “TV total XXL” in Cologne’s Lanxess Arena are part of ProSieben’s core DNA. They will continue to exist, but in a very select manner.
How do you think streaming services and linear TV will divide their audience in ten years?
I’ll leave speculation to others. I don’t think the question even arises in this form. Every TV station now has its own streaming platform. For us, Joyn and the stations are not side by side, but are one unit. “Everything on Joyn” is our guiding principle. In addition, Joyn offers around 70 TV channels in live streams – from public broadcasters to various sports channels – in addition to its large library with all the content from our TV stations and its originals. For me, it’s more of a merger than a division. What we can clearly observe is that the streaming share in the overall reach of our content is growing.
Gottschalk no longer wants to host “Wetten, dass ..?” because he no longer knows the celebrities on his own sofa. Are there still any stars that mean something to all viewers? How does a linear full program address an audience that is divided into bubbles?
This immediately makes me think of the Taylor Swift concert in Munich at the end of July. Have you seen the pictures? Not only was the stadium full, the whole Olympic Park was full of people, some of whom had already set up their tents in the morning – many colleagues were there too. Or take Heidi Klum, who now appeals to masses across generations. Or Lukas Podolski. Joko and Klaas are also growing into this. There may not be as many cross-generational stars anymore, but they do exist. And isn’t it normal for every generation to have its own heroes? Our job is to meet the audience where they are. If for some that is no longer in front of the big TV screen, then on their mobile device. Live or on demand. Joyn makes it possible.
Which personalities do you think particularly represent the ProSieben program?
This may sound stupid, but this is how I feel: The ProSieben family is something special and makes ProSieben a special broadcaster. I feel very happy and honored that I can work with such great artists who, like me, have the red number seven in their hearts. And let me just take a look at our magazine teams: Annemarie Carpendale, Viviane Geppert, Rebecca Mir, Daniel Aminati, Christian Düren, Thore Schölermann for “taff”. And Funda Vanroy, Aiman Abdallah and Stefan Gödde for “Galileo”. They are rarely in the spotlight like this. But for a very long time they have been an absolute anchor of trust for our viewers in the daily program – and a very important pillar of ProSieben.
And who are the channel faces you want to build on in the future?
I rely a lot on everyone in the ProSieben family. The whole ensemble is important. If I look specifically at the next few weeks, I’m currently looking forward to more of “TV total” with Sebastian Pufpaff, to Katrin Bauerfeind’s first own ProSieben show, which I’ve already mentioned, and to our newest family member, Chris Tall. We’ve just filmed his first show, “Chris, can you do it?” – one of the tasks being “Chris, can you do it so that nobody laughs at your stand-up?” (laughs). You’ll be surprised to see whether he managed it. But it was definitely very funny. But of course one of the greatest shows we have cannot go unmentioned. Joko and Klaas with tamer Steven Gätjen in their show against us cannot be missed. Nor should Matthias Opdenhövel with his masked singers. And: Joko Winterscheidt asks the question again, “Who’s going to steal my show?” – Nina Chuba, Tommi Schmitt and Kurt Krömer will answer it.
ProSieben’s motto is “We love to entertain you”. At the same time, the station likes to experiment with journalistic formats. What does the mix have to look like for your target group? And what do you have in store for the coming season?
As I have already outlined, we see it as our responsibility not only to entertain our relatively young audience, but also to inform them about important social issues. And we do this with the reliable ProSieben style: surprising, curious and, of course, in prime time. Shortly before the US elections, for example, we are showing “ProSieben THEMA. Forrest Trump – America before the fateful election”. Thilo Mischke is filming the report for more than 40 days in the USA. Next week, “JENKE. Report. Brothel Germany” will be shown, a very strong film. What most people probably don’t know is that Germany has the most liberal prostitution laws in all of Europe.
As of 2022, ZDF viewers are on average 65 years old, while those of the first channel are one year younger. Only the ProSieben audience is under 50, namely an average of 44. Are ARD and ZDF still a competitor for you?
Let me put it this way: Even though we often have the edge when it comes to entertainment among younger viewers, 14- to 49-year-olds, once a year I too sit in front of ARD with friends and family for the ESC final.
The public broadcasters are under fire. Right-wing populists paint a picture of a state-supported parallel world. Does this mood benefit the private broadcasters? Or are things at stake here that also affect your own work?
When we look at the world, we can all be very happy and grateful that freedom of opinion and freedom of the press prevail in our country and that independent reporting is possible. This system is a valuable asset that we must protect. And public broadcasting plays an important role in this. The narrative of controlled media and fake news affects not only individual actors, but the media world as a whole. We therefore all have a duty to pay close attention to reporting cleanly and factually and to adhering to journalistic standards in order not to provide populists with arguments.
