Quickly after saying plans to chop 400 roles, European big ProSiebenSat.1 Media has seen income plunge 49% and revenues fall.

The Germany-based broadcaster reported second Quarter adjusted EBITDA of €79M ($86.2M), in contrast with the €155M posted in the identical section final yr. Adjusted web earnings (which excludes capital construction and tax preparations) was even worse, falling from €64M in 2022 to only €4M, down practically 94%. With out the adjustment, ProSieben recorded a €56M loss.

Revenues had been down 17%, from €1.04B to €868M.

Europe’s massive media teams are feeling the identical pinch as their U.S. counterparts, with ad-reliant industrial TV networks among the many worst hit. ProSieben, which is the center of a redundancy course of geared toward reshaping the corporate right into a digital-first operation, blamed its Q2 outcomes on “continuing economic weakness” within the German-speaking area, results of consolidation and the Advert Market.

“The TV advertising business in particular continued to be affected by ongoing consumer restraint in the second quarter, albeit to a somewhat lesser extent than in the first quarter,” stated ProSieben, because it positioned the outcomes as in step with expectations. 

The group is anticipating some mild within the second quarter of the yr, with “an improved economic development” offering “corresponding positive effects” for the German-speaking TV advert market (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) compared with final yr.

Like its industrial TV kin, ProSieben can also be pushing closely into digital, primarily via its streamer Joyn. It posted digital and sensible promoting revenues up 5%.

ProSieben’s leisure division, which homes its channels and manufacturing enterprise, posted exterior revenues down 21% to €592M. Apart from the advert market dips, ProSieben famous the U.S. arm of Purple Arrow Studios had final yr added €75M within the second quarter — money that now not is available in following the sale of the unit to Peter Chernin’s North Street.

“As expected, the second quarter continued to be characterized by a weak TV advertising market,” stated ProSiebenSat.1 Media CEO Berrt Habets. “This as soon as once more underlines how essential it’s that we give attention to our digital enterprise at ProSiebenSat.1. We’re clearly aligning our group and processes to our digital transformation.

“We are already seeing the first positive results here with our streaming platform Joyn: The launch in Austria was successful, advertising revenues on the platform are growing and video view time increased by 6% to 6.5 billion minutes watched in the second quarter. We are consistently pursuing this path, combined with our strong focus on costs and efficiency. With the organizational and strategic realignment now initiated, we are creating the basis for consistently implementing our growth strategy.”