Ad Alliance

Screenforce Festival: RTL Shines, Seven.One's Pufpaff, TV Wins

The Screenforce Festival returned after a year as a showcase for German broadcasters and sales houses to present programming and advertising propositions to advertisers and agencies. Six media sellers ran screenings — AdAlliance (RTL Deutschland), Seven.One Media (ProSiebenSat.1), newcomer El Cartel Brothers (representing Warner Bros. Discovery and RTLzwei), Disney Advertising, Visoon (Welt/Paramount) and ARD Media. RTL Deutschland's combined group made the biggest impression following the Sky Deutschland acquisition, while Seven.One's screening featured comedian Sebastian Pufpaff lampooning ad spots. Disney Advertising and ARD Media surprised with more personable presentations. Across presentations, the market emphasised tried-and-tested formats — notably more reality programming and live sports — and the report concludes that linear TV remains a strong, relevant advertising medium in Germany.

RTL and Sky Unite to Build German Media Champion

The Screenforce Festival 2026 in Düsseldorf (Mitsubishi Electric Halle) brought together major German TV and streaming sales houses and broadcasters, attracting about 2,000 guests from agencies, advertisers and media companies. Participants included RTL (presenting jointly with Sky after the takeover), SevenOne Media (ProSiebenSat.1), ARD Media, the newly formed El Cartel Brothers (fusioned with Warner Bros. Discovery), Visoon (marketing Paramount and Welt) and Disney Advertising; ZDF was absent. RTL/Sky used the event to showcase a wide program slate and new sports rights orchestration — including extensive live Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, national team matches and full NFL rights (with Sky launching a linear Sky Sport NFL channel). The festival featured premieres, programming announcements across multiple groups and entertainment showmanship, underlining continued consolidation in the German TV/streaming market and its implications for ad inventory and monetisation strategies.

ARD Media's Ralf Hape: ARD Is Sexier Than You Think

Ralf Hape, managing director of advertising seller ARD Media, tells DWDL.de he has advanced a reorganisation since joining from Sky Media and wants ARD Media to present a bolder commercial profile at the upcoming Screenforce Festival. Hape argues ARD’s brands and combined reach (linear TV, streaming, audio) are undervalued by the market and wants to prepare the organisation for future digital monetisation—notably ARD Mediathek and ARD Sounds, which currently face advertising restrictions. He describes internal restructuring, some job cuts, and a push for simpler, convergent TV+audio booking options. Hape also flags openness to closer cooperation with ZDF Werbefernsehen and continued use of partnerships and mandate business while digital monetisation remains legally and politically constrained.