1989

January 1

ProSieben Television GmbH begins broadcasting with nine hours of programming. The station initially has a staff of 70 and a potential reach of 2.44 million households using cable TV.

October 1

ProSieben is on the air 17 hours a day, and is the first station to offer the “thousand contact” price guarantee.

December 8

A new era in television broadcasting begins: ProSieben and Sat.1, along with RTL plus, are broadcast for the first time via the ASTRA 1A satellite. Now only a small amount of equipment is needed to pick up the stations anywhere in Western and Central Europe. Private stations with strong attractions to the public make a significant contribution to the commercial success of ASTRA satellites. Alongside cable reception, direct satellite reception offers an attractive expansion of programming variety, and quickly becomes one of the most popular transmission media, especially in the new German states.

1990

March 1

ProSieben moves from Schwabing to Unterföhring. The staff grows to 120.

July

Sat.1 achieves a technical reach in the double-digit millions for the first time. The measurement for July 1990 is 12.23 million potential viewers, or 51 percent of all households using television.

July 15

The new ProSieben studio in Unterföhring is completed.

October 1

ProSieben becomes the first German station to broadcast around the clock.

1991

February 1

Wholly-owned ProSieben subsidiary Teledirekt GmbH is founded to promote the spread of the latest satellite technology in Germany.

September

The Sat.1 broadcasting center on Lerchenberg near Mainz is dedicated. The station’s new address is Otto-Schott-Strasse, in the immediate neighborhood of public broadcaster ZDF. Additional locations – aside from sales offices and regional bureaus – are in Hamburg and Berlin.

1992

February 29

Special-interest entertainment station DER KABELKANAL goes on the air. ProSieben owns a 45 percent stake.

July 1

MGM MediaGruppe München is founded. It sells advertising time on ProSieben and DER KABELKANAL.

August 14

As of the beginning of the 1992-93 season, Sat.1 acquires the rights of first use for soccer games played by the First Bundesliga. Starting August 14, "ran-Sat.1-BUNDESLIGA" provides in-depth coverage of every match of the day.

1993

September 24

SZM Studios, one of the most up-to-date broadcasting centers in Europe, is dedicated. It produces programming for ProSieben and DER KABELKANAL.

December 10

The feature film “Home Alone” on Sat.1 sets a ratings record for private television: 12.41 million viewers over age three. The record will stand until the end of May 1995.

December 31

In fiscal 1993 ProSieben gets into the black for the first time.

1994

November

In November 1994, Sat.1 presents the first crime series with a four-legged hero. The unusual casting choice can be ascribed to chance, or perhaps to a bottle of wine. The writers, momentarily at a loss to define a character for the lead’s assistant, decide that they’ll base the character on the next person to come through the door. Moments later, in comes the neighbor’s German shepherd to pick up his daily wurst. The rest is history: the German shepherd Reginald von Ravenhorst is so persuasive as the assistant to Vienna police investigator Richie Moser and his successor Andreas Brandtner that "Rex" becomes one of the most successful crime series on German television.

December 24

A station gets a new name for Christmas: as of Christmas Eve 1994, DER KABELKANAL is renamed Kabel 1.

December 31

ProSieben revenues reach DM 1.192 billion, passing the billion-mark milestone for the first time. Earnings before taxes are DM 144 million. The ProSieben Group starts doing business in new media with the launch of the ProSieben Text teletext service.

1995

January 1

Sat.1 enters the merchandising business on January 1, with the foundation of its New Business Development (NBD) department.

April 18

The ProSieben Club is founded. Within six years it has attracted more than 250,000 members.

November 2

Kabel 1 becomes a wholly-owned ProSieben subsidiary.

December 5

Sat.1 launches the "Harald Schmidt Show," thus creating the first late-night talk show in Germany. A pioneering event in the local television industry, leading to a permanent change in the German TV entertainment environment, and ushering in a golden age of TV comedy.

December 19

ProSieben Television GmbH changes legal form, becoming a stock company. Its first CEO is Dr. Georg Kofler.

1996

January

At the beginning of January, REWE-Handelsgruppe becomes a ProSieben shareholder, acquiring 40 percent of the Company’s original capital stock. On January 26, REWE CEO Hans Reischl is elected Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Thomas Kirch becomes Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board.

January 29

The Berlin-Brandenburg Media Agency grants ProSieben a license to broadcast nationwide.

March 19

ProSieben expands its merchandising activities by taking over Agentur für Urhebernebenrechte GmbH Merchandising München KG and AT&TV Merchandising Concepts GmbH as wholly-owned subsidiaries.

April 4

The ProSieben Group launches its first Web site. At www.pro-sieben.de, users find the most extensive site of any German television broadcaster to date.

July 30

ProSieben Television AG is renamed ProSieben Media AG in acknowledgement of its expansion into a broad-based media company.

September

September 1996 sees the online launch of www.Sat1.de. The Sat.1 Web site quickly becomes one of the most successful TV sites on the Internet. Its goal is to extend the Sat.1 family of brands further in the entertainment and infotainment sectors.

December 31

ProSieben Group revenues grow 15 percent to reach DM 1.69 billion. Group income before taxes climbs 59 percent to DM 177.6 million.