Germany’s ProSieben sells US arm of Studio71 as it refocuses on DACH region

Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 Media has sold the US division of its creator business, Studio71, to LA-based creator studio and talent agency Fixated.

Marco Giordani

ProSiebenSat.1 will continue to own the part of Studio71 operating in the DACH region, which comprises Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The German media giant, which underwent a major management and ownership overhaul last year, said the sale is part of its strategy to focus more squarely on the entertainment business in the German-speaking region.

The move also comes just over two years after it terminated all of its US output licensing agreements, instead opting to focus on local programming and picking up American fare on a more selective basis.

The American arm of Studio71 was founded in 2011 as Collective Digital Studio (CDS). In 2014, ProSiebenSat.1 bought a 20% stake in CDS, and the following year increased that to 75% with an US$83m investment. At the time, it also folded CDS into Studio71, which was at the time an in-house multi-channel network.

According to ProSiebenSat.1, the US part of the business, which includes a stable of creators and a podcast network, generated revenue of €246m (US$289m) in fiscal 2025.

Fixated’s acquisition was supported by American investment firm Eldridge Industries, which is one of the company’s existing backers.

Six months ago, ProSiebenSat.1 overhauled its senior team, with Marco Giordani succeeding Bert Habets as CEO, Bob Rajan being appointed interim chief financial officer and Markus Breitenecker stepping down as chief operating officer.

Those moves came a month after the German company was taken over by Italian media giant MediaForEurope, which increased its stake to 75.61%.