Does Sky still have a future in Germany?

By Marlene Polywka | September 21, 2023, 6:03 p.m

Things aren’t going particularly well at Sky Deutschland at the moment. Channels are being discontinued and there are repeated rumors of a sale. We are taking this as an opportunity to talk about the future of the company in Germany.

Sky is closing individual channels

In and of itself, of course, it’s nothing unusual for Sky to change something about its channel offerings. New options are added – old ones are eliminated. However, a remarkable number of channels have been canceled in recent months.

At the end of last year 2022, the children’s channels “Junior” and “E! Entertainment”. At the beginning of 2023 it hit “NatGeo” and “NatGeo Wild”, in the summer “Spiegel Geschichte” and “Curiosity TV” – and now also “Sky Comedy”. According to Sky, there was a lack of interest from viewers. In all cases, Sky also refers to an existing offering, such as documentary or history content. Nevertheless, the accumulation of these cases seems to be noticeable at the moment, but definitely worth mentioning.

Streaming problem with HBO content

Another point that has been a mystery for some time is Sky’s streaming offering. This has no longer been running under Sky Ticket since June 2022. Instead, you can find films, series and sports on the streaming service Wow.

A big driving force is HBO content, especially award-winning series such as “Game of Thrones”, the spin-off “House of the Dragon”, “Euphoria” and “Succession”. In the USA, this content runs via HBO’s own streaming portal Max (formerly HBO Max and Discovery+). As of now, there are no plans to start the service in Germany. However, the company has not ruled out such plans.

The deal with Sky runs until 2025. It is not known whether Max will come to Germany by then, but it is considered quite likely. These rumors are currently being fueled by the planned “Harry Potter” series, which could most likely appear in 2025. There is hardly a more prominent driving force for a start in new countries.

Great competition in sports

For a long time, the big flagship of Sky was sport – especially football. In this country, the Champions League could be seen almost exclusively on the pay-TV provider. In this regard, the situation has clearly changed. If you want to watch football comprehensively, you need at least Sky/Wow and DAZN, and actually RTL+, Amazon Prime (video) and Magenta Sport.

The reason for this is that rights are becoming increasingly expensive and are also being split up by the relevant leagues and associations. They actually say that competition is good for business and in the end the customer benefits through lower prices. The opposite case can be observed in football. DAZN and Sky both had to increase their prices recently.

Although this promises to cushion the increased costs in the short term, in the long term it could lead to customers dropping out – including from Sky.

Sales of Sky Germany

After rumors of a sale of Sky arose at the end of 2022, there have been repeated reports about possible interested parties since then. The pay-TV provider currently belongs to the French company Comcast. In between, there was speculation as to whether 1&1 or ProSiebenSat.1 might buy the German business. So far nothing has come of these plans.

Another scenario is a breakup of the group. As already mentioned, Sky Deutschland’s business is diversified. Accordingly, it is not unlikely that Sky will be sold in individual parts. Rumor has it that ProSiebenSat.1 is particularly interested in the company’s streaming content. For other prospective buyers, however, the infrastructure or the pay-TV offering could also be of interest. Hardly anyone seems to be able – or willing – to buy the company as a whole. Either way, Sky Deutschland remains exciting.

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