Advertising space on MagentaTV almost fully booked for EURO 2024

In an interview with SPORT.MEDIA.NET GmbH, Dr. Jörg Richartz, Vice President Marketing & Control TV Deutsche Telekom, gives an overview of the status of advertising bookings on MagentaTV for EURO 2024.

Dr. Richartz, EURO 2024 is getting closer, also for MagentaTV. You recently gave an ad sales presentation to advertising customers about the opportunities to be present on MagentaTV during the home European Championships. The group draw for the finals has now also taken place. What is the current situation?

Our advertising scheme on MagentaTV for EURO 2024 has been well received. We have received many enquiries and have already sold 4 of 6 special route positions to well-known advertisers before the draw. In addition to the classic advertising breaks (pre-run, half-time, post-run), we can currently offer a pre-split in the pre-run and a golden break directly after the final whistle of the 2nd half, each with 30 seconds. Following the group draw and the announcement of specific kick-off times by UEFA, we now also expect increased demand for the classic commercial breaks. This is because around half of the advertising bookings for specific European Championship live matches are only possible with us, as the public broadcasters are unable to offer these due to the time of day or at weekends. This already applies to the opening match against Scotland and the decisive group match against Switzerland. Customers who want to advertise during these matches can only do so on MagentaTV.

Apart from this unique selling point, what are advertising customers currently most interested in?

We have already received many enquiries about possible minimum booking volumes, special groups, finals and teams such as the German team. In general, we want to minimise the number of advertising messages on MagentaTV during the EURO. We limit ourselves to three advertising blocks per match with a length of 180 - max. 240 seconds. In other words, "premium space for premium customers". We don't want our advertising customers to get lost in a mass of advertising messages. Following UEFA's announcement, customers will now receive a specific switch-on schedule with the European Championship matches. Advertisers can then express their ideas and media planning, which we will of course take into account as far as possible. Speed will be of the essence, as demand is high.

At the ad sales presentation, you already indicated that MagentaTV offers advertisers a range of high-quality framework conditions. What exactly are these?

Firstly, we guarantee a gross reach of 37.2 million viewers for 51 matches. We are also the only provider to show all 51 EURO 2024 matches, which is another unique selling point. We also offer our booking customers free compensation in the event of any under-delivery of the coverage forecast. We are very agile in this respect and can react and adjust the media plan in consultation with our customers even during the tournament. Of course, our customers also receive transparent reports during the European Championships. The advertising integrations are labelled and the reach of a spot is shown precisely. At the end of the EURO, we also create customised heat maps for the nationwide distribution of our viewers in the final reporting. We have the option of selecting the number of unique users (net reach) from the total reach and allocating them precisely to the adverts of the Euro campaign on MagentaTV. This is another unique selling point, as the AGF audiance measurement, for example, does not offer this. If the reach is higher than expected, our advertising customers will of course not be charged extra. At the last World Cup in Qatar, we exceeded our reach target by 38%. Our booking customers benefited considerably from this at the time.

Most recently the Basketball World Cup 2023, before that the Football World Cup 2022 and other major sporting events, now the EURO 2024: Is MagentaTV still indispensable in the world of premium sports rights?

We have a lot of experience with such top rights and exclusive sports highlights. The Basketball World Cup was just one more example of this. Premium rights in the sports segment are the centrepiece of our offering. And with MagentaTV in particular, we experience an exceptionally high level of loyalty to the product. We see this particularly among our existing advertising customers, who achieve their communication goals with MagentaTV / MagentaSport and initiate follow-up bookings. B2C customers who pay for content have specifically opted for it and recognise the special benefits for themselves. We also have a slight surplus of men in relation to the overall population and score points with the "affluent audience". Our overall offering is very coherent for advertisers. This is also reflected in the advertising market.

Of course, footballing Germany is hoping for a successful tournament for our team. For you and the advertisers, what are the other factors for a successful EURO 2024?

A good performance by the German team certainly contributes to the success of a European Championship on home soil, but that is by no means everything. We are expecting many fans from abroad to attend next year. We want to create a summer fairytale 2.0 with a unique experience for our guests, who will also meet digitally. They will follow the EURO with us via all distribution channels and share their impressions. In short: Deutsche Telekom and MagentaTV will contribute to making the EURO an unforgettable experience. And with these arguments, we have met with approval from media agencies and advertisers.

VIDEOSTREAM OF THE EVENT 'EURO 2024' IN THE ALLIANZ ARENA MUNICH (FULL LENGTH)