10 Global TV Stories That Should You Know: 05/15/2025

Here are the stories that should be on your radar

Here are the global TV and streaming television stories that should be on your radar for Thursday, May 15th, 2025:

ProSiebenSat.1 Media Sees Q1 Profits Dive 39% As “Very Cyclically Sensitive” TV Ad Market Bites (Deadline)
ProSiebenSat.1 Media has posted adjusted EBITDA down 39%, as the linear TV advertising market bit, though streamer Joyn achieved its best quarter to date. The Germany-based TV giant posted adjusted earnings of €44M ($49.2M), which was attributed to “the highly profitable but also very cyclically sensitive linear TV advertising business.” Revenue was stable at €855M, down 1% year-on-year.

JioHotstar Leads India’s SVOD Market With 26% Share In Q1 2025 (MediaNews4U)
This marks a significant milestone, as JioHotstar edges past Amazon Prime Video, which secured 24%, and Netflix, which came in third with 17%. Apple TV+ maintained a respectable 12%, while regional favorites like ZEE5 (11%) and Sony LIV (3%) held their ground in a highly competitive space. Smaller platforms accounted for the remaining 7% of market interest.

RTL Group “On Track For Streaming Profitability” (Advanced-Television)
RTL Group has reported that Q1 revenue was down 2 per cent to €1.2 billion mainly attributed to lower content revenue from Fremantle and lower TV advertising revenue, partly offset by higher streaming revenue. Group revenue was down 5.6 per cent organically. RTL Group’s total advertising revenue remained stable at €685 million.

ITV Reports Solid Q1 Performance With $1 Billion Revenues, Expects No Direct Tariff Impact (Variety)
The U.K. media giant noted in its Q1 trading update that while it “continues to assess the possibility of trade tariffs in the U.S.,” ITV Studios “only produces TV programming and therefore do not anticipate any direct impact from the imposition of tariffs on films.”

Report: 52% Of UK CTV Viewers Prefer Streaming (Advanced-Television)
LG Ad Solutions has published its research report, The Big Shift 2025: UK Edition, uncovering a major evolution in how viewers engage with their connected TVs. The study shows that the TV is no longer just a screen for passive viewing – it’s becoming the central interface for everything from content discovery to shopping and live event streaming.

Fremantle’s Q1 Revenue Drops 5.6% Due To “Budget Cuts” At Networks & Streamers (Deadline)
Fremantle's first quarter revenue fell 5.6% as the Got Talent maker’s parent RTL blamed “budget cuts at broadcasters and streamers.” Sales were down to €373M ($418M) in the three months to March this year. The figure for the same period in 2024 was €395M. The falls were partially offset by the acquisition of France-based Asacha Media Group, which added the likes of Death in Paradise producer Red Planet, Arrow Media and Italy’s Stand By Me into the Fremantle fold.

Telemundo & Globo Align For Co-Pro Deal (World Screen)
Telemundo Studios and Globo have inked an agreement to develop and co-produce premium scripted content. Under the memorandum of understanding, Telemundo and Globo will work together on original films and series. They will be rolled out as Globoplay originals in Brazil and across Telemundo’s broadcast and streaming platforms in the U.S.

Fifth Season’s New Global TV Sales Boss On How ‘Severance’ Could Become “The Foundation Of The Library” In The Future (Deadline)
Severance, Apple TV+’s most-watched series launch of all time, could become “the foundation” of Fifth Season's library in the future, according to the studio’s new global TV sales boss. Despite the show currently being available on Apple globally and with at least one more season to come, Jennifer Ebell said there is plenty opportunity to monetize Severance both now and further down the line, while the smash sci-fi thriller is a perpetual reputation builder for Fifth Season.

Prime Video Renews 'Last One Laughing UK' For Second Season (AllYourScreens.com)
It is a format that has proven popular across the globe, with Prime Video having localized versions in South Africa (hosted by Trevor Noah), Australia (hosted by Rebel Wilson), Mexico (hosted by Eugenio Derbez), Germany (hosted by Michael “Bully” Herbig), and Ireland (hosted by Graham Norton).

NLconnect Closes Deal With Viaplay Securing Linear Channel For Smaller Operators (Broadband TV News)
Trade association NLconnect has closed a deal with Viaplay on behalf of the smaller providers in its membership. It means the linear channel Viaplay TV will be available to the providers from the weekend in time for the Imola Grand Prix. The motor sport continues to be a big draw in the Netherlands, thanks to the popularity of driver Max Verstappen.