Premiere wants to secure Sat.1

 The pay-TV broadcaster Premiere wants to buy Sat.1 and thus enter the free-to-air television market. Premiere CEO Michael Börnicke believes that the Berlin-based broadcaster would be an ideal fit for his company, as the German Handelsblatt reported on Monday. By purchasing a channel like Sat.1, he could benefit from volume advantages in the purchase of film and sports rights. However, there are no concrete talks about these purchase intentions. At Pro Sieben Sat.1, the parent company of Sat.1, there is no mention of this: "A sale of Sat.1 is out of the question," a spokeswoman for the broadcasting group told the German Handelsblatt newspaper. "There are no intentions whatsoever to sell a station. Not even Sat.1." However, Sat.1 is a problem child of the parent company due to poor business figures and weak viewing figures.
Incidentally, Premiere could receive support for its takeover plans from new major shareholder and media zampano Rupert Murdoch. His holding company News Corp. recently increased its share package to 22.7 percent.