Springer wants to part with over 30 print titles for ProSiebenSat1

For the takeover of ProSiebenSat1 Media AG, Springer is prepared to sell its five TV magazines with a circulation of 3.5 million copies. Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner has made a contractual commitment to do so if this is necessary for antitrust approval of the multi-million euro deal. Springer also put all family magazines, the financial title "Euro", the Berliner Wochenblatt and its holdings in the publishing houses Jahr Top Special, Family Media and Cora up for sale. Springer is also prepared to sell the Internet bookstore buecher.de and its shares in three local TV stations and six private radio stations. According to a statement from SDA, Springer is offering to divest itself of all cross-shareholdings with the Bertelsmann media group in order to dispel concerns about the TV advertising market and an emerging duopoly. In a letter from the press group to the Federal Cartel Office, which is available to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the main concern is to allay fears that Germany's largest press group could combine its newspapers, such as Bild, with TV programs following a takeover of the largest commercial TV station chain. As the SZ reports, Springer is responding to these fears of the Cartel Office and the media authority KEK with five commitments that are to be included in the broadcasting licenses for the TV programs. Four of the commitments deal with the fact that Bild will not be protected by television - or that there will be no "Bild TV". The fifth measure is that TV advertising time will be marketed separately from advertising and that there will be no cross-promotion. If newspapers and TV channels drew attention to each other and sold joint advertising, this could bring the Springer papers more advertising and readers. The Cartel Office intends to decide on the planned takeover on January 20, the media authority KEK on January 10.