In an effort to retain advertisers and slow the advance of Google and Facebook, European broadcasters are setting aside traditional rivalries to forge alliances that offer wider reach for ads and Internet-style data about audiences.
Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE has joined forces to sell digital-video ads with Television Francaise 1 SA and Italy’s Mediaset SpA. In France, SFR Group SA and Metropole Television SA’s M6 have teamed up with publishers and ecommerce sites. And in Britain, rival pay-TV operators Sky Plc and Virgin Media are combining information on customers to offer advertisers more insight into viewers and give them better-targeted ads.