Beginnings and major acquisition success • 1989 - EM.TV was founded by
Thomas Haffa. The name "EM.TV" stands for "Entertainment, Merchandising, TV." • 1996 - The company created
Junior, a company and TV channel that held licenses to most of the animated TV shows in the library of the
KirchGruppe, the Media Group of
Leo Kirch, where Thomas Haffa started his career. In 1997, EM.TV went public and started to expand in various businesses. In October 1997, EM.TV & Merchandising announced a production partnership with Australian animation studio
Yoram Gross-Village Roadshow the producer of
Blinky Bill to co-produce 10 of the Australian animation studio's animated series with EM.TV handling distribution and merchandising the 10 animated projects outside of Australia. Their successful partnership with them lead to EM.TV acquiring a 50% stake in the Australian animation studio Yoram Gross-Village Roadshow from both Australian company
Village Roadshow (when they exited the television production) two years later in March 1999 renaming it to Yoram Gross EM.TV as their own Australian animation studio with its founders Yoram and Sandra Gross retaining their 50% stake in the rebranded animation studio. In August 1999, EM.TV & Merchandising announced that they have taken a 25% stake in German
independent film production company
Constantin Film including the latter's 51% stake in Olga Film, marking their entry into the feature film business and increasing their family entertainment business. In September 1999, EM.TV & Merchandising entered a joint venture with Danish magazine publishing company
Egmont to launch a publishing subsidiary that could bring EM.TV's productions under one roof named Junior.Publishing. One week later in that same month of the same year, EM.TV announced that they have acquired a 49% stake in German production and distribution company
Tele München Gruppe (TMG) in order for the former to expand their children's entertainment library and its feature film activities. • 2000 - When EM.TV's
market capitalization was about €10 billion, the company acquired the
Jim Henson Company and 50% of
SLEC Ltd., the holding company of the famous
Formula One racing series. Because of an option to purchase another 25% of
SLEC Ltd. from
Bernie Ecclestone for 1 Billion EUR, EM.TV had problems funding the transaction via the capital markets. • Between late 2000, when the company reported incorrect quarterly results, and 2002, EM.TV's stock fell from its price of €120 EUR to
penny stock status. In February 2000, EM.TV enterted the American entertainment production industry by acquiring American entertainment company behind
The Muppets,
The Jim Henson Company, for $680 million. The acquisition had gained EM.TV its own American entertainment production subsidiary and further extending EM.TV's kids & family production operation as The Jim Henson Company became EM.TV own American production unit with EM.TV would handle distribution to future programming produced by the acquired American entertainment outfit The Jim Henson Company while president of The Jim Henson Company, Brian Henson, would remained chairman and gave up & handled the role of CEO to its president & CCO Charlie Rivkin. In March 2000, EM.TV & Merchandising purchased a 50% stake in Speed Promotions LTD. One month later in April of that year during the MIP-TV event, EM.TV & Merchandising expanded the Junior brand by announcing a joint venture production subsidiary with Spanish film & television production/distribution subsidiary of Spanish publishing company
Grupo Planeta,
Planeta 2010 (now DeAPlaneta), to handle distribution of EM.TV's children's programming including those from the former's Australian & American subsidiairies Yoram Gross-EM.TV and The Jim Henson Company in Spain and Portugal with EM.TV and Planeta forming a Madrid-based Spanish joint-venture home entertainment & distribution/production subsidiary entitled Planeta Junior, marking EM.TV's entry into the Spanish film & TV production industry. Their partnership would be extended one year later in March 2001, when EM.TV formed an animation co-production partnership with Spanish film & television studio unit of Spanish publishing company Grupo Planeta, Planeta 2010, under their joint-venture production subsidiary Planeta Junior to handle distribution to the then-upcoming shows from EM.TV such as
Old Tom (which was produced by its Australian studio Yoram Gross-EM.TV) for the Spanish and Portuguese territories.
Financial losses and restructuring In December 2000 when EM.TV & Merchandising suffered financial difficulties and its stock had been collapsed following their acquisitions, Bavaria-based German media company
Kirch Group (who co-owns a joint venture programming catalog with EM.TV called Junior.TV) announced the acquisition of a majority stake in EM.TV & Merchandising saving EM.TV from bankruptcy and it gave KirchGroup a second media distribution group. In that same month EM.TV & Merchandising alongside its American entertainment company The Jim Henson Company sold their rights to the
Sesame Street Muppets to American non-profit organisation
Sesame Workshop giving them full control of the Sesame Street Muppets. In March 2001 one year after EM.TV's acquisition of American entertainment company
The Jim Henson Company and following Kirch Group's acquisition back in February of that same year, EM.TV & Merchandising was planning to sell their American entertainment company The Jim Henson Company following the sale of the rights to the
Sesame Street Muppets to Sesame Workshop and EM.TV's major corporate restructure. In April 2001 one year after EM.TV acquisition of 50% in
Formula One holding company Speed Investments, EM.TV & Merchandising sold their 24.5% stake in Motorsports company and holding group of
Formula One Speed Investments to EM.TV's parent Kirch Group In June 2001, EM.TV & Merchandising exited the internet operations and announced that they have shut down their website Junior-Web, sold their internet activities division EM Interactive to German media fund Victory Media Group and had it renamed along with Junior-Web to InteractiveMedia with former banker Peter Kolb managing the renamed division as EM.TV will licence the Junior brand to them. A month later in late-July 2001 after EM.TV had brought The Jim Henson Company back in February 2000, EM.TV and their American entertainment subsidiary The Jim Henson Company sold the latter's 8% minority stake in
Crown Media Holdings including their channel
Odyssey Network to its investor Hallmark Entertainment and rebranded it to Hallmark Channel with EM.TV and their American entertainment subsidiary The Jim Henson Company striking a deal with Crown Media to license series from EM.TV's own library including their Henson library. • 2001 - In September, Werner Klatten, the former CEO of
Sat.1, became the new CEO of EM.TV. He restructured the company, announced that he would sell: SLEC holding (via Gerhard Gribkowsky); Jim Henson Company; and TMG; and directed the purchase of
DSF, a German sports TV station. During the restructuring, the bondholders of a 1999-issued €400 million bond got nearly 60% in company stock in exchange for their bonds. In November 2001 two years after EM.TV & Denmark-based Egmont jointly established Junior.Publishing, EM.TV announced their exiting of the publishing business by selling its 50% of their joint venture children's publishing company Junior.Publishing to Egmont Group giving Egmont full control of Junior.Publishing renaming it to Egmont Publishing so that EM.TV would focus on their core entertainment business. In May 2003, EM.TV announced that they have sold their American entertainment company
The Jim Henson Company, the then-owner behind
The Muppets and
Kermit the Frog, back to the Henson family for $78 million bringing back ownership of The Jim Henson Company to the hands of Henson family once more. On January 26, 2004, EM.TV who had acquired a 50% in Kirch Group's children's programming library under EM.TV's joint venture children entertainment brand wirh KirchMedia, Junior, five years ago back in 1999 announced their planning to take full control of their joint venture programming library unit Junior.TV which they co-owned with KirchMedia with the former planning to acquire KirchMedia's remaining 50% of their joint venture programming catalogue unit Junior.TV. Seven months later in July of that year, EM.TV announced their completion of their remaining 50% stake of their joint-venture programming catalogue unit Junior.TV from its co-owner KirchMedia which it had entered bankruptcy that year bringing an end to EM.TV's partnership with Kirch with Junior.TV's programming library being placed under EM.TV's entertainment division. At the start of November 2004, EM.TV created two subsidiaries, EM.Entertainment and EM.Sport. In January 2006 seven years after EM.TV & Merchandising's acquisition of 50% of Australian animation studio Yoram Gross EM.TV along with their successful partnership with Australian producer Yoram Gross through EM.'s division EM.Entertainment, EM.TV & Merchandising under their entertainment division EM.Entertainment announced their full acquisition of the remaining 50% stake of Australian entertainment and animation studio joint venture Yoram Gross EM.TV from its founders Yoram Gross and his wife Sandra Gross giving EM. Entertainment full control of the Australian animation and production group. In October 2006 following their acquisition of the remaining 50% stake ten months before, Yoram Gross-EM.TV announced a restructuring and re-branding of the company under its current name to
Flying Bark Productions with the rebranded company planning to expand their portfolio into the adult-animated and children's genre alongside their distribution division Yoram Gross Distribution which was also renamed to Flying Bark Distribution like their renamed company under EM.Entertainment. In September 2006, EM.TV under its kids & family unit EM.Entertainment entered a agreement with British music & childrens group
Chart Show Channels to broadcast EM.Entertainment's programming catalogue including those from Flying Bark on CSC's two children's TV channels
Pop and
Tiny Pop • 2007 - The company purchased a stake in the Swiss media company
Highlight Communications AG, which in 2008 was increased gradually to 47.3%. On 29 March 2007, EM.TV under its kids & family entertainment arm EM.Entertainment signed a distribution agreement with British international network group
Sparrowhawk Media Group to merge its distribution sales arm Sparrowhawk Distribution with EM.Entertainment's distribution activities. In May 2007, EM.TV announced that they are planning to exit the children's entertainment business and to sell their children's division EM.Entertainment GmbH including their Australian entertainment & animation production studio
Flying Bark Productions, its distribution library including Yoram Gross' animated productions such as
Blinky Bill, the library of Japanese animation studio
Zuiyo and its classic catalogue such as
Maya the Bee and
Vic the Viking and their German television channel
Junior. In late-June 2007, EM.TV & Merchandising On February 26, 2008, one year after EM.TV & Merchandising changed its name to EM.Sport Media AG and three months before EM.Sport Media AG sold their entertainment division EM.Entertainment GmbH along with its library, EM.Sport Media AG under its entertainment production division EM.Entertainment established a distribution partnership with Belgian production company Studio 100 through the latter's Munich-based German international distribution division Studio 100 Media (now Studio 100 International) to distribute EM.Sport Media's entertainment portfolio including their classics such as
Maya the Bee and
Vic the Viking on TV, home entertainment and VOD platforms internationally excluding US, Germany, Australia, New Zealand. In May 2008, Indian media congolomete
Zee Telefilms entered a bid to acquire EM.Sport Media AG's kids & family entertainment division EM.Entertainment GmbH and its programming library including its Australian animation production studio Flying Bark Productions, its German TV channel Junior and its classic catalogue for $100 million. However on the 30th of that month following EM.Sport Media AG through their entertainment division EM.Entertainment GmbH's successful distribution partnership with Belgian production company Studio 100 via its German international distribution division Studio 100 Media three months before, EM.Sport Media AG announced that they have exited the children's entertainment and animation business and had sold their children's entertainment division EM.Entertainment GmBH alongside their Australian entertainment & animation studio Flying Bark Productions, their German television channel Junior and their distribution library including Yoram Gross' animated productions such as
Blinky Bill, the library of Japanese animation studio
Zuiyo and its classic catalogue such as
Maya the Bee and
Vic the Viking to Belgian children's production company
Studio 100 for €41 million in order for EM.Sport Media to focus on their expanded sport activities with Studio 100 taking over EM.Entertainment's Australian entertainment & animation studio as their own Australian in-house animation studio outside of Belgium and had EM.Entertainment's library under the latter's own distribution arm Studio 100 Media with Studio 100 will launch new adaptations of the two classic shows. In April 2009 following EM.Sport Media AG's merger with Swiss media giant Highlight Communications the parent company of German film distributor
Constantin Film, EM.Sport Media AG announced their rebranding of its name to Constantin Medien AG which was named after Constantin Film to reflect its expansion of the group's activities. On February 13, 2018, a takeover by Highlight Communications AG was completed. On September 26, 2019, the company was delisted from the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange. At the Annual General Meeting 2019, the change of name to Sport1 Medien AG was resolved. The change was entered in the Commercial Register of the City of Munich (HRB 148 760) on January 2, 2020, and thus became effective. The change of name is also accompanied by a change in the company's purpose, which was also resolved by the Annual General Meeting in July last year and is now more strongly aligned to the company's activities in the digital sector. On February 23, 2024,
Acun Medya acquired 50% of subsidiary Sport1 GmbH. ==Assets==