SBS Broadcasting Group (SBS), formerly Scandinavian Broadcasting Systems, was a European multinational media group, operating commercial television, premium pay channels, radio stations and related print businesses in Northern, Western and Central and Eastern Europe. It became the second-largest broadcaster in Europe.

History

SBS was founded by Harry E. Sloan in 1989, who bought a stake in the Danish station Kanal 2 (a local station in Copenhagen, now

Kanal 4 Kanal 4 (''Channel 4'') is a Danish subscription television channel operated by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery It was launched in 2006 as the successor of the former TvDanmark. Its predecessor TvDanmark was l ...

) and Norwegian

TVNorge TVNorge (literally "TVNorway"; originally abbreviated TVN, now just abbreviated N in the logos) is a Norwegian television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA. History TVNorge went on the air on 5 December 1988 and was the first adver ...

. In 1991, Sloan bought the Swedish Nordic Channel, which was soon renamed Kanal 5 and became the third largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company was originally known as "TV1", but was renamed "Scandinavian Broadcasting Systems" in 1991. After expanding into Benelux and Eastern Europe, the name was changed again, this time to SBS. By July 1994, the time of the CC/ABC-Disney merger,

Capital Cities/ABC Capital Cities/ABC Inc. was an American media company. It was founded in 1985 when Capital Cities Communications purchased the much larger American Broadcasting Company. It eventually proposed a merger of equals with The Walt Disney Company and ...

owned 23% of SBS. In March 2005, SBS acquired

C More Entertainment C More Entertainment AB is a pay television company that previously operated as Canal+. It targets Nordic countries and has a separate channel in Sweden (C More Film). The main competitors of C More Entertainment are Viasat Film and Viasat Sp ...

, a Nordic

pay tv Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

provider operating under the

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

brand. In that year, SBS was bought by the equity firms

Permira Permira is a global investment firm. Founded in 1985, the firm advises funds with assets under management of €60+ billion. The Permira funds have made approximately 300 private equity investments in four key sectors: Technology, Consumer, Ser ...

and

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...

(KKR). Telegraaf Media Groep of the Netherlands was also a shareholder in SBS, with a 20% equity interest. Permira and KKR also bought the German broadcaster

ProSiebenSat.1 Media ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE (officially abbreviated as P7S1, formerly ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG) is a German mass media & digital company. It operates in three segments: Entertainment, Dating and Commerce & Ventures. The company is listed on the Fran ...

in early 2007, and on 27 June 2007 it was announced that ProSiebenSat.1 Media acquired the SBS Broadcasting group for 3.3 billion euros from the joint owners. ProSiebenSat.1 Media became the second largest broadcaster of Europe with 48 TV stations. Starting in 2011, ProSiebenSat.1 Media started to sell its non-German properties. The Dutch operations have been bought by

Sanoma Sanoma Corporation (, formerly SanomaWSOY) is Finland's largest media group. The company has media business in Finland and a learning business in Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Norway and Spain, among others. The company is headquarte ...

and Talpa Media Holding on 20 April 2011. In the end of 2011 ProSiebenSat.1 Group has sold its Bulgarian radio stations as well as the music channel the Voice TV to A.E. Best Success Services Bulgaria EOOD. The transaction was closed on 10 November 2011. On 14 December 2012,

Discovery Communications Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Chan ...

bought the Nordic portion of SBS for $1.7 billion. The radio stations were later sold to

Bauer Media Group Heinrich Bauer Publishing (german: Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG), trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 r ...

. The Romanian TV and radio operations were bought by Romanian businessman Cristian Burci and Antenna Group in 2013.

Former operations

This section lists former channels and publications until the company's acquisition in 2007.

Television

Belgium * VT4 (now Play4) * VIJFtv (now Play5) Bulgaria * The Voice (Bulgaria) Denmark *

* Kanal 5 *

SBS NET 6'eren is a Danish subscription television channel operated by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA. It replaced SBS Net on 1 January 2009. The channel's target audience is males, branding itself with the slogan "Denmark's got a new TV Channel - and it' ...

(now 6'eren) * The Voice TV Denmark (later 7'eren, now defunct) Finland *

Kutonen Kutonen or VI divisioona is the seventh level in the Finnish football league system and comprises 265 teams. The VI divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kutonen (''Number Six'' in English and ''Sexan'' in ...

* TV5 Italy * Rete Mia (defunct, joint ownership with Internova, Profit, and Videopiù, 1997–1999) Hungary * TV2 Macedonia * Sitel *Sitel 2 * Sitel 3 * Kanal 5 * Kanal 5 plus Netherlands *

SBS6 SBS6 is a Dutch free-to-air, free-to-cable commercial television channel, TV channel and is a part of Talpa TV, formerly known as SBS Broadcasting B.V. and now owned by Talpa Network. Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are Net5, Vero ...

Net5 Net5 is a Dutch free-to-cable commercial TV channel and is part of Talpa TV, formerly a part of SBS Broadcasting B.V. and now owned by Talpa Network. Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are SBS6, Veronica, and SBS9. It is aimed ...

* Veronica *

SBS9 SBS9 is a Dutch commercial television channel owned by Talpa Network through Talpa TV. The channel was launched on 1 January 2015 at 12:00 CET with a movie marathon. The channel can be received via all television providers in the Netherlands. ...

*Kijk.nl (web only) Norway *

The Voice TV Norway The Voice TV was a Norwegian-language television channel operated by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG that mostly broadcast music. It was launched in 2004, its sister channels in Sweden, Finland and Denmark launching the same year. In 2005, the channel in ...

(web only) * FEM * MAX * VOX Romania *

Prima TV Prima TV () is a Romanian commercial TV channel, famous mainly for the '' Cronica Cârcotaşilor'' show and various reality shows aired on this channel. Overview Prima TV was launched as one of the first commercial television stations in Roman ...

(also broadcast by cable in Moldova) *

Kiss TV Kiss TV is a commercial hip-hop and dance music television channel owned by Channel Four Television , with permission to use the Kiss brand from Bauer Media Audio UK. The playlist predominantly consists of old skool and mainstream hip-hop, ...

(known as ''TV K Lumea'' before November 2006, now owned by Antenna Group) Portugal * TVI (1996–1999) Sweden Kanal5-byggnaden - 2008-04-14 (gabbe)

* Kanal 5 *

Kanal 9 Kanal 9 (''Channel 9'') is a Swedish free-to-air television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It targets the 25-59 age group, which is a slightly older age group than the sister channel Kanal 5. The channel launched on 25 February 2007. ...

* Kanal 11 * The Voice TV Sweden (music, defunct) Switzerland * TV3 (Switzerland) (defunct, joint ownership with

Tamedia TX Group AG (formerly Tamedia AG) is a media company headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Through a portfolio of daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, as well as own printing facilities, it is the largest media group in ...

, 1999–2001)

Radio stations

Denmark *

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

*POP FM *NOVA FM Greece *Lampsi 92.3 FM (now owned by Attica Editions) Norway * Radio 1 *

* Radio Norge (previously known as Kanal 24) Romania *

Kiss FM Kiss FM, Kiss Radio or variants may refer to: Asia-Oceania * Various Kiss FM-branded stations in the Philippines ** 95.1 Kiss FM, Lucena, Quezon ** 102.3 Kiss FM, Tagbilaran, Bohol * Kiss92 FM, Singapore * KISS 969, Sri Lanka * Kiss Radio Taiwan ...

(previously known as Radio Contact, available in Moldova with local insertions) *Magic FM *One FM *Rock FM Sweden * Mix Megapol * Rockklassiker *

*Radio 107.5 * Vinyl 107

Print

* Veronica (TV/Radio guide)

References