In a European advertising market that continues to move with the brakes on, MFE-MEDIAFOREUROPE closes the first half of 2026 with significantly improving profitability and with the first concrete effects of the group’s new international dimension. The Board of Directors approved the results of the first six months of the year, in which ProSiebenSat.1 fully enters the scope of consolidation, making the company led by Pier Silvio Berlusconi an increasingly European group not only on paper, but also in numbers.
The data that emerges most forcefully is that of the adjusted operating result, which rose to 145.7 million euroswith an improvement of 153 million compared to the negative Pro Forma figure of 7.3 million recorded in the same period of 2025. The adjusted net result also grew significantly, reaching 50.5 million euroscompared to 6.9 million in the first half of last year on a Pro Forma basis.
Consolidated revenues, however, amounted to 2.951 billion euroscompared to the 3.142 billion Pro Forma of the first half of 2025, a decline that the group attributes above all to the weakness of the advertising market in the countries in which it operates, the impact of the FIFA World Cup and changes in the scope of the Commerce & Dating segment. It is therefore precisely the contrast between the pressure on revenues and the improvement in profitability that tells the story of MFE’s half-year period: less growth on the advertising front, but an industrial machine which, at least according to the data presented by the group, is becoming more efficient.
The synergies of ProSiebenSat.1 are starting to weigh on the accounts
The heart of the transformation is the Entertainment sector, which brings together television and entertainment activities in Italy, Spain and the DACH area, i.e. Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Here the adjusted EBIT reaches 163.7 million eurosagainst the 47.5 million Pro Forma of the first half of 2025, while the costs of the segment decrease by 216.9 millionequal to 9%.
According to Pier Silvio Berlusconi, in the first half of the year alone the Entertainment sector would have already generated more than that 200 million euros of efficiencies and optimizationsat a speed higher than that foreseen by the plan presented to the market during the operation on ProSiebenSat.1. It is one of the central elements of the MFE strategy: increasing European scale to try to defend the traditional TV business as more and more advertising investments migrate to global digital platforms.
The financial structure also shows signs of improvement. The net financial position considered for the purposes of the covenants passes from 959.2 million euros at the beginning of January to 857.1 million on 30 Junewith a reduction of more than 100 million in the semester.
However, it is important to distinguish the adjusted indicators from the reported accounting data: the reclassified income statement in fact shows a net result attributable to the group was negative by 6.4 million euroswhile the non-adjusted EBIT operating result was positive for 64.3 million. The difference compared to the adjusted indicators depends, among other things, on the amortizations linked to the Purchase Price Allocation of the acquisitions and on the non-recurring charge relating to the Spanish judicial dispute on the television format Pasapalabra.
Alongside the accounts, MFE highlights the trend in Italian audiences, an area in which Mediaset has recorded particularly significant progress. In the first six months of 2026 the group declares leadership on the 15-64 year old commercial target, with the 40.3% in the total day40.1% in daytime and 40.2% in prime time, while Canale 5 is the leading national network in all segments of the same target.
Of the total individuals, the share in 24 hours went from 34.7% in 2021 to 38.1% in 2026while the quarterly data reported in the press release show a further acceleration: 37% in the first quarter, 38.3% in the second and 39.2% in the third quarter. In prime time, in the 8.30-10.30pm band, the share rises from 38.6% in the first three months of the year to 39.6% in the second quarter, up to 41.5% of the third.
The graphs attached to the press release also show the intersection of the trajectories of Mediaset and Rai: in the total day, Mediaset went from 34.7% in 2021 to 38.1% in 2026, while Rai fell in the same range from 39.3% to 36.4%. In the 2026 quarterly data, the gap widens further in the third quarter, a period in which the Cologno Monzese group indicates 39.2% against Rai’s 34.3%.
The photograph presented by MFE is naturally also affected by the television calendar of the year: the Olympics, the Sanremo Festival and above all the Football World Cup have changed the balance of power between the networks, and the World Cup is indicated by the group as one of the factors that have penalized both the relative ratings in certain periods and above all the advertising market, since MFE did not broadcast the competition in Italy, Spain or Germany.
Advertising still weak, but MFE confirms objectives for 2026
It is in the advertising market that the greatest unknowns remain. June and July were affected by the World Cup, while in August, the first month without major sporting events, MFE claims to have observed signs of improvement. However, for the third quarter the group expects a decline in consolidated advertising revenues of the order of a few percentage points on an annual basis, indicating Italy as the most resilient market among those in which it operates.
The real test will therefore be the fourth quarter, traditionally decisive for the advertising market and particularly important in Germany. However, MFE continues to expect an improvement in economic performance and cash generation in the coming quarters and confirms for 2026 the objective of increasing operating profitability and consolidating cash generation compared to the Pro Forma 2025 data.
The match now goes beyond the historical confrontation between Mediaset and Rai. With ProSiebenSat.1 within the perimeter, MFE is seeking to transform a national television leadership into a European industrial platform capable of having the scale necessary to compete in a market in which linear television, streaming, digital advertising and large technology platforms are increasingly intertwined. The accounts for the first half of the year do not erase the difficulties of a sector under pressure, but they show why integration, synergies and cost reduction have become the true terrain on which Pier Silvio Berlusconi’s strategy is measured today.
