Media, Marketing & Communications

Mainz – September 13, 2026 -- German broadcaster ZDF and Swiss broadcaster SRF launched a new international leadership forum, the Streamium Days, bringing executives from public and private media companies across Europe together at ZDF's Mainz headquarters on September 7-8, 2026.

ZDF director calls turnout beyond expectations

Dr. Florian Kumb, Director Audience at ZDF, said the event exceeded expectations in every respect, citing the openness of discussions and participants' willingness to share knowledge and experience. He described the media industry as being in the midst of profound change, making cross-border learning and shared responses to digital transformation increasingly urgent.

Hackensack, N.J. – September 13, 2026 -- LiveU has become a Clarus Integrated Reseller, launching Hybrid Data, the first single managed plan combining cellular bonding and Starlink broadband for broadcast field production teams.

LiveU bundles cellular and Starlink into one invoiced service

Hybrid Data delivers and bills cellular data and Starlink connectivity through a single LiveU plan, replacing the need for separate contracts and support channels. Both connections operate side by side in the same workflow, allowing crews to draw on cellular and satellite bandwidth simultaneously during live transmission.

Toronto – September 13, 2026 -- The Sales Factory has ranked #2 globally in the Outsourced Sales category of G2's Summer 2026 Grid Reports, marking the third consecutive quarter the outsourced sales and lead generation firm has held a top position on the review platform. The company also earned Leader status in the Lead Generation category, based entirely on verified customer reviews and market presence data compiled by G2.

G2 rankings rely solely on verified buyer reviews, not marketing spend

G2, described as the world's largest software and services marketplace, builds its quarterly Grid Reports from authenticated user reviews combined with market presence metrics. Leader status requires companies to sustain high customer satisfaction scores alongside demonstrated market traction, a methodology G2 says filters out purchased visibility.

Unterföhring – – September 13, 2026 -- Germany's women's basketball team reached its first-ever FIBA World Cup quarterfinal after a 94-56 win over South Korea at the home tournament, setting up a broadcast showcase for ProSieben MAXX. The German broadcaster will air the quarterfinal against reigning European champions Belgium live on Thursday, September 10, with coverage starting at 17:15 and tip-off at 17:45.

Belgium enters the matchup unbeaten in the tournament

Belgium, ranked among the strongest teams in the field, has not lost a game at the 2026 FIBA Basketball World Cup, raising the stakes for the German side's historic quarterfinal debut.

ProSieben MAXX deploys its established 'ran Basketball' broadcast team

Presenter Christoph Dommisch, Olympic champion Sonja Greinacher, and commentator Matthias Killing will provide on-site coverage of the match as part of the network's ongoing home World Cup broadcast slate.

Unterföhring – September 13, 2026 -- SAT.1 will premiere the 15th season of its culinary competition format "The Taste" on September 13, 2026, offering a total prize package of 50,000 euros in cash plus a professional kitchen outfit from cookware brand Fissler.

Season premiere pits four celebrity chefs against street food in opening coach battle.

The nine-episode season opens with a special coach battle in which chefs Tim Raue, Alexander Herrmann, Elif Oskan and Steffen Henssler must recreate street food dishes such as döner, currywurst, fish and chips and a burger on a single spoon. The season airs weekly on Wednesdays at 20:15 CET on SAT.1 and simultaneously streams on Joyn.

Munich – September 13, 2026 -- RTLZWEI will premiere "Maison Tabou," a new reality dating format built around anonymous, sensory-driven blind dates, on September 13, 2026, at 23:35 CET, with episodes available seven days early on streaming service RTL+.

RTLZWEI schedules weekly Wednesday slot for new format produced by UFA Show & Factual

The series will air weekly on Wednesdays at 23:35 on RTLZWEI following its launch date, with UFA Show & Factual handling production. The format strips participants of names, jobs, and personal history at check-in, structuring encounters around physical attraction rather than conventional dating criteria.

Augsburg – September 13, 2026 -- German B2B marketing budgets grew a nominal 2.1 percent to an average of €3.57 million in 2026, even as prices for externally purchased marketing services climbed roughly 12 percent over the same period, leaving companies with less real spending power than a year earlier. The findings come from the 14th edition of the "B2B-Marketing-Budgets 2026" study published by the Bundesverband Industrie Kommunikation e.V. (bvik), conducted with scientific support from Prof. Dr. Hannes Huttelmaier of the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt.

Budget growth fails to keep pace with rising service costs

"Whoever invests counter-cyclically now secures a market advantage tomorrow. Cutting marketing budgets is convenient in the short term and costly in the long run," said Ramona Kaden, Managing Director of bvik.

Paramus, N.J. – September 13, 2026 -- Sony Electronics has unveiled the DWT-B40 bodypack transmitter and DWR-R40Q rack-mount receiver, the fourth generation of its DWX Digital Wireless Microphone Series, with availability set for March 2027.

New transmitter adds in-device 32-bit float backup recording

The DWT-B40 incorporates an in-transmitter recording function using Sony's proprietary algorithm, enabling distortion-free backup capture directly on the device in the event of a wireless signal interruption. Recording can be triggered via the REC button or remotely from the receiver through Cross Remote control, with timecode synchronization and microSD card data transfer. Simultaneous transmission and recording is not currently supported in North America.

Munich – September 13, 2026 -- Bayerischer Rundfunk's documentary series "Rise & Fall 1860 München" has won the German Television Award for Best Editing in the Information category, capping a launch run that generated 3.4 million views on the ARD Mediathek streaming platform.

Editor Xenja Kupin receives top honor at Cologne ceremony

The award was presented on September 8 during the "Night of the Creatives" gala in Cologne to editor Xenja Kupin, whose cutting style defined the series' visual signature. The series drew 1.6 million views in its first week alone, according to BR.

Los Angeles – September 13, 2026 -- Paramount Skydance Corporation (NASDAQ: PSKY) filed reply briefs pressing a district court to enforce a bond requirement against State Attorneys General and the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the two plaintiffs blocking its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD). The company says it has cleared regulatory approval in 69 jurisdictions and satisfied all closing conditions, leaving the pending lawsuits as the sole barrier to completing the transaction.

Paramount quantifies delay costs at up to $1.88 billion

The filing states Paramount provided unrebutted evidence that ticking fees and incremental financing costs tied to the closing delay could reach $1.88 billion. Paramount's briefs assert that plaintiffs have not disputed this figure or otherwise contested that the company will suffer financial injury from the court's no-close order.