Masterclass description: Television remains a colossal part of the media industry commanding huge portions of our attention and massive advertising dollars (~40% of the $500bn spent!). The traditional media business models are proving resilient but that isn’t stopping some media groups from innovating. Various tactics are being used by the media groups in Europe and emerging markets to stay ahead of the curve and in this session we’ll explore them, the impacts, opportunities, and what media might look like in the future.

Media for equity funding has become a widespread tactic used by many European Media groups in the past decade. This practice fills a gap in funding, which exists after a new company has spent its initial seed money, and hasn’t yet grown enough to attract large venture capitalists. The company uses the advertising to increase its customer base, thereby increasing the value of its stock. The start-up company makes money directly, and the media company can sell the stock at a profit.

It gained recently considerable interest when ProSiebenSat.1 took a stake in Rocket Internet company, Zalondo, soon to go public. But why is the model not more widespread? Reputation? Gap in funding not present? Lack of expertise?