 | This article contains translated text and the factual accuracy of the translation should be checked by someone fluent in German and English. (February 2024) |
Mediakraft Networks GmbH is a German multi-channel network based in Munich. The company publishes and markets online video content and operates YouTube creator networks in Germany. Mediakraft Networks maintains offices in Munich, Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg, Warsaw and Istanbul.
Mediakraft Networks was founded in September 2011 [1] as a network of YouTubers for YouTubers [2] [3] and is regarded as leading German multi-channel network (MCN). [4] [5] [6] [7] In August 2012 the former CEO of Endemol, Ynon Kreiz, bought shares in Mediakraft Networks. [8] [9] In October 2012 Medakraft launched Ponk, which presented comedy videos and was Germany's first domestic YouTube channel. [10] Ponk stands for Perfekt orientierte neue Komedians. [11]
In December 2012 Shortcut Ventures invested a seven-figure sum in Mediakraft. [12] In 2013 the company started subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Poland and Turkey. On 10 July 2014 Mediakraft announced it had raised €16M ($23M USD) from various investors. [13] One of the investors was the Cologne-based media group M. DuMont Schauberg. [14] By fall 2014 Mediakraft employed 130. [15]
Notable German YouTube channels that belong to Mediakraft Networks include Freshtorge, Die Lochis, Bullshit TV and Nela Lee. Former Network members are inter alia LeFloid, daaruum, [16] Simon Unge, Dner and ApeCrime.
In January 2015 Mediakraft Networks co-founder and CSO Jan Schlueter [17] [18] and Christoph Krachten left the company and were replaced by Levent Gültan and Spartacus Olsson. Krachten remains a shareholder. [19] [20] On 20 March 2015 Boris Bolz, formerly of Red Bull Germany, joined Mediakraft as chief commercial officer. [21]
Jan Schlueter joined Hashplay Inc, [22] a San Francisco-based company in the Data Visualisation space in January 2015 .
In June 2017 [23] Gamigo acquired Mediakraft Networks for an undisclosed sum. [24]
RTL Group is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate centre in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The company operates 56 television channels and 36 radio stations in Germany, France and other European countries. It also offers national streaming platforms, content productions and a range of digital services. Important segments of RTL Group are RTL Deutschland, Groupe M6 and Fremantle.
The Berliner Zeitung is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since reunification. It is published by Berliner Verlag.
Bunte is a German-language weekly celebrity gossip magazine published by Hubert Burda Media. The first edition was published in 1948 under the name Das Ufer. Under the leadership of Hubert Burda, Bunte developed into a modern popular magazine. In 2014, Bunte was the 11th most popular media brand in Germany, with 10.57 million monthly users. After Patricia Riekel stepped down, Robert Pölzer took over as Editor-in-Chief in July 2016.
Hubert Burda Media Holding is a German media group with headquarters in Offenburg. It originated as a small printing business, founded by Franz Burda Snr in Philippsburg, in 1903.
StudiVZ, SchülerVZ and MeinVZ was a social networking platform for students that was based in Berlin, Germany. The name is an abbreviation of the German expression Studentenverzeichnis, which means students' directory.
Focus is a German-language news magazine published by Hubert Burda Media. Established in 1993 as an alternative to the Der Spiegel weekly news magazine, since 2015 the editorial staff has been headquartered in Germany's capital of Berlin. Alongside Spiegel and Stern, Focus is one of the three most widely circulated German weeklies. The concept originated from Hubert Burda and Helmut Markwort, who went from being Editor-in-chief to become publisher in 2009 and since 2017 has been listed in the publication's masthead as founding editor-in-chief. As of March 2016 the editor-in-chief of Focus was Robert Schneider.
Gruner + Jahr is a publishing house headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. The company was founded in 1965 by Richard Gruner, John Jahr, and Gerd Bucerius. From 1969 to 1973, Bertelsmann acquired a majority share in the company and gradually increased it over time. After 2014, the company was a fully owned subsidiary of the Gütersloh-based media and services group. Under the leadership and innovation strategy of Julia Jäkel, Gruner + Jahr evolved into a publishing house producing cross-channel media products for the digital society.
VapianoSE is a European restaurant franchise company headquartered in Cologne. The chain's restaurants offer Italian food adhering to the fast-casual principle. Vapiano was established in 2002 in Hamburg. Its largest shareholder since 2011 is the private equity firm, Mayfair Vermögensverwaltung. Roughly one-third of the restaurants are operated by the company itself, but the majority are run as franchise or as joint ventures. In April 2017, Vapiano had 180 locations in 31 countries, including Australia, China, Egypt and the United States. On 20 March 2020, Vapiano announced its cash-flow insolvency due to a sharp drop in sales after most restaurants had to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Norbert Denef is a German victim of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic church.
Lucas Edward Britton Mockridge is Germany-based comedian who holds Canadian and Italian citizenship.
Der Postillon is a German website, run by Stefan Sichermann featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news in newspaper and TV format. In October 2015, the Postillon had more than 14 million visitors. Der Postillon also appears as an English version titled "The Postillon".
Correctiv is a German nonprofit investigative journalism newsroom based in Essen. It is run by CORRECTIV – Recherchen für die Gesellschaft gemeinnützige GmbH, which also runs the online journalism academy Reporterfabrik.
KenFM was a German internet journalism portal, established in 2011 by German television and radio presenter Ken Jebsen. It is the successor of a former eponymous radio show, which had over the course of ten years been hosted by Ken Jebsen, aired from 2001 to 2011 on the youth channel Radio Fritz of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB). Despite its popularity the show abruptly came to an end, after an email containing anti-semitic statements by Jebsen was released. According to the RBB Ken Jebsen had "repeatedly disregarded binding agreements", consequently co-operation was ended on 23 November 2011 and the program was discontinued permanently.
Heimkommen (Homecoming) and the related hashtag #heimkommen is a German commercial video for the supermarket corporation Edeka that went viral in November and December 2015.
The Süddeutscher Verlag (SV) is a corporate group that has emerged from the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim is a German chemist, science communicator, television presenter and YouTuber. In June 2020 she was elected to the senate of the Max Planck Society.
Jürgen Knauss is a German entrepreneur, marketer and photographer.
Christoph Kastenholz is a German entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Pulse Advertising.
Julian Reichelt is a German journalist. From February 2017 to October 2021, he was chairman of the editors-in-chief and editor-in-chief digital of Bild, Germany's largest and highest-circulation tabloid. Reichelt was fired over a sexual misconduct probe, after a story appeared in The New York Times.
Paper Trail Media is an investigative start-up based in Munich. The editorial team, founded in 2022 by two Pulitzer Prize winners, Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier, works for the news magazine Der Spiegel, ZDF, the Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard and the Swiss Tamedia group. With Obermayer and Obermaier as well as the Austrian Christo Buschek, a total of three Pulitzer Prize winners work for Paper Trail Media - more than in any other European media company.