When ZDF Enterprises was founded it became the cornerstone of a commercial network that would contribute to the strengthening of the ZDF Group by means of timely and targeted activities, both starting new companies and acquiring interests in existing ones. In this process we adhere to the following principles:
To date, via subsidiaries and participating interests, ZDF Enterprises has been able to develop production capacity in the key program sectors of fiction (Network Movie), documentaries (doc.station and Gruppe 5) and children’s programs (Studio.TV.Film und Kinderfilm).
In addition, strengthening and expanding utilisation activities has been achieved, e. g. in the music sector via Enterprises Sonor.
An overview of the ZDF Enterprises Group portfolio:
| Year of Foundation | Affiliate | ZDFE Share | General Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 Acquired interest | Bavaria Fernsehproduktion GmbH | 50% | Dr. Matthias Esche, Jan S. Kaiser, Armin Rabe |
| 1999 Foundation | doc.station Medienproduktion GmbH | 100% | Hartmut Klenke |
| 2001 Acquired interest (Founded 1992) | Enterprises Sonor Musik GmbH | 50% | Dr. Rolf Moser |
| 2002 Acquired interest | Gruppe 5 Filmproduktion GmbH | 49% | Uwe Kersken, Christel Fomm |
| 1999 Acquired intermediate interest | Kinderfilm GmbH | 22,5%* | Ingelore König |
| 2010 Foundation | Mainstream Networks Holding GmbH & Co. KG | 26% | Gottfried Zmeck |
| 1998 Foundation | Network Movie Film- und Fernsehproduktionen GmbH & Co. KG | 100% | Wolfgang Cimera, Jutta Lieck-Klenke |
| 2010 Founded | Studio Hamburg DocLights GmbH | 49% | Jörn Röver, Michaela Hummel, Andreas Knoblauch |
| 2011 Foundation | Studio Hamburg Enterprises GmbH | 50% | Jens Uwe Welge, Peter Lang |
| 1999 Acquired interest | Studio.TV.Film GmbH | 45% | Albert Schäfer |
| 2000 Foundation | ZDF Digital Medienproduktion GmbH | 90% | Christian Massmann |
| 1999 Foundation | ZDF Medienprojekte-Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG | 100% | Peter Lang |
* indirect participation via Studio.TV.Film