EQS-News: 'Innovation through partnerships: Your Family Entertainment AG integrates artificial intelligence (AI) into its corporate strategy'

Corporate News of Your Family Entertainment AG  

"Innovation through partnerships: Your Family Entertainment AG integrates artificial intelligence (AI) into its corporate strategy"

Munich, February 1, 2024

Your Family Entertainment AG (YFE), a leading listed media company in family entertainment (WKN: A161N1, ISIN: DE000A161N14, abbreviation: RTV), is initiating a strategy to revolutionize profitability through the use of AI in three key areas. The Management Board of YFE is increasingly focusing on the use of artificial intelligence in operations via i) localization and language adaptation, ii) quality improvement of existing content and iii) efficient content analysis and trend prediction.

"By using advanced AI technologies, we will expand the language versions of our content. This supports our high standards and ensures that our content is child-friendly and grammatically correct in every language," says Dr. Stefan Piëch, CEO of YFE.

"The use of AI tools to revise existing content also enables a significant improvement in image quality. This meets the growing demands of the audience and strengthens the strategic position as an established and award-winning provider of high-quality family entertainment".

In addition, the use of AI allows content to be analyzed and optimized efficiently. The technology supports the recognition of patterns and trends in viewing habits and helps to predict future market trends. This will not only increase reach and profitability, but also uncover new opportunities for the existing film library and enable YFE to adapt its portfolio to the ever-changing needs and interests of the global market.

 "Our media library, with an original production value of over 1.2 billion euros, is at the heart of our strategy. The use of AI-supported image and sound editing technology makes it possible to significantly increase the quality of our series and films. We will not create any new IPs through 'Generative Artificial Intelligence' until this area has been legally clarified. Our existing IPs offer a wide range of opportunities to enhance and expand existing content," CEO Dr. Stefan Piëch continues. "AI is often seen as a threat to the creative industry. We see enormous opportunities and potential for our business model in combination with our extensive IP. We are therefore delighted to be able to draw on the expertise of several expert strategic partners for the project."

1. Cooperation with Adesso SE / service provider in the IT sector

"Artificial intelligence gives media companies a new perspective on their exploitation rights. Videos can be described with detailed metadata, new lip-synchronous language versions are possible, automatic subtitling in almost all languages is easy to produce, highlights can be produced automatically and even books can be created from videos. This opens up new sources of revenue for the company and relieves employees of monotonous work, so that the time gained can be used for new creative ideas," says Jürgen Sewczyk, Managing Partner of Adesso.

2. Partnership with Lalamu Studio, specialist for AI synchronization

"Our AI model for lip-syncing (Lalamu Studio) excels at making non-speaking characters in videos speak and achieving impressive results not only with human faces but also with non-human (e.g. animation) faces. By combining AI tools such as text-to-video, text-to-speech, voice cloning and lip sync, we are already seeing a significant shift in thinking in the creative and film industry," says Matthias Spitzer, CEO of Lalamu.

3. Cooperation with Relativity GmbH / Mindverse, leading provider of AI-based analysis tools

YFE has also entered into a cooperation with Relativity GmbH, a leading provider of AI-based analysis tools with its product Mindverse.

"This collaboration enables us to analyze user behavior in accordance with the highest European data protection standards and to tailor our content even more precisely to the preferences and needs of our target group," explains Dr. Stefan Piëch.

Mindverse's algorithms will enable YFE to identify and respond to current and future trends in media consumption "We are convinced that the AI integration will further strengthen Your Family Entertainment AG's position as a pioneer in the field of child- and family-friendly entertainment. AI will not only help to optimize the production process, but also to develop new formats and business models that meet the ever-changing demands of the market," says Marcel Schadt, Head of Operations of Mindverse.  

4. Cloud migration and digitalization with WTS Advisory AG, IT and digitalization specialist As part of the digitalization strategy and cloud migration of YFE's business operations the specialists at WTS Advisory are supporting YFE.

"The use of AI in key areas of the core business can make a significant contribution to expanding and optimizing the offering. The creation of a platform-based business model offers opportunities to operate a platform as a service for other providers beyond the traditional business. Taken together, the factors of content management, new content generation and customer management create a solid basis for the successful integration and application of AI and position Your Family Entertainment AG as an innovative pioneer in the digital media landscape," says Dieter Becker, Managing Partner of WTS Advisory AG.

With this AI strategy and strong partners, YFE reaffirms its determination to open up new market segments and make the company a leading media company in the use of AI.

About Your Family Entertainment AG (YFE):

The Munich-based German company Your Family Entertainment AG (WKN: A161N1, ISIN: DE000A161N14, abbreviation: RTV) (YFE) stands as a leading producer and distributor of high-quality children's and family programming. YFE owns and operates one of Europe's largest channel-independent libraries. Each content piece is meticulously curated to be educational, entertaining, and devoid of violence. Further expanding its offerings, YFE powers the globally recognized pay TV channel "Fix&Foxi TV", the free-to-air "RiC TV", and a myriad of mobile and digital channels. In December 2021, YFE celebrated a strategic alliance by welcoming Kartoon Studios (NYSE: TOON) as its significant shareholder, forging a robust path to a global "Content with a Purpose" collaboration.

Contact: Your Family Entertainment AG Michael Huber (CFO) Tuerkenstraße 87 80799 Munich Germany Phone: +49 (0) 89 99 72 71-0 E-Mail: michael.huber@yfe.tv