What Evangelical Press Service does

Evangelical Press Service (Evangelischer Pressedienst, epd) is the oldest existing German news agency, founded in 1910 in Wittenberg and operated since the post-World War I period under Protestant church stewardship. Headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, epd delivers daily news, photos, and video content covering church, religion, ethics, social affairs, culture, media, and development policy. The organization is structured as a federated non-profit consortium — the Gemeinschaftswerk der Evangelischen Publizistik (GEP) gGmbH plus seven regional Landesdienste (Bayern, Mitte-West, Niedersachsen-Bremen, Nord, Ost, Südwest, West) — producing up to 90 reports daily from over 30 German locations plus correspondent posts in Berlin, Brussels, and Geneva. epd claims reach into more than 85% of German daily newspaper circulation and supplies all major public broadcasters.

The product portfolio spans a core agency service (epd Basisdienst) plus specialized branch services (epd sozial for the welfare sector, epd medien for media industry, epd Dokumentation for academic/background analysis, epd Film for cinema), image (epd bild) and video (epd video) libraries, the epd Ticker website-embed widget, weekly epd Wochenspiegel digests, and a searchable digital archive containing over 700,000 texts since 1996 and more than 250,000 images. Content is delivered to enterprise media customers via satellite and FTP in NewsML-G2 format through distribution partner mecom, and to consumers through web and mobile applications (epd aktuell) on iOS and Android. Pricing is subscription-based: epd Basisdienst costs €876 per year, epd Wochenspiegel approximately €59.40 per year, and epd Dokumentation €34.85–€43.95 per month depending on format, with volume licensing available for institutional buyers.

The business model is B2B and B2C subscription revenue, with the core sales motion being direct enterprise contracts with newspaper, radio, television, and online editorial departments; secondary customers include government authorities, church associations, and book publishers (via i-picturemaxx image platform integration). epd markets its services through direct sales, its epd.de website, specialized product websites, email newsletters, Facebook and Twitter/X, and a co-produced podcast with Grimme-Institut. The agency operates with explicit editorial independence from political interests, lobby groups, and commercial enterprises, a positioning that constitutes both its core differentiator and a constraint on conventional commercial scaling.

Name

Evangelical Press Service

Legal name

Gemeinschaftswerk der Evangelischen Publizistik gGmbH (GEP)

Website

https://www.epd.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1910

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Evangelical Press Service (epd) is Germany's oldest news agency, providing subscription-based text, photo, and video news to newspapers, broadcasters, and online media across Germany via satellite and digital distribution.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

News Agency Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (81311), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Based Media, Publishing & Broadcasting (Radio, TV, Digital, Press) (BPAGAJAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Religious Nonfiction & Theology Publishing (Apologetics, Doctrine, Ethics) (MPAJAHAG)

Keywords

• News agency services
• Religious journalism
• Subscription news content
• Photojournalism services
• Press agency distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Frankfurt

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices13 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. News Agency Subscription Services: epd generates revenue primarily through subscription-based news agency services sold to media organizations including newspapers, radio, television, and online services. Services include epd Basisdienst, epd Ticker, epd Wochenspiegel, epd bild, and epd video, distributed via satellite, FTP, and NewsML-G2 format.
2. Specialized Digital Products: Revenue from digital products including epd aktuell (web-app), epd sozial (social sector digital branch service), epd medien (media sector digital service), and epd Dokumentation (background publication series). These are sold as apps, websites, and subscription products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Evangelical Press Service (epd) is an independent non-profit news agency supported by the Protestant Church that produces and distributes news texts, photographs, and videos covering church, religion, ethics, culture, media, social affairs, and development topics. It operates a federated network of a central editorial office in Frankfurt plus seven regional services covering Germany, delivering up to 90 daily reports plus weekly digests, photos, and video content to media organizations via satellite, FTP, and digital channels.

Product overview

Evangelical Press Service (epd) operates a modular news agency platform consisting of a core news service (epd Basisdienst) supplemented by specialized sub-brands and regional services. The core product delivers daily news via multiple channels including the real-time epd aktuell web-app, automated epd Ticker for website integration, and the epd Wochenspiegel weekly digest. Specialized offerings include epd medien (media industry), epd sozial (social sector), epd Dokumentation (academic background), epd film (cinema), epd bild (photo archive with 250,000+ images), epd video (video content), and epd Archiv (text archive with 700,000+ items). Seven regional services provide localized coverage across German states. All products are delivered via satellite/FTP distribution and NewsML-G2 format through mecom, with additional distribution via i-picturemaxx for images.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• epd Basisdienst
• epd aktuell
• epd Ticker
• epd Wochenspiegel
• epd bild
• epd video
• epd Archiv
• epd Dokumentation
• epd medien
• epd sozial
• epd Film
• epd Landesdienste (Regional Services)

Quantifiable outcome

• epd reaches more than 85 percent of daily newspaper circulation in Germany
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Gemeinschaftswerk der Evangelischen Publizistik (GEP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGEP (Gemeinschaftswerk der Evangelischen Publizistik) is the non-profit GmbH that serves as publisher and organizational umbrella for epd's central editorial office in Frankfurt. GEP coordinates the epd-Arbeitsgemeinschaft of eight media companies.
• epd-Arbeitsgemeinschaft (8 media companies)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEight media companies in the epd-Arbeitsgemeinschaft: GEP in Frankfurt for central editorial plus seven state service providers. They ensure nationwide coverage with same standards and quality, and jointly organize marketing of epd agency services.
• Grimme-InstitutminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint production partnership with Grimme-Institut for the 'Läuft' podcast - a program review podcast covering TV, radio, streaming, and web offerings as well as media policy discussions.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Katholische Nachrichten-Agentur (KNA): KNA is the Catholic counterpart to epd in Germany — an independent denominational news agency serving newspapers, broadcasters, and online media with church, religion, ethics, and social-affairs coverage. Closest direct competitor in product, customer base, and distribution model.
• Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa): dpa is Germany's largest general-purpose wire service, supplying the same newspaper, radio, TV, and online customers as epd. Direct competitor in the B2B news-agency subscription layer serving German media houses.
• IDEA Nachrichtenagentur: IDEA is a German evangelical news agency focused on Protestant Christianity and values reporting. Competes with epd for the same faith-news niche and similar denominational media subscribers in Germany.

Broad incumbents

• Reuters (Thomson Reuters): Reuters is a global wire service supplying German and international newsrooms with general news, business, and multimedia content. Competes for the same B2B subscription budgets at German media organizations, though covering a much broader scope than epd.
• Agence France-Presse (AFP): AFP is a global French-headquartered wire service distributing news in multiple languages including German. Serves the same newspaper, broadcaster, and online customer base as epd, but at vastly larger scale and broader topical coverage.
• Associated Press (AP): AP is a US-headquartered global wire service selling news, photo, and video content to media organizations worldwide including Germany. Comparable in B2B wire-service business model, though general-purpose rather than faith-focused.

Regional players

• Religion News Service (RNS): RNS is a US-based independent newswire covering religion, ethics, and spirituality. Closest international analog to epd in editorial niche and B2B syndication model, though operating primarily in English and the US market.
• CNA (Catholic News Agency): CNA is a US-headquartered Catholic news agency serving English-language media. Operates as a denominational wire service analogous to epd's faith-based subscription model but in a different geography and language.

Emerging players

• Domradio.de: Domradio is a German Catholic internet broadcaster covering church, faith, and ethics news. Partial overlap with epd in subject matter and German media customer base, though primarily a digital publisher rather than a B2B wire.

Others

• Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD) — Pressestelle: The EKD press office is the public-relations and communications arm of Germany's Protestant umbrella organization, of which epd's parent GEP is affiliated. Adjacent ecosystem participant — both organizations produce Protestant church content, but EKD focuses on internal church communications while epd sells to external media.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/epd_news
• Facebookfacebook.com/evangelischerpressedienst
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/epd-medien

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Evangelical Press Service