Merger earthquake in Spanish television

If the agreements being negotiated these days, the union of Telecinco and Cuatro, and Antena 3 and La Sexta, are definitively closed, the Spanish television puzzle would remain in the hands of two large groups, with two other minority networks Veo TV and Net TV.

The activity in the corridors of the Spanish chains at the end of the year is frenetic. And how the puzzle of private television will be configured in our country in a year as decisive as 2010, marked by the analog blackout and the promised multiplex per network, could end up falling into place in the next few days, or even hours.

The collapse of advertising investment, and the change in model that DTT represents with an endless number of channels with micro screen quotas, added to the development of IPTV and free streaming over the Internet, has forced the television giants to make a move.

While yesterday we woke up with information, not yet officially confirmed, of an agreement between Planeta and its partner De Agostini with Mediapro and Televisa to integrate Antena 3 TV and La Sexta, hours later Prisa stepped on the accelerator to close the negotiation with Mediaset.

If an agreement is finally reached with Berlusconi's group, Mediaset would have a minority stake in Digital+ and would take control and management of Cuatro. This would mean full control over two complete mAúltiplexes (adding Cuatro and Telecinco) with the possibility of broadcasting between 8 and 12 channels in standard definition or including new high definition offers. In the future holding that it draws together with Mediaset, Prisa will have a participation of around 20%. And the Spanish megaholding company needs liquidity at all costs to guarantee the repayment of a loan of 1,950 million euros that matures next March.

Of the large groups

If the merger between Cuatro and Telecinco finally takes place, which is currently being studied by the board of the Mediaset network, the group will become the audience leader with a screen share of 25.2%, very close to the legal threshold of 27%.

On the other hand, if the agreements being negotiated these days, the union of Telecinco and Cuatro, and Antena 3 and La Sexta, are definitively closed, the Spanish television puzzle would remain in the hands of two large groups, with two other minority networks Veo TV and Net TV.

With respect to the advertising market, advertisers fear that the end of advertising on TVE and the birth of two mega-chains could mean a significant increase in price.