Mediaset wants veto rights on Canal+

Giuseppe Tringali, director of Mediaset Spain and head of advertising management, is convinced that the Government will find a fair solution in agreement on the distribution of new frequencies for the 'digital dividend'.

Mediaset intends to stop being a mere financial partner in Canal+ and wants to have the right of veto in the Board of Directors over the management of the company. Giuseppe Tringali, director of Mediaset Spain and head of advertising management, confirmed today during the colloquium after a conference he gave at the New Communication Forum that his company has this request for the right of veto "in process" and that depending on the response given by the National Competition Commission, they will decide on its presence on the payment platform.

Mediaset wants veto rights on Canal+

When Telecinco agreed with Prisa in 2010 to purchase Cuatro and enter it with a 22% stake in Digital+ (now Canal+), Competition set a condition for it, like the other financial partner, Telefónica, to renounce the right of veto over the management of the platform.

Subsequently, Telecinco reached an additional agreement with Prisa that gave it the right within a year to be able to propose obtaining the power of veto and to sell its 22% if it did not succeed, leaving it alone with Cuatro.

Tringali stated today that Mediaset made an important investment in Spain with this operation with Prisa ("Four will lead us to great results and we already have seven channels"), and right now, "in difficult times" that advise "prudence", it is not considering embarking on new significant investments in the media, "although we are always looking around to see if there are new possibilities, but we have not seen anything."

fair solution

On the other hand, Tringali said that private television stations are negotiating with the Government an agreement on the distribution of new frequencies for the 'digital dividend', and he is convinced that the Executive will find "a fair solution" that will see commercial operators maintain their current multiples, without having to close any of them, as has been considered.

Regarding the Antena 3-laSexta merger, he stated that it represents “good news” for the television business, because “there will be more solid companies” and for Mediaset it represents “another stimulus to compete better.”

Regarding advertising on public television, he commented that the commercial channels fortunately absorbed almost all of the pie that TVE left free and now “a similar measure has to be addressed” for the regional ones.

Color television

Paolo Vasile, CEO of Mediaset Spain, stated today at the New Communication Forum that his company defends and programs cheerful and “colorful” television, in the face of the current “mania” of promoting “white” television in content.

"Now there is a mania and a wave of white, but we are people of color. White very quickly turns into gray, which is what comes before black, which is the color of death," he indicated.

Vasile spoke these words, which clearly allude to the criticism that Telecinco often receives for some of its most controversial programs, during the presentation of the conference by Giuseppe Tringali, also CEO of Mediaset España, at the aforementioned information forum, organized in Madrid by Nueva Economía Fórum.

Paolo Vasile praised Tringali as a “colorful” man, which is what, in his opinion, is needed in the current times of crisis. “We have to stop being so sad, because, if not, we are not going anywhere,” he stressed.

At the conference, Tringali spoke about the presence on social networks, where Mediaset has had recent setbacks such as the initiative that arose in favor of an advertiser boycott of Telecinco for The Ferris Wheel.

Tringali declined to answer a specific question about this case, but he did talk about the difficulties for a company like his in managing its presence on the networks. “They are very delicate to handle,” he admitted. “Companies have not used them appropriately so far.”