Mediapro restructures its organic leadership

Laura Fernández Espeso will replace Juan Ruiz de Gauna as general director of Mediapro Group and Alberto Vía to José Luis Rubio as head of Broadcast and Media Services as of January 1, 2025.

Coinciding with its 30th anniversary, Grup Mediapro thus opts for an agile organization, not very centralized and very transversal and horizontal in which the different areas and divisions enjoy great autonomy and decision-making capacity. The new organization also entails a generational change in the group's management bodies.

From now on, the group will have two new business units with the creation of the new unit of Channels and Platforms, which will be directed by Daniel Margalef, and the new unit Mediapro Experiences, directed by David Xirau.

Channels and Platforms will bring together all the group's activities dedicated to the planning, production and distribution of all existing channels and platforms, including channels for new audiences and all its advertising marketing, as well as the development of the group in the world of new digital content.

For its part, Mediapro Experiences will group the activity developed in the group around experiential formats, such as commercial brand activations, museums and exhibitions, events or virtual and immersive experiences, bringing together all the talent and know-how that the group has acquired in recent years around the design, production and operation of physical and digital experiences.

Thus, the group business units are as follows: Broadcast Media Services, directed by Jose Luis Rubio; The Mediapro Studio, responsibility of Laura Fernandez Espeso; the Sports Rights Agency, in charge of Oliver Seibert; Channels and Platforms, con Dani Margalef as responsible, Mediapro Experiences, in charge of David Xirau, and the address of Innovation, who will continue to be in charge of Mari Carmen Fernández Tallon.

The Sports Rights Agency will be directed by Oliver Seibert, so that both he and Dani Margalef and David Xirau, professionals with long experience in the group, will become part of the Management Committee upon assuming their new responsibilities.

The Innovation Department will be strengthened with a multidisciplinary work team that will promote innovation in all business units so that the group continues to be the technological benchmark in its sector.

Tacho Benedict, president and CEO of Grup Mediapro, announced this Monday the new organization, where Juan Ruiz de Gauna will continue as general director until January 1, 2025, at which time Laura Fernández Espeso, current general director of The Mediapro Studio, will replace him in his position.

For your part Jose Luis Rubio, CEO of Broadcast Media Services, will also be replaced in January 2025 by Alberto Via, current CEO of Overon. Juan Ruiz de Gauna and José Luis Rubio will continue to be linked to the company.

For Tatxo Benet, "this restructuring reinforces and updates the group's leadership in the audiovisual sector, integrating the entire value chain and guaranteeing the continuity and future of the company with five professionals who have been at GRUP MEDIAPRO for more than 15 years and who are absolutely committed to the purpose, mission and values ​​of the group. The people who assume new responsibilities not only represent a generational change, but are evidence of the commitment that GRUP MEDIAPRO makes to internal talent."

Laura Fernandez Espeso He began his professional career more than 20 years ago in the independent film sector working with directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Danis Tanovic, Ken Loach and Juan José Campanella. In 2009 she joined the Globomedia team as Director of the Film area and in 2012 she also assumed the direction of International TV Development. In 2015 she was appointed head of International Content for Mediapro Group promoting the strategy of international productions and co-productions around the world, as well as the development of international headquarters and the international distribution area. In 2019 he took charge of TV management and Corporate management of The Mediapro Studio. She has been General Director of The Mediapro Studio since 2020, where she leads the creation, production and distribution strategy of the more than 100 fiction (TV and film) and non-fiction titles that the Studio produces annually in the world.

Alberto Via, until now head of Overon, began his career at Grup Mediapro in 1999 as head of Globcast Spain, a company owned by France Telecom and Mediapro. Previously he had developed his professional activity at Retevision (currently Celnex). In 2002 he joined the French delegation of Globecast as EMEA Vice President of Sales and Marketing, returning to Spain in 2006 to lead the newly created Overon, Mediapro's broadcasting company.

Oliver Seibert, se incorpora al equipo de derechos de Mediapro en 2007 procedente de Infront Sports & Media. Ha participado en la negociación y explotación de los contratos de derechos (LaLiga, FIFA, UEFA, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, Liga Francesa, Liga Belga) destacando la comercialización internacional de La Liga española y contribuyendo decisivamente a la revalorización de esta competición. Así en 2007 La Liga ingresaba menos de 100M€, superando los 700M€ actualmente.

Dani Margalef He began his professional career in 1985 in the Sports Department of TV3 where he was head of sports production from 1997 to 2004 and head of Sports Rights Management from 2004 to 2013. In 2004 he was appointed General Director of Audiovisual Sport, a position he held until 2007, combining it with his responsibilities at TV3. In 2013 he joined Grup Mediapro as coordinator of the sports rights department and relations with La Liga.

David Xirau inicio su actividad profesional en el ámbito de la consultoría estratégica en Andersen Consulting y Europraxis. Tras su paso por el Fórum Universal de les Cultures de Barcelona (2004) llega a Mediapro (2005) como responsable de proyectos especiales impulsando el departamento de I+D y llevando a cabo proyectos expositivos como pabellón de España en Expo Zaragoza o el museo de FCB. En 2013 se crea, bajo su dirección, Mediapro Exhibitions, la unidad de museografía y exposiciones del grupo que ha diseñado y producido proyectos como la Sala Univers del Cosmocaixa en Barcelona, el Real Madrid Immersive Tour, y recientemente el Mirador torre Glòries, también en Barcelona.