By Robert Hetz
MADRID (Reuters) – With more than four hours of television daily consumption in homes, Spain is a country that offers great opportunities for private television.
But the advance of pay TV driven by Telefonica, the possible entry of a new entrant and the threat of closure of channels irregularities in the procurement process remain in suspense a sector that turnover last year was 1,800 million euros alone with advertising.
Given this scenario it is also understandable that the current operators – led by Mediaset Spain and Atresmedia – express much interest in a new competition that the Government has started to deliver six new licenses to compensate the disappearance of nine channels in 2014 and the possible closure of eight channels in the coming months.
“In late June, the Supreme Court will consider a series of appeals against the Public Administration for the renovation and expansion audiovisual concessions in 2010, “said a judicial source on Thursday.
In contention are eight channels distributed in 2010 between Antena 3 (now Atresmedia), Telecinco (now Mediaset Spain), Sogecable (Prisa), I see TV and Net TV (Vocento).
The same court last year and ordered the closure of nine channels because licenses had been granted without public competition.
As a result of failure Last year, Atresmedia left with only five of its eight channels, Mediaset Spain six against the previous eight and Veo TV and Net TV had to close two channels each. The total number of private channels fell in May 2014 24-15.
While redistribute audiovisual groups achieved largely advertising on their other channels, the company most affected by the judgment was Cellnex, terrestrial telecommunications subsidiary of Abertis.
Cellnex is the leading company that broadcasts the signal of digital television in Spain and in the prospectus for its IPO, a subsidiary of Abertis said the closure of the nine channel their incomes shrank, causing damage of EUR 143 million.
This damage could be offset in part by the six new channels that the government wants to award by the end of the year, Cellnex said.
The deadline for the contest will end on Thursday and the winning companies will be announced in autumn.
Mediaset Spain, Atresmedia and Prisa already expressed interest in the new channels, and in the press also speculates that the Episcopal Conference or Real Madrid could be presented to the contest. The final list of participants will be presented on June 15.
An equal distribution between these candidates would not change the national audiovisual landscape, but the arrival of a new entrant, able to retain a significant share of the hearing – six or seven percent -. could affect the dominant position that Mediaset Spain and Atresmedia have on commercial television in recent years
The two private groups fell last year with 1,600 million in advertising revenue, 86.3 percent of the total pie for the sector, according to the consulting Infoadex. The remaining channels Vocento and Editorial Unit were distributed, while public television has stopped broadcasting commercials in 2010
In any case, the greatest danger to the advertising business -. It will grow in the range of 6.3 percent annually in the coming years, as estimated by the Portuguese broker BPI. – come from the Supreme Court
If in June ordered the closure of the nine contested channels, Mediaset would be alone with The Telecinco and Cuatro and rival Atresmedia retain three channels while the Government has not resolved the competition which is being held simultaneously with the judicial proceedings.
“This could transform the sector and change the rules of game the distribution of the audience, “BPI said.
Currently, the leader of the screen quota is Mediaset Spain, with 30.7 percent share in 2014, followed by a 27.7 Atresmedia percent.
In case of being forced in June to close additional channels, BIS expects the operators concerned to make an application to the Constitutional Court and claim possible compensation to the Government for irregularities in the award.
No comments:
Post a Comment