Why Spanish Broadcasters Are Pivoting to Streaming
16.10.2023 - 06:39
/ variety.com
Emiliano De Pablos Spain’s TV market saw 82 new fiction series commissions over September 2022 to August 2023, 61% of them aimed at exclusive online release, compared to 52% the year before, according to TV research firm The Wit. A few years ago, online was an afterthought.
Now, to various degrees and in different ways, it is replacing linear as operators’ major concern.“Linear operators are refocusing their productions with the perspective of reaching a younger audience,” says the Wit’s Caroline Servy. The clout of platforms within the industry has progressed very quickly.Atresplayer, the platform run by leading broadcaster Atresmedia, has increasingly become an energetic driver behind the local TV production sector since its 2013 launch.
Public broadcaster RTVE is venturing into co-production as it has committed to provide exclusive and original content to its RTVE Play platform. On Aug.
1, Movistar Plus, Telefónica’s pay TV/VOD operator, bowed a new souped-up version of its basic tier as a streaming service. Meanwhile, Catalonia’s CCMA public broadcasting corporation is merging its brands TV3 and Catalunya Radio into the 3CAT umbrella, aimed at maintaining its linear leadership but accessing new audiences.
As other major international broadcasters have done, Atresmedia has made a large bet on its VOD content offer, evolving from a linear mindset, with Peacock in the U.S., RTL+ in Germany and ITV-X in the United Kingdom some of its references.“Fiction is an integral part of Atresmedia, so the fact that it was fundamental on our platform was nothing more than an extension of our own identity,” says Atresmedia content director José Antonio Antón. Atresplayer has just launched exclusive dramas such as “The Nights of
.