Four overtakes La Sexta, thirteen years later

BarcelonaBeyond the great historical television battle between Antena 3 and Telecinco, secondary channels also exchange elbows, especially intensely this past year. And with good reason, considering that since La Sexta and Cuatro tied with a 6% market share in 2013, the balance had been tipping year after year in favor of Atresmedia's channel, and to the detriment of Mediaset's. This, however, could change in 2026, because Telecinco's little sister, if we count these almost five months of the year already consumed, already surpasses its direct rival and this May clearly wins 5.9% vs. 6.3%.

Both channels, in fact, have shaken up their programming, with disparate results. On the one hand, La Sexta has incorporated new programs such as Cara al show, by Marc Giró, and La noche de Aimar Bretos, to reinforce the prime time. The Catalan comedian is managing to raise the channel's average, as in the four programs he has broadcast so far he has achieved 7% (while La Sexta is around 6.1% this year). Of course, these are lower figures than what he achieved on La 1 with the same format, when he obtained 9.8% and 11.3% in the two seasons he resided on the public channel, although it should be taken into account that RTVE's channel has a larger viewer base (currently around 12%).

In any case, Giró managed to recover this week after a third program in which he only managed to score 5.2% share. The comedian has blamed the tough competition he faces, fighting for a similar audience, from his old channel with Henar Álvarez's late show, Al cielo con ella, on La 1. This show has already had six broadcasts and, while it is true that it has dropped since competing with Cara al show, of the four broadcasts in which they have coincided, three have been in favor of the Madrid-based comedian. If only these four nights of confrontation are measured, her share is 8.1% (while it reaches 9.0% when the first two nights during which she competed with movies on La Sexta are added).

These are the figures for the total Spanish television market, which is ultimately what dictates which programs survive and which ones close down. If we look only at the results from Catalonia, then Marc Giró's hegemony is undeniable, as his program rises to a 9.8% share, while Álvarez has to settle for 7.8%.

However, La Sexta's other major bet, La noche de Aimar Bretos, is proving to be an unmitigated audience failure. The television format hosted by the anchor of Hora 25} on Cadena SER debuted with a very modest 4.0%, which barely rose to 4.4% the following week. The only hope it has left is the good performance of the third, and so far last, episode, when it achieved 7.7% thanks in part to the visit of El Gran Wyoming, one of the channel's historical figures.

No experiments

Meanwhile, what has worked best for Cuatro is to return to basics, after some not very successful experiments. Programs with a journalistic slant like Territorio Pampliega or Proyecto Sistiaga have garnered around 3.8% and 4.7%, respectively. This motivated the channel to bet on the controversial communicator Iker Jiménez to turn his show Horizonte into a daily format, instead of weekly, in 2026. Despite the multiple controversies he has accumulated for his tendency to spread conspiracy theories, he maintains a loyal audience that is contributing an average of a notable 7.7% to his channel each night.

The other pillar that supports the channel is the irrepressible format First dates. Despite having moved to the main channel – to reinforce a Telecinco that hasn't quite found the linchpin in its access prime time against El hormiguero and La revuelta – Cuatro continues to cling to the show, offering reruns six days a week. Considering that these are repeated programs, the 5.5% it is achieving is very meritorious: it is a figure only a few tenths below the average, at no cost, and it fills a particularly competitive slot on Cuatro, because Spanish newscasts are still on.

While awaiting to see how Giró, Bretos, and Chicote evolve, La Sexta still has the solidity of Lo de Évole, Pesadilla en la cocina, Apatrullando, El intermedio (which still contributes between 6% and 7% in its twentieth season) and, above all, Aruseros, which guarantees it leadership in the mornings with this magazine from Alfons Arús's family clan. But the hegemony of the last thirteen years could be broken this 2026 if the trend of recent months consolidates. It would be Mediaset's revenge, after Antena 3 snatched the scepter from Telecinco in 2022, after a whole decade of its rival's unequivocal victories.