Prisa's refusal to own a television channel triggers an earthquake in the group

BarcelonaPrisa has the most widely read general newspaper in Spain. Prisa has the radio station with the most listeners. But Prisa does not have a television station, after several failed attempts, and this is a thorn that will continue to be stuck in the media conglomerate. The announcement that Pedro Sánchez's government wanted to put out to tender a new licence for a general DTT channel had activated the group's machinery to be able to opt for it, trusting that the editorial harmony with the PSOE would add points when it came to obtaining it. The initiative was led by the president of Prisa Media, Carlos Núñez, but in recent days a sudden change of script has unleashed an internal division within the group. The president, Joseph Oughourlian, has ruled out taking this project forward, which has led to Núñez's resignation.

This Wednesday the board of directors of the conglomerate accepted the resignation of the executive and agreed to reduce the number of members of the body from 15 to 11, which is interpreted as a maneuver by the majority shareholder to increase control over the board. A statement released by Prisa included statements by Núñez. "These years have been very intense and gratifying because, thanks to the effort of everyone, we have opened new paths for the group and we have laid the foundations for a more than hopeful future, both for the company and for the excellent professionals who make it up."

The lexical softness of this corporate note, however, contrasts with an interview given by Oughourlian this same Wednesday in the newspaper Expansion –of the rival group, Unedisa–, where he launches several warnings to sailors. “The board of directors of Prisa will reflect on the continuity of some executives,” he says, in a piece from which an unequivocal headline is extracted: “Investing in a DTT in 2025 does not seem to me to be a project for the future.” Although he does not mention them in the interview, some of the executives who have been most involved in favor of the channel were Miguel Ángel Contreras (content director of Prisa Media and communications advisor to Pedro Sánchez), Fran Llorente (well connected to the entourage of former president Rodríguez Zapatero) and Pepa Bueno (director of the Spanish National Television).The Country). Oughourlian's words can be read as a warning to the executives most connected to the Moncloa, but they also announce a new stage of more tense relations between the group and Pedro Sánchez.

The executive gives other warnings: "If people do not comply or do not carry out the development planned in Prisa, then they will have to look for another place." The president of Prisa also harshly criticizes that the project was born with only an investment of 20 million euros, which he considers that on television "only gives for five minutes," and some alleged support that should be added - it is understood that from producers who wanted to work for the chain - that "do not seem to be supported by solid shoulders."

At the time of defending the option of obtaining a television channel, Núñez considered that this would allow them to have "access to a pool advertising revenue," which was not reached, as he explained in an interview with the newspaper The Country. The television business in Spain is worth around 1.8 billion euros annually, but two corporations – Mediaset and Atresmedia – monopolise 82% of this advertising pie, thanks to the dominant position they obtain by uniting 53% of the audience between the respective channels of this duopoly.

Oughourlian, in opposition to the vision of Núñez and his core, considers DTT "a business from the last century" and recalls that the refinancing of a group with 750 million in debt is still pending, which has also contributed to the rejection of the television project. However, within Prisa one branch was strongly betting on the project and, given the harmony with Moncloa, they took it for granted enough that teams and formations were already being defined.

Although it has not been revealed what television model it wanted to follow, Prisa's low nominal budget of only 20 million euros - by way of comparison, Mediaset spends around 800 million euros annually - suggests that the channel wanted to focus on current affairs debate formats, which are cheap to produce. In addition, this would lubricate relations with the Moncloa, which is seeking to build a more friendly media environment than the current one, where it perceives hostility on both sides of the duopoly headed by Telecinco and Antena 3, with Ana Rosa Quintana and Pablo Motos as figureheads, respectively.

Story of a frustration

The main Spanish media group has traditionally resisted television. Its first foray was Canal+, in 1990. Private channels were born, with frequencies granted by the socialist executive of Felipe González, and Prisa opted to keep the only pay-TV licence, trusting that it would be where the business would be. This was not the case, and the high costs of football, a late development of the culture of paying for content in Spain and piracy were factors that made it difficult to obtain large profits. Added to this was an expansionist policy in South America just before the financial crisis of 2008 that was disastrous and weighed down the group enormously until, in 2015, it sold off the majority of Canal+ shares and Telefónica bought them to create what is now Movistar+.

Under another socialist president, in this case José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, new television contracts were awarded. Prisa tried again with Cuatro, a young urban channel that relied on the journalistic talent of the company and had Iñaki Gabilondo as its flagship. The year was 2005 and the group, under pressure from debt, only held on to the project until 2009, when it ended up selling it to Mediaset. The new owner stripped it of its identity overnight and turned it into a secondary channel permanently subjugated to Telecinco.

Prisa also tried at the local level. In 2000, Localia was born, an initiative based on winning as many local television licenses as possible and, from there, creating a network that could share some general content. But DTT was not the promised dream and, once again, the crushing weight of the debt was felt: the project was closed in 2008.