Spanish media group Prisa, owner of pay-TV platform Digital+, will lodge an appeal against government plans to allow all digital TV operators to broadcast a pay channel, Prisa said late on Wednesday.
The government’s original plan was to grant licences to operators on a case by case basis. On Wednesday the government said it would allow a pay digital terrestrial television (DTT) channel for all operators who broadcast nationally. The measure is due to be given the green light by the government in coming weeks, and would not need to be approved by parliament.
In a statement, Prisa said the changes would damage its TV interests, along with other pay-TV operators. Antena 3 TV, Veo TV - which belongs to Unedisa, newspaper El Mundo’s owner - and free-to-air channel La Sexta had requested authorisation for a pay channel.
Mediapro, one of the owners of La Sexta, is considered by analysts to be the group most benefitted by pay-DTT as it has most soccer TV broadcasting rights. DTT is already available but less than half of Spain’s national audience has signed up so far. The full introduction of DTT is planned for April 2010.
(Source: Reuters)
on Jun 19th, 2009 at 12:53
Sky Sports covered 140 Spanish Primera Liga games live in the UK last season allowing more comprehensive Live coverage of Real Madrid and Barcelona than the Premier League allows them to do with Manchester United or Liverpool. How will this affect thsoe of us in the UK who prefer watching Barcelona ?
on Jun 19th, 2009 at 13:18
I can’t see that it should make any difference. Any changes to who covers domestic soccer in Spain will not affect the contract Sky has with the Primera Liga. Sky may end up having to take its picture feed from a different broadcaster, but these days most broadcasters use privately contracted companies (such as O21 in the UK) so the chances are there won’t be any noticeable difference regardless of who’s carrying the game in Spain.