Spain’s Antena 3-La Sexta merger becomes a reality
September 27, 2012
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Antena 3 is taking over La Sexta and will start operating as a single company from October 1st.
Antena 3’s board of directors has finally approved the merger that will give rise to a large group with eight TV channels: Antena 3, La Sexta, Neox, Nova, Nitro, Xplora, La Sexta 3, Todo Cine TV and pay TV channel Gol TV.
The merger comes soon after the Government softened the tough limits imposed by the competition body CNC.
This is the second TV merger to take place in the commercial TV market in Spain over the last two years with the TV map now dominated by a duopoly: Tele 5-Cuatro and Antena 3-La Sexta. The two groups control around 85 per cent of the TV ad market in Spain with yearly audience of over 50 per cent.