Advanced Television

HD DTT for Atresmedia, Mediaset and Real Madrid

October 1, 2015

From David Del Valle in Madrid

Spain’s largest private TV groups, Atresmedia and Mediaset, and Real Madrid TV will be granted one HD DTT signal each, while media group Grupo Secuoya, 13TV and radio group Radio Blanca, get one SD DTT channel each one.

The Ministry of Industry will reportedly announce the successful bidders next week with the licensees having six months to start the transmissions which initially must cover 50 per cent of the population and 96 per cent in 24 months.

With the awarding of the new DTT licences, Mediaset will operate a total of seven TV channels (Telecinco, Cuatro, FDF, Divinity, Boing, Energy and the new HD channel) and Atresmedia six (Antena 3, laSexta, Neox, Nova, Mega and the new HD channel).

Football team Real Madrid will be able to break into the DTT market with its own DTT licence. Media groups Prisa, Vocento and the shopping group El Corte Ingles have been left out of the market.

The tender was launched in April after nine DTT channels were shut down last year, reducing the number of free-to-air channels in Spain from 24 to 15.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTT/DSO