Spanish regulatory body CNMC is to put an end to the abuse of the dominant position in the TV ad market from the two largest broadcasters, Mediaset and Atresmedia.

CNMC will prohibit them from selling joint or packaged advertising on their TV channels, aiming to eliminate unfair competition practices and entry barriers to the benefit of smaller DTT operators. They will face fines of between €15 million and €30 million should they fail to comply.

Mediaset and Atresmedia will now have to change their commercial strategies and sell ads on their channels on a one-by-one basis. This is very likely to bring ad prices down and will not allow them to carry out a common strategy for the completion’s sake.

Currently, Mediaset and Atresmedia control 85 per cent of the TV ad spend in the country with the first claiming 43.7 per cent of the total and the latter 40.9 per cent. In September 2018, the Spanish TV market amounted to €1.5 billion, according to consultancy firm Infoadex.

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