Spain awards new DTT channel to Siete consortium
May 26, 2026
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The Spanish government has awarded a new nationwide DTT licence to the Siete consortium, formally concluding a competitive tender process that pitted the group against broadcaster Mediaset España.
The decision has been approved by the Council of Ministers and formalised by the Ministry for Digital Transformation, led by Óscar López.
Siete — short for Servicios Integrados Entretenimiento Televisivo — secured the licence after prevailing over Mediaset’s competing bid. Under the terms of the concession, the consortium will have six months to launch the channel’s technical infrastructure and programming operations. The station is therefore expected to begin broadcasting before the end of November 2026.
Siete is backed by a group of investors advised by José Miguel Contreras, the founder of Globomedia and La Sexta. The consortium includes businessmen Adolfo Utor, Diego Prieto and Andrés Varela, all minority shareholders in the media group Prisa, publisher of El País and Cinco Días. However, the project has been developed independently of Prisa’s current management after the company’s board decided in February 2025 to withdraw from the tender and focus exclusively on its radio, print and education businesses.
Industry sources estimate that the new broadcaster will operate with an annual budget of between €20 million and €25 million. Given those financial constraints, the channel is not expected to feature large-scale traditional news bulletins. Instead, its schedule will focus on talk shows, political debates and current affairs analysis programmes.
Technical operations are expected to be outsourced, with Mediapro among the leading candidates to provide production and transmission services. Commercial management will reportedly be handled by advertising sales firm Pulsa.
To satisfy the Ministry’s technical solvency requirements, Siete has incorporated the Argentine broadcaster Telefé as an industrial partner. Telefé, acquired in late October 2025 by an investment group led by Gustavo Scaglione and José Luis Manzano, will contribute audiovisual expertise and hold roughly 25 per cent of the venture’s capital. Despite this participation, majority control and decision-making powers will remain in Spanish hands in accordance with regulations governing strategic sectors.
The licence award brings to an end a process shaped by internal upheaval within Prisa over the past year. The company’s decision to abandon its television ambitions — championed by chairman Joseph Oughourlian — led to the departure of Carlos Núñez, then executive chairman of Prisa Media, and José Miguel Contreras, who served as the group’s head of content. Both later continued developing the television project privately before ultimately securing government approval.
Mediaset España’s position in the tender process was reportedly weakened by concerns over market concentration. The broadcaster already controls eight television channels in Spain, limiting its ability to secure an additional licence under the competition and plurality criteria applied by the Ministry for Digital Transformation.
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