Movistar Plus, Mediaset, Atresmedia, RTVE, 3Cat re-set priorities in a ‘contracted economy and a very saturated market,’ says Mediaset’s Ghislain Barrois Spain’s TV industry is shifting gears as international buyers grow more selective, prompting its leading operators to rethink their series business. Pay TV operator Movistar Plus is scaling up in Spanish originals. Atresmedia is strengthening its longstanding relationship with Netflix, while Mediterráneo Mediaset is placing a large emphasis on international sales.
Meanwhile, public broadcasters are pursuing different models of collaboration. RTVE shares financing and rights with overseas partners, while Catalonia’s 3Cat brings partners aboard at the development stage. Barrois sees a shift in the global streamers’ buying priorities.
Both fell out of favor during the peak-TV boom, but successive release windows now offer ways to “extend life and monetization opportunities,” he adds. Atresmedia is extending the commercial life of its programming through deals with streaming platforms. Its latest Netflix deal brings Antena 3’s daily drama “Dreams of Freedom” to the platform, with Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo‘s “Veneno” also set to join the service.
Since 2025, a Disney+ deal brings Spanish subscribers 300-plus hours annually from Atresmedia’s Atresplayer. The broadcaster has long viewed global streamers “as an ally and not as a threat,” an approach that also informs content development. Atresmedia’s recent originals include “Adrift,” from Mediawan’s Boomerang TV and Buendía Estudios Canarias, about fishermen returning after being presumed dead.
The volume of content Netflix licensed in Spain rose from 2,420 hours in 2024 to 2,829 in 2025, including around 700 hours from RTVE and Atresmedia, up from 543 a year earlier, Ampere Analysis estimates. Licensing existing programs is one part of the equation. With production costs rising, broadcasters are also bringing partners together to finance new series and share the investment.
Alongside sales of finished programs, RTVE uses advance financing agreements that divide territories and exploitation windows among partners. For 3Cat, those partnerships also shape projects from the development stage. Charting Ferran Adrià’s culinary revolution at his restaurant El Bulli, drama “Gènesi” has Netflix aboard across multiple territories, with New Regency also handling international distribution outside Spain.
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