Spain’s television operators are adjusting to an international market that no longer writes blank cheques. With streamers prioritising local series and production budgets climbing, the country’s biggest broadcasters are leaning harder into licensing, pre-sales and co-production.
Licensing volume climbs
Netflix’s licensed Spanish catalogue grew from 2,420 hours in 2024 to 2,829 hours in 2025, according to Ampere Analysis. RTVE and Atresmedia supplied around 700 of those hours, up from 543 a year earlier. That is a selective market, not peak-TV volume for its own sake: finished library titles are being used to extend commercial life.
One market, several playbooks
- Atresmedia is consolidating distribution deals. Daily drama “Dreams of Freedom” and “Veneno” head to Netflix, while Disney+ receives 300-plus hours a year from Atresplayer.
- Movistar Plus plans to double annual Spanish originals to 16 and add another 10 titles via co-production or acquisition.
- RTVE uses advance financing agreements that split territories and release windows; “El Valle del Arcángel,” with Dynamo and Sony, runs on that model.
- 3Cat brings editorial and financial partners aboard during development, as on “Gènesi” with Netflix.
- Mediterráneo Mediaset stays domestic-first, selling “Pure Bred” to 29 territories and “La Favorita” to nearly 100.
Why shared risk is returning
RTVE’s Rafael Bardem says rising production costs make it difficult for one operator to finance certain projects alone. Early partner input matters too. 3Cat’s Pío Vernis argues that the earlier principal editorial and financial partners come aboard, the easier it is to accommodate the conditions each considers non-negotiable.
Mediterráneo Mediaset is more cautious. Ghislain Barrois says co-productions may share the bill, but editorially they are complicated; his team designs series “with our audience and Spain in mind.” He still sees a cost edge for Spain, which he says remains “well below most European countries.”
What actually travels
Ampere Analysis puts crime and thriller at 32% of announced Spanish-language VoD commissions in 2025, ahead of comedy at 21% and drama at 20%. Movistar Plus’ Rebeca Aguilar says genre matters less than “good stories” that let viewers in any country engage with them. Comedy is tougher because local humour can get lost, but format adaptation is the workaround: Netflix has ordered local versions of “Machos Alfa” in France, Italy and Germany.
The numbers to watch
The doubling at Movistar Plus is the clearest signal that originals remain strategic even while risk is shared. For buyers, the takeaway is not one model but a set of deliberately different risk structures running side by side.
Source: Variety
