The Council of Ministers approved this Tuesday the awarding of a new nationwide digital terrestrial television (DTT) license. The Ministry for Digital Transformation, led by Óscar López, has formalized the concession after a public tender in which the consortium called Siete (Integrated Television Entertainment Services) prevailed over the offer presented by Mediaset España, government sources confirmed to this newspaper. The resolution took place in a session held without the presence of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, who is in Rome to fulfill his official agenda.
The award imposes a strict execution schedule. The new channel has a period of six months to start its technical operations and content. With this resolution, the frequency must be operational before the end of November 2026, allowing the operator to reach full performance before the start of the electoral cycle scheduled for 2027.
The winning proposal, Siete, is a project driven by a group of investors with the strategic advice of José Miguel Contreras, founder of Globomedia and La Sexta. The consortium is made up of entrepreneurs Adolfo Utor, Diego Prieto, and Andrés Varela, minority shareholders of the Prisa group (publisher of EL PAÍS and Cinco Días). However, this candidacy has been developed independently of the current Prisa management, following the decision of the latter’s board of directors in February 2025 to decline participation in the tender and focus exclusively on its radio, press, and education assets.
The new channel’s business plan estimates an annual operating budget between 20 and 25 million euros, according to industry sources. Due to the limitation of this capital, the programming structure will dispense with large-format conventional news spaces, opting for talk shows, debates, and current affairs analysis programs. The consortium plans to outsource technical services. Mediapro is one of the candidates to take on this task, while commercial management will be delegated to the exclusive Pulsa.
Regarding the content strategy, sources close to the process have indicated that the group has evaluated the use of the CNN brand to give the channel an informative profile aligned with the project’s objectives. The viability of this deployment will depend on advertising revenue capacity in a market showing signs of recovery during 2026.
To meet the technical solvency requirements demanded by the Ministry, the consortium has incorporated Telefé as an industrial partner. The Argentine channel, acquired at the end of October 2025 by an investor group led by Gustavo Scaglione and José Luis Manzano, brings audiovisual management experience and approximately 25% of the project’s capital. The terms of the agreement guarantee that majority control and decision-making remain in the hands of the Spanish investors, in compliance with regulations for strategic sectors.
The award ends a selection process marked by internal reconfiguration within the Prisa group during the past year. The rejection of the television project by Prisa’s leadership — led by its president Joseph Oughourlian — resulted in the departure of Carlos Núñez, who held the position of CEO of Prisa Media, and José Miguel Contreras, who served as content director of Prisa Media. These executives and shareholders decided to move the initiative to another private sphere until formalizing a proposal that has been chosen by the Government.
Mediaset España’s position in the bidding process was affected by the saturation of frequencies under its control. Managing eight channels nationwide, its capacity to apply for a new license was restricted under the competition and plurality criteria applied by the Ministry for Digital Transformation.
With the license now granted, the Siete consortium now begins the operational execution phase. The group’s immediate challenge is to finalize contracts with technical staff and media profiles, as well as consolidate its commercial structure. Meeting these milestones within six months will determine the signal’s entry into the television grid before the next electoral call.
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