‘Rueda la letra’ will have four celebrities, a musical quiz, and an initial duel, but without saying “pasapalabra”: “Comparisons are inevitable”

With the R: new Telecinco contest that inherits the final test of Pasapalabra after a long legal history, and that will try to avoid similarities in any future complaint. Answer: Rueda la letra. It will be hosted by Carlos Sobera from Monday, September 7 at 19:00 and, for the moment, it will avoid competing in its time slot with the veteran Antena 3 format, which starts just when the new Rosco ends, now called La rueda due to the impossibility of using the original name by court order. Because Atresmedia lost the rights to the test from the Dutch MC&F Broadcasting, but not its name.

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“Comparisons will be inevitable,” Sobera admitted at Thursday’s presentation in the new set, which shares with Pasapalabra the lecterns for the final test, seats at a table for the four celebrities who will accompany the contestants, and some of the colors and screens that made the stage recognizable. The contest will also start with two winners of the Rosco: Fran González and Lilit Manukyan. “I understand it will be compared, but we have aimed to make a unique contest. Obviously, it is based on elements like letters, fun, and that tension that grows until the last test,” defended Jaime Guerra, Mediaset’s programming director, at the Villaviciosa de Odón studios: “There are hundreds of thousands of contests worldwide that play with words or music, it’s not about focusing on one, but on all. Now there is a greater focus on the final test, and a series of tests have been tested to find a different, fun format that can be played from home. Entertaining and for everyone.”

Because, as in Pasapalabra, the first part, more familiar and fun before the final tension, will start with a selection test with the loser of the previous day to see who becomes the new contestant. If in the competition it is La silla azul, here it is La oportunidad. From there there will be tests like ¡He dicho!, with quotes from celebrities; Cantando espero, the musical one with buzzers that replicate the new lecterns; Con dos palabras, with an auction in which to guess words with two clues; and Palabras ocultas, inspired by puzzles. In all, minutes are added for the final. “You always try not to resemble other contests, but comparisons with Password or 25 palabras also always come up,” defends Rafa Guardiola, director who was already responsible for Pasapalabra when it was on Mediaset hosted by Christian Gálvez.

The jackpot will start at 200,000 euros, and each day a contestant wins, they will take home 1,200 euros (as in the one hosted by Roberto Leal). The celebrities will first change every afternoon (the first are Samantha Vallejo-Nájera, Miguel Ángel Muñoz, Iván Sánchez and Laura Sánchez) and then every three shows, as in Pasapalabra. For now, the production company Bulldog assures that they have not imposed a clause so that celebrities do not coincide in the two competing contests. They also do not know if Atresmedia has signed with former contestants so they do not appear on these new lecterns.

In this new wheel, of course, “pasapalabra” will not be said either, but “paso.” Manukyan admits that “we are all human” and sometimes has had the temptation to say the expression. Better not to do it so that Antena 3 and ITV cannot use it in court, although Guerra has avoided any response on the matter and has repeated that all legal matters are in the hands of the legal department, from the possibility of new complaints to the lawsuit that Mediaset announced in July it would file against Atresmedia over its new final test, AlaZ. “This is historically the most important test on television. Where there is the most emotion and tension,” Guerra pointed out, who anticipated that there will be other former contestants also among the audience waiting for their chance.

“The spirit of the contest is the same as before,” explains González, who won El rosco and €1,542,000 in 2018: “The structure is the same, but the revamped tests are more dynamic and more interactive so the audience can play from home.” The people in charge have wanted to emphasize that aspect of playing with the audience in the first part of the program, with “entertainment, fun, dances and jokes” before the final ritual: “La rueda has a different position, with a lot of weight, and different lighting and production. Everything has to be easy for the viewer without much explanation,” Guerra pointed out. “They are like two formats in one.” As Antena 3 defended before for keeping El rosco, they defend that the inspirations come from many contests, puzzles, and games in apps.

At the center will be Sobera, who inherits as a key face of Mediaset a test previously hosted by Silvia Jato, Jaime Cantizano, Constantino Romero, Christian Gálvez (who sent encouragement to Sobera) and Roberto Leal. His challenge now has been the speed with which he will have to read the definitions: “I have good diction, and I read the definitions beforehand to detect the complicated words. But I don’t practice at home, I have enough with everything I have…”. The host, already a classic of contests, also hosts First Dates and El precio justo on Telecinco, which, with many episodes recorded and now moving to the weekend, will give him a break in the new stage: “I’m sad to leave the reality shows, because I like live shows, I live in chaos. But I no longer have time, and a host can’t do 15 shows, it wouldn’t be good.” Also, he has recorded for a year the prime time contest Los 200: uno contra la masa: “It is suffering the consequences of current events, and although contests work well during the day, they don’t do so much in prime time.”

Although Sobera always likes the number eight for superstitions, the program will start at seven. He solves it by saying “it’s 19 and nine minus one is already eight, so on the first day we will surely succeed, then we’ll see.” In any case, he has said he still wishes the best for Roberto Leal, to whom he plans to write a message of encouragement 10 minutes before the program starts: “There is always room for everyone.” For now, Pasapalabra has remained stable in the ratings after changing its new final test, now AlaZ. In these more than two months of broadcast, it has continued to mark around 17% share, reaching peaks of more than 20% with the key test.

Audience lows

Telecinco will maintain in the time slot opposite it the contest ¡Allá tú!, with Juanra Bonet, one of those who have held up best this summer, with a 9.8% average in August (two points above the channel’s). It has not only been the most watched in the channel’s afternoon but has survived the cancellations of Amor.. ¡o lo que surja! and ¡De lunes a viernes!. Although the contest remains, on Monday the schedule will be reconfigured with the reconversion of El verano se mueve (the program with the lowest audience in the afternoon, with 6.9%) and the return of El diario de Jorge. El tiempo justo, by Joaquín Prat, will move to the morning, replacing the mentioned El precio justo.

In any case, Sobera, although he does not reveal much about the ratings, also sees “green shoots” with the channel’s good streak: “I’m not worried about the lows because that’s precisely where you climb from. And then we live in a country where things are always happening, so I understand that at these moments the news has a prominent position.”

Rueda la letra is currently Mediaset’s great hope for a new season where new battles and many definitions are expected. Sobera draws on his past as a lawyer: “All intellectual property matters are very complex and take years to resolve. There are always cracks with new problems. I imagine it will continue because no one wants to lose what they believe belongs to them nor what is an extraordinary contest.”

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