Uteca predicts investment in Spanish FTA when new DTT channels premiere


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Juan Fernandez Gonzalez

| 03 March 2016




The Spanish association of free-to-air (FTA) private networks, Uteca, anticipates increasing competition and growing advertising investment once the six new DTT networks are up and running.



tdtSo far, only Atresmedia's Atreseries HD is broadcasting, but five new channels are expected to premiere before summer: two more high definition (HD), Mediaset and Real Madrid TV; and three standard definition (SD), Grupo Secuoya, Kiss Media and 13TV.

“The DTT bid in October 2015 will make 2016 a year of growth for FTA TV,” said Uteca in a public release. “New channels mean increasing offers and options for viewers, so the audiovisual scenario looks more competitive than ever, with eight private media groups and public and regional networks broadcasting TV.”

In addition, a growing HD offer and upcoming sporting events such as the Olympics and the UEFA European Cup will fuel demand for HD-ready equipment, even though around 40% of homes own HD-ready screens.

According to Uteca, citing industry reports such as Arce Media i2p and Zenthinela, all these factors will mean more investment in FTA. “The FTA business will keep growing and will exceed €2 billion in advertising investment during 2016,” said the association.