MFE weighs legal challenge after €73m Pasapalabra ruling
May 26, 2026 11.34 Europe/London By Julian Clover


MFE-MediaForEurope is preparing further legal action after a Madrid court ordered Mediaset España to pay €73.2 million to ITV Studios in the long-running dispute over Pasapalabra, one of Spain’s most successful television formats.

The award is one of the largest intellectual property damages rulings in Spanish television history.

The Provincial Court of Madrid upheld ITV’s claim that Mediaset benefited commercially from broadcasting Pasapalabra without authorisation between 2012 and 2019, including direct and indirect advertising revenues generated by the programme and its audience lead-in effect for subsequent schedules. The court rejected Mediaset’s appeal, which had sought annulment of the process.

However, MFE argues the ruling is already undermined by a separate judgment from Spain’s Supreme Court concerning El Rosco, the famous final round of Pasapalabra.

The Supreme Court this week confirmed an earlier Barcelona appeal ruling that intellectual property rights for El Rosco belong to Dutch company MC&F Broadcasting Production and Distribution rather than ITV. The decision means Atresmedia could ultimately be forced to stop using the segment on Antena 3 unless it reaches a licensing agreement.

MFE said the Madrid damages calculation relied on the assumption that El Rosco formed part of ITV’s format rights and represented the most attractive and commercially valuable element of the programme. It now intends to seek annulment of the enforcement proceedings, arguing the Supreme Court ruling changes the legal basis used to assess damages.

The dispute has evolved into a multi-front legal battle involving ITV, Mediaset, Atresmedia and MC&F, with implications for Spain’s two largest commercial broadcasters.

Pasapalabra originally launched on Antena 3 in 2000 before moving to Telecinco in 2007 under licence from ITV. Mediaset was forced to stop airing the show in 2019 following an earlier Supreme Court decision, allowing Atresmedia to revive the programme on Antena 3, where it has become one of Spanish television’s strongest ratings performers.

The conflict has widened further after reports that Mediaset quietly secured rights to El Rosco from MC&F more than a year ago, positioning itself should Atresmedia lose access to the segment.

The legal wrangling has also reached European institutions. In 2023, the General Court of the European Union upheld ITV’s trademark claims around Pasapalabra branding after a challenge involving a Maltese company linked to MC&F.

For MFE, the latest ruling comes at a sensitive time as the broadcaster continues restructuring its Spanish operations and navigating broader industry consolidation. The Pasapalabra case now leaves both Mediaset and Atresmedia facing uncertainty over one of the most valuable properties in Spanish entertainment television.