Spanish government expected to approve pay-DTT

The Spanish government is expected to approve the launch of pay-TV services on the country’s digital-terrestrial TV platform this Thursday.

The move will, among other things, allow commercial broadcaster and producer Mediapro to exploit its rights to broadcast coverage of Spanish football matches on its Gol TV channel, which is available on the digital-terrestrial platform. The channel will be available for €14.90 a month. Mediapro plans to market decoders priced between €50 and €60, according to local press.

The imminent launch of pay services on the terrestrial platform is believed to be one of the factors that undermined merger discussions between pay-TV company Sogecable’s owner Prisa and Mediapro, which collapsed last week. Prisa had strongly opposed the launch of pay-TV services on DTT.