GRUP MEDIAPRO defines its purpose
After an internal process of definition, and coinciding with the 30th anniversary, GRUP MEDIAPRO has announced the guiding purpose underpinning its activity: "Creating courageously and with a commitment to the community". In the same process, group professionals defined the values that represent us as a group: leadership, responsibility, independence and diversity. For Tatxo Benet, CEO of the group, "these are concepts, values and principles that we have already internalized, but that will now be our calling card which we use to showcase to our environment". To define the purpose and values, the company launched a participatory process, surveying group professionals from all over the globe, organizing face-to-face meetings with people of all ages, levels of responsibility, professional positions and seniority in order to capture what the purpose of the group is and what are the guiding values that govern the way we develop our professional activities.
The purpose of the group and its professionals is to develop audiovisual projects that effect a positive impact on society, doing so in a sustainable manner, constantly striving to innovate, and promoting and disseminating our defining values. Our goal is to add lasting value to our communities while spearheading innovation within the audiovisual sector with talent as the principal driving force behind our activity, creating cultural, informative and entertaining content in a sustainable and socially responsible way.
Juan “JC” Acosta named Head of The Mediapro Studio US & Canada
With new headquarters in LA and offices in Miami and New York, the studio will expand the development, production and distribution of English-language content including Scripted Series, Non-Scripted Reality and Entertainment Shows, Documentaries, and Feature Films.
THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO will strengthen its structure in the US and Canada with the opening of a new headquarters in Los Angeles, in the heart of the global audiovisual industry, to increase the creation, production and distribution of English language content. The new office in Los Angeles will be the Studio's center of operations in these markets and will incorporate into its organization the existing offices in Miami, New York and Toronto, as well as the GRUP MEDIAPRO’s new production facility at Great Point Studios in Yonkers, New York.
With this new focus, THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO US & Canada will expand the STUDIO’s global presence adding a new office to the 53 that GRUP MEDIAPRO already has around the world, with a strategy that will accelerate its position in the territory and will develop all genres of content including Scripted Series, Non-Scripted Reality and Entertainment Shows, Documentaries, and Feature Films, following the model of the STUDIO’s global content offering. The U.S. studio will boost the production of English-language content, which THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO has already achieved early successes with television and film productions such as The Head, The Young/New Pope, Hunting Ava Bravo, A Perfect Day, Map of the Sounds of Tokyo and, among many others, the series The Famous Five.
In the same announcement, Mrs. Fdez. Espeso has confirmed the appointment of Juan “JC” Acosta as Head of THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO US & Canada. Mr. Acosta was most recently President of Paramount’s Int’l Networks and Streaming for Southern Europe, Latin America, The Middle East, & Africa, as well as President of its Global Studios Division, VIS, where he oversaw the international operations across the UK, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Israel, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, for the production studios, Paramount’s free and pay-tv networks as well as third party streamers and broadcasters. Under his leadership, the studio produced more than 3,000 hours a year, with more than +60 Originals for Paramount+.
“GRUP MEDIAPRO's primary focus across all its divisions is the expansion into the US”, says Laura Fdez. Espeso. “GRUP MEDIAPRO has been in the US since 1998. Now, we want to go further establishing the STUDIO at the heart of the global audiovisual industry and welcoming JC Acosta as the head of THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO US/Canada. I’m thrilled to have JC on board. His brilliant career and broad experience are the perfect combination to lead our strategy here.”
“The MEDIAPRO STUDIO has seen exceptional growth over the last several years and their success has been rooted in their mission and vision of content and talent first. The vast array of narratives and content produced globally are exceptional and have inspired me to take on this exciting new role. I’m thankful to Laura for her vision and entrusting me with this new venture to accelerate The Mediapro Studio’s position in the US/Canada,” said Juan “JC” Acosta.
In this new journey, THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO US & Canada will continue the company's overarching content filter to source content with creative flair, franchise-building potential, high-profile IP/talent-backing, and global appeal, with a proactive focus on inclusive narratives. The studio will be the partner of choice, through our elevated creative approach, innovative business models, and mission to spotlight underrepresented narratives.
THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO looks forward to continuing its global approach to content creation, its infrastructure, and more than 30 years of excellence to partners and audiences alike in the US/Canada and globally.
A new platform for sports fans
GRUP MEDIAPRO has rekindled Gol Stadium, the first sport-related OTT which launched in Spain in 2011, with the aim of making it the benchmark platform for sports fans and bringing more content to more people, fans of a wide spectrum of different sports. Football, racket sports (tennis and padel tennis), extreme sports, urban sports as well as all the GOL PLAY live program schedule to help reach new audiences.
Access to content is via registration at golstadium.com and the model will adapt to the content and the consumption of the viewers. With this launch GRUP MEDIAPRO is adapting to new digital consumption trends and new models of content distribution.
The two-day event brought together sports federations, TV channels and companies in the sports production field
GRUP MEDIAPRO played an important role at the recent Sportel Rendez-vous event, which took place in Buenos Aires across the 14th and 15th May, including a big stand, which was used to hold a host of meetings and showcase the group’s activities in the sports production field. Sportel, which for the first time, was held in a Spanish-speaking country, is the annual meeting point for sports federations, TV networks, and companies working in the sports production field.
Jose D’Amato, country manager at the group in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, took part in the “Pioneers in the production of big sporting events” round table last Tuesday together with Michael Muller, the broadcast director at Panam Sports, with Mª Concepción Martín Moreno, the head of the EFE news agency in Argentina chairing the talk. D’Amato highlighted GRUP MEDIAPRO’s track record in the production of big sporting events such as the Pan-American Games and the Para-Pan-American Games Lima 2019 and Santiago 2023.
The meeting point was an excellent chance to explore business opportunities across the LatAm market in the audiovisual, rights, innovation and technology fields.
The long-running laSexta show produced by Globomedia was the most watched show across the day and the second most watched program of the year on the channel
After 18 years on air, “El Intermedio” has become the longest-running show on laSexta. The 9th May, El Gran Wyoming and the entire program team “came of age” with a special live edition from the Florida Retiro Theatre in Madrid. Personalities from across the worlds of culture and politics were in attendance. Doctor Fernando Simón; the mayor of Vigo Abel Caballero and the minister of Defence Margarita Robles all took part actively in the special, which also saw Maria Jesús Montero (the deputy prime-minister and Tax Minister); Fernando López Miras (the Murcia Regional President); Yolanda Díaz (the deputy prime minister and Work and Social Affairs Minister); Juanma Moreno (the Andalusian regional prime minister); Pilar Alegría (the Sports and Education Minister); Borja Semper (the PP party spokesman) and Gabriel Rufián (the Esquerra spokesman in the Spanish parliament), among other famous faces. The music was supplied by Coque Malla and Rozalén, who also joined the party.
Over the course of its 18 years on air, “El Intermedio” has picked up a host of prestigious awards, including the Ondas 2009 award for best current affairs program and the Ondas 2013 award for Wyoming for best presenter. During the last few years, with Carmen Aguilera as the director since 2016, the “Mujer tenía que ser” section has also won a host of accolades: the CIMA award at the Vitoria Festival from the Association of Women Film makers, the Women Union’s Award presented by the Actor and Actresses’ Union and the Ondas 2018 award to Sandra Sabatés for best presenter for her work presenting the section which interviews high-profile women across all walks of life with the aim of showcasing the progress made by women across many walks of life. The most recent award was the Iris award for best director for a TV show for Carmen Aguilera, which is the latest to be added to the list of 12 TV Academy awards which “El Intermedio” has picked up since its launch in 2006: best entertainment show on four occasions, best script on three occasions and Wyoming picking up best presenter award five times.
With Wyoming at the helm since the first day, the program has developed an impressively loyal audience, which translates into more than 1.3 million viewers and an historic 8.3% average share, in addition to being the most watched show on the network for 16 consecutive years. The 9th May special notched up its best numbers so far this year with a 9.1% share, also making it the most watched show of the day on laSexta with 1,176,000 average viewers and 3,528,000 unique viewers, as well as being the second most watched program on the channel of the year.
Eumovil, the GRUP MEDIAPRO OB van provider, which is the program’s usual technical supplier, augmented its typical equipment deployment for the special show and which included both extra audio and video equipment, an 11-metre crane as well as a steady cam with RF, in addition to the 4 cameras which are used for the daily shows on set.
Mediapro Exhibitions designed and produced the show for Fundación Telefónica
Espacio Fundación Telefónica (Madrid) has recently launched “Exponencial. De analógicos a digitales” (Exponential. From analogue to digital), a permanent exhibition designed by the Fundación and conceptualized, designed and produced by Mediapro Exhibitions, the division of the GRUP MEDIAPRO specializing in the creation and management of museum projects.
From three concepts (Speak, Live and Imagine), “Exponencial. De analógicos a digitales” explores the growing impact of telecommunications development on all areas of our lives. From the appearance of the first telephones in the nineteenth century, to the arrival of the Internet, cell phones and artificial intelligence, the exhibition explores the change in social paradigm associated with the arrival of each new technology and the human stories surrounding each new milestone.
“Exponencial. De analógicos a digitales” welcomes visitors with a light installation to showcase the concept of acceleration: it took fifty years for the telephone to reach one hundred million users; with cell phones it was twelve; Instagram two years and, ChatGPT did it in just 2 months. Throughout the tour, visitors will encounter eighty objects from Telefónica's Historical and Technological Heritage, which is made up of more than 10,000 pieces; audiovisual and nine interactive installations, as well as infographics and documentary material, inviting the public to reflect on how the way we communicate has changed and how this has affected all areas of life.
The exhibition, conceived by Fundación Telefónica, was conceptualized, designed and produced by Mediapro Exhibitions and for the occasion, the GRUP MEDIAPRO division created eye-catching spaces such as the light and sound installation ‘Todo empieza con un pulso’ (Everything begins with the press of a button', taking visitors along through the very beginnings of communication; a video mapping that narrates the story of the emergence of the telephone from its beginnings at the end of the twentieth century; telephones that allow you to contact operators generated by artificial intelligence; an interactive installation that allows museumgoers to consult the vast collection of photographs that make up Telefónica’s Historical Archive; a time tunnel that collects examples of some of the equipment that has enabled and improved our communications; an audiovisual installation that recreates the earliest Internet and its evolution through to the present day; infographics to explain exactly what happens when you make a call, and emerging technologies; even featuring holograms to display interviews with experts.
“Exponencial. De analógicos a digitales” can be visited free of charge on the 2nd floor of the Espacio Fundación Telefónica (C/ Fuencarral, 3, Madrid).
