Television audiences could take a historic turn from August due to the struggle between Forta and Fifty5Blue

The Spanish television market faces decisive weeks. Public television broadcasters grouped in the Forta and Fifty5Blue —the company responsible for official audience measurement in Spain, formerly known as Kantar Media— keep negotiations open to renew a contract that ends next July 31. If the conversations do not come to fruition, the daily snapshot of audiences could change significantly starting August 1.

According to reports, ten of the twelve regional channels would have supported the possibility of not renewing the agreement under current conditions. Regional broadcasters believe it is time to review the measurement model to adapt it to new audiovisual consumption habits, marked by the growth of connected television, on-demand viewing, and streaming platforms. This is a negotiation about the contractual and methodological model of the service, not a challenge to the validity of the official data currently used by the market.

If an agreement is not reached, the regional channels would cease to be part of the official measurement system while the negotiation is resolved or an alternative solution is implemented. This would mean that daily audience reports would no longer reflect the behavior of a television block that, collectively, usually stands at around 7% of monthly screen share, which makes regional channels one of the main free-to-air television operators, behind La 1, Antena 3, and Telecinco.

The impact would go beyond audience figures. The data produced by Fifty5Blue constitutes the reference used by broadcasters, advertisers, media agencies, and sales houses to evaluate advertising campaigns, set rates, and analyze the performance of different operators. The absence of regional channels would make it difficult to have a complete view of television consumption in Spain and would complicate comparisons between national and regional broadcasts, especially in those communities where regional channels maintain a strong presence.

In addition, the usual reports prepared by specialized consultancies, such as Barlovento Comunicación, Dos30 or GECA, would stop incorporating the results of a good part of the regional television channels while the situation lasted. For the regional channels themselves, the outcome would also have consequences, as they would temporarily lose the approved measurement that serves as a reference for the advertising market and to compare their performance with the rest of the national operators.

All of this coincides with a moment of transformation for the audience measurement industry. The growth of audiovisual consumption outside linear television has led companies in the sector to evolve their methodologies to integrate new forms of viewing. Fifty5Blue has precisely placed this technological adaptation as one of the axes of its new stage after the brand change from Kantar Media.

For now, negotiations remain open and there is still room to reach an agreement before July 31. Until then, the official measurement system continues to function normally, although the outcome of these conversations will be decisive to know how television audiences will be measured in Spain starting in August.

In any case, this situation is not related to the recurrent conspiracy theories about an alleged manipulation of television audiences, a discourse that in recent months has gained presence in public debate and has been fueled by some political parties, programs and television channels. The disagreement between Forta and Fifty5Blue is limited to the negotiation of the contract and the evolution of the measurement model, without questioning the validity of the official data.