'La voz senior' and 'MasterChef junior' again: why do the chains continue to bet on formats with half the audience than before?

The generalist chains have advanced during the first days of this 2022 what their grill will be like throughout the year. At the moment, it is not only reminiscent of the one from 2021, but also the one from a decade ago. Formats such as

(La 1) and

(Antena 3) are close to completing 10 years on the air in Spain. They also have several derivative programs, versions with children, grandparents and even celebrities in the case of the cooking contest. But almost always their bets do not manage to lead in their time slot and reach discreet screen quotas, between 10% and 13%. The audience is leaving for other entertainment windows and the usual channels prefer to lose viewers to undertake major changes in their offer.

Analyst Mariola Cubells explains by phone that “their revenues are lower, but it makes up for them not to innovate, because it is what is cheapest for them. And more so in the case of Televisión Española, which has a limited budget that does not give it room for great experiments. Although not all of them are acting the same, the common denominator is that they are as lost as everyone else in the new audiovisual panorama, so diverse, convulsive and abundant at the moment”.

The series

years ago abandoned millionaire audiences and even ceased to be the first choice of viewers. This Thursday it premieres its batch of episodes number 22.

, despite having experienced a significant drop in its deliveries broadcast in 2021, is already preparing its eighth season on Telecinco. Y

, on the air since 2009, begins to obtain data below the average of its chain.

More information

The small great audience successes of La 2: programs designed "for a huge minority"

Although Antena 3 shows attempts to renew its offer, incorporating the phenomenon of Turkish soap operas into its prime time or new contests such as

and

conservatism continues to work for it in some cases. The network has benefited from the return of a veteran space such as

while

, premiered in 2006, and

, which is broadcasting its ninth season, maintain large audiences, as is the case on Telecinco with

.

contest is about to return to Antena 3

to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its first broadcast in Spain. It will do so with several specials presented by Manel Fuentes that could lead to the definitive return to the grid of the main Atresmedia channel. This was the case with

which awaits the premiere of new installments with Juanra Bonet at the helm.

Tinet Rubira, director of the production company Gestmusic, explains that, in the audience game, programmers have understood that, sometimes, achieving great data at any price for a program that is broadcast only one night a week "can reduce its cost effectiveness".

They prefer to analyze the data globally and achieve acceptable figures, although not spectacular, during the seven days of the week and in the different time slots.

David Bustamante and Niña Pastori in 'La voz Senior', by Antena 3.

duplicate business

Something similar is happening in the US market, where the traditional networks continue betting on formats such as

,

or

while the viewer escapes to other types of platforms. Their bets remain the same as they were a decade ago, although now they reach half the audience. One of the reasons for this change in attitude is that the conglomerates that own these networks also own the online content platforms. ABC and FOX belong to the same company as Disney+, and NBC has Peacock. In other words, its owners have decided to focus their business elsewhere; give up the battle for losing in traditional television to invest almost all their efforts in the

.

Pablo Díaz, in 'El hormiguero' after winning the 'Pasapalabra' jackpot.

For Cubells, the Spanish general channels "are aware that the platforms have a power and a predicament that they have lost."

And in addition, they have given up on areas such as series and movies, in the hands of à la carte services.

Now, that competition is also starting to bet on other genres, through non-fiction content (from the

Insiders

reality show

on netfix). One of the solutions is to imitate the American model and look at the market à la carte. “Atresmedia is betting very strongly and very well on its platform, Atresplayer Premium. What is happening with RTVE Play, on the public channel, is also very interesting, something that would have to be taken more into account if it had more resources and more support from the channel, and Mediaset is not playing that trick with MiTele Plus”, he comments TV expert.

Koro Castellano, director of Amazon Prime Video Spain, recalls that the platforms "do not always pose a threat to the chains, because they often collaborate closely with them." They help to co-produce new content such as, in the case of Jeff Bezos's company, series such as

or

which could later be seen openly on Mediaset channels.

Cubells agrees that the competition for screen share on Spanish television is now less fierce. Until a few years ago, it was common to see programs canceled after their first or second broadcast or for having been in second position in their time slot. "The audience has been desecrated, the networks decide to continue betting on the content they had planned despite a poor initial reception," he says. “They have even demystified advertising, because they understand that the business is no longer in that huge mass of faithful who were watching television, but in the niches. They prefer to make a mark and that this gives them other opportunities”, continues the television analyst. For example, bet on

outside its main network and prime time, it has allowed Atresmedia to co-produce a live show with the protagonists of the space that has toured stages throughout Spain.

In an interview with this newspaper last September, Rubira defended that the data from

2020, half that of the 2017 edition, were sufficient for the chain that decided to re-broadcast the contest, since it is a format that generates other benefits in terms of social audience on the Internet and in other market lines.

It is a way, he says now, that "television groups have an eye on each side and go to an audience that is dispersing, without forgetting linear television, which continues to be widely consumed."

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