Mediaset España Comunicación

1989–1993: The early years

Gestevisión Telecinco was established on 10 March 1989, to participate in the government auction of broadcasting licenses announced by Felipe González's government following the Ley de Televisión Privada (Law of Commercial Television). Its first president was Germán Sánchez Ruipérez and, with a capital of 250 million pesetas, its shareholding was distributed as follows:

• Fininvest, presided by Silvio Berlusconi (25%);
• Divercisa, belonging to the Organización Nacional de Ciegos de España (ONCE), presided by Miguel Durán (25%);
• Sociedad Europea de Comunicación e Información (CECISA), belonging to Ediciones Anaya, presided by Germán Sánchez Ruipérez (25%);
• Juan Fernández Montreal, owner of Chocolates Trapa (15%);
• Promociones Calle Mayor, of the property developer Ángel Medrano Cuesta (10%).

On 25 August 1989 Gestevisión Telecinco, along with Antena 3 Televisión and PRISA TV, were issued a 10-year broadcasting license to operate a national, free-to-air, commercial television channel. On 3 March 1990 Tele5 (as it was known then) began its initial broadcast.

In 1997 Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset acquired the majority of shares in Telecinco.^[3]

The main director of Atlas, Chema Baptist, added maximum responsibility of Telecinco's internet area and new business multiplatform to his duties. This decision was part of the company's policy of harnessing content creation and management in new technologies, and it took place immediately after the repurchase of 50% of his internet branch was finalised by Orange in 2001.

In 1998, after the arrival of Paolo Vasile as Chief executive officer, Telecinco became more prominent in Spain. On 10 March 2000, the Spanish government renewed the concession for a further 10 years

Gestevisión Telecinco was listed on the stock exchange on 24 June 2004.^[4]

2009–present: Telecinco-Cuatro merger

On December 18, 2009, Mediaset, the controlling shareholder of Gestevisión Telecinco, and PRISA, parent company of Sogecable, presented an agreement to merge their television operations (Telecinco and Cuatro). Following this merger, Cuatro would be purchased in full by Telecinco. As part of the deal, PRISA would buy newly issued shares of Gestevisión Telecinco, giving it an 18% stake in the company.

This agreement made Gestevisión Telecinco the largest television network in Spain by audience share. In total the group would operate eight free-to-air channels: Telecinco, Cuatro, LaSiete, FactoríaDeFicción, LaNueve, CNN+ and CincoShop.

The board of directors of the enlarged Gestevisión Telecinco (which will keep the brands and editorial structure of both Telecinco and Cuatro) has Alejandro Echevarria as a chairman and Juan Luis Cebrián as a vicechairman, both non-executives; with two CEOs, Paolo Vasile (programming) and Giuseppe Tringali (advertising). PRISA also has two CEOs and nominates the vice-chairman of the operator.

As part of the agreement, Gestevisión Telecinco will take a 22% shareholding in the Digital+ platform.^[5][6]

Headquarters of Mediaset España, in Madrid.

On 11 March 2011 following the purchase of Cuatro and the creation of its newest channel, Divinity, the company informed the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores to amend the corporate name of the company from Gestevision Telecinco to Mediaset España Comunicación.

Mediaset is a supporter of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) initiative that is promoting and establishing an open European standard for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast TV and broadband multimedia applications with a single user interface, and has run pilot HbbTV services.^[7]

Current

• Cuatro, Cuatro HD
• Telecinco, Telecinco HD
• Factoría de Ficción
• Boing (50% with Turner Broadcasting System)
• Divinity
• Energy
• Be Mad TV

Former

• LaSiete
• Nueve