Antena 3 has been the leader for more than two years. Telecinco lost in November 2021 a leadership that it had maintained for more than a decade thanks to the success of its reality shows and the feedback with which it filled its schedule. Everything was rowing in favor. But unexpected situations such as losing Pasapalabra in favor of Antena 3 after a judicial resolution or the withdrawal of the versions of Gran hermano after the case of sexual harassment of Carlota Prado changed the scenario.
Two years later, Telecinco has not only not regained the lead, but has also lost second place, which has been held by RTVE’s La 1 since July. The new board of Mediaset España (Paolo Vasile was replaced by Alessandro Salem as CEO at the end of 2022) was confident that the start of the new season in September would turn the situation around and the third position would remain as a summer anecdote.
That’s why he brought back Gran hermano VIP, the jewel in the crown for years, and moved his star presenter, Ana Rosa Quintana, to the chain’s afternoons with TardeAR, while Joaquín Prat stayed in the mornings on Vamos a ver. It also gave an opportunity to Jorge Javier Vázquez with Cuentos chinos, to recover the orphans of Sálvame.
But the season is not working. Cuentos chinos lasted three weeks. Not only is TardeAR not sweeping the afternoons, but it hasn’t achieved the leadership it once boasted in the mornings. Telecinco has lost its leadership in the mornings and has worsened the result of the afternoons against programs that were in that range years before. And GH VIP, for the first time has an average audience of less than one million viewers. In addition, this decline in audience has had a knock-on effect that has affected other spaces, such as the series La que se avecina or Entrevías, which have fallen this year from the figures obtained in previous seasons.
In this currently fruitless battle of Telecinco to regain second place, Mediaset announced last week more powder: it is bringing back the legendary Crónicas marcianas by Xavier Sardà with a compilation of the best moments of the successful format broadcast between 1997 and 2005, and also GH Dúo, with contestants participating in pairs. Among the novelties, Celebrity School, a German format in which celebrities return to class and face children from Primary, Secondary and High School.
But without a doubt, the big hit has been the signing, announced this week, of Carlos Franganillo, until now presenter of Telediario de la nite on TVE, who will replace Pedro Piqueras at Informativos Telecinco from January, after his withdrawal by own decision.
In principle, this signing harms TVE much more, which loses a face of prestige, than it could benefit Telecinco, since, beyond this aforementioned prestige, Franganillo is not a value that brings audiences. His five years at the helm of La 1 news has not improved the results, but rather worsened them slightly: Telediario 2 had a share of 11.5% in September 2018 and now it is 10.3 %. It is true that he has achieved second place (leader Antena 3 Noticias), but it is because of the fall of Telecinco, not because he has risen.
The signing of Franganillo leaves RTVE out of position, which in recent months had been playing its cards so that La 1 would snatch this second position from Telecinco with bets that have worked very well, such as the daily series La promesa or the contest El cazador. accompanied by safe values, such as MasterChef, and extraordinary events such as football, Benidorm Fest or Eurovision.
The reality is that Antena 3 is currently playing in an unattainable league, while La 1 and Telecinco are fighting for this second position, separated by a few tenths. There is a week left until the end of November and Antena 3 has a 13% screen share; La 1, 10.1%, and Telecinco, 9.6%. Figures similar to those of recent months since La 1 took second place from Telecinco.
