Concentration of power at Spain's private TV

Spain's new private broadcaster La Sexta has bought the rights to broadcast the 2006 World Cup from Telefonica for around EUR 100 million. The final and the performances of Spain's national team will be broadcast there. La Sexta passed on the remaining matches to pay-TV Canal Plus, which belongs to a consortium with Telefonica and the Sogecable Group. La Sexta is 60 percent owned by Spanish production companies and 40 percent by the Mexican media empire Televisa. The maneuver is part of the new media concentration and shows the sums and energies that television is releasing south of the Pyrenees, writes the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Spain is considered the most lucrative television market in Europe, with advertising revenues rising again by 11 percent in 2005.