Telecinco posts worst November as advertising drops 11.9%

TV advertising falls 11.9% while television consumption crashes

Why are people turning off the TV? The latest monthly Barlovento Communication audience report, which few read because it focuses on money rather than programs, provides the answer in three lines: advertising tension measured in GRP dropped 11.9% in September, spots by 6.2%, and campaigns by 0.8%. Fewer ads miccionan less revenue, and less revenue means a poorer schedule. The decline in generalist television audience is no longer just an impression: it now has a number.

Telecinco and Antena 3: Leading costs points

Antena 3 remained the most-watched channel, with 13 points of share, but has lost 1.3 points over the last year. Its competitor is not faring better: Telecinco has lost 1.8 points, with its average audience dropping to 9.7 points, compared to La 1’s 10 (-0.2%), which holds second place. Despite extensive coverage of Mediaset’s channel comeback, its figure has improved by only one-tenth since September. That 9.7% represents its worst November since records began: even in 1990, the year of its founding, it recorded 10.4%.

Who is still watching television in Spain?

Each Spaniard spends 188 minutes daily in front of the TV, a 4% decrease and the lowest figure for a November since 1992. The average is misleading, as it hides two different realities. Pensioners dedicate 355 minutes daily to the screen; adults aged 45 to 64, 232 (-4%); those aged 25 to 44, 105 (-11%); young people aged 13 to 24, 59 (-12%); and children aged 4 to 12, 69 (-13%). The detachment of younger generations is a phenomenon sector analysts had not seen before. The viewer sustaining the audience is, precisely, the one least interested by large consumer goods companies purchasing advertising.

Themed channels pick up what generalists drop

A significant portion of the audience abandoning generalist channels reappears in themed ones, with a meticulous distribution: Energy rises 0.2 points, FDF 0.3, Neox 0.2, Atreseries 0.2, Dmax 0.1, Mega 0.3, Paramount 0.2, Bemad 0.6, Ten 0.4, and Dkiss 0.1. No single figure is spectacular. Summed together, they depict a silent shift toward cheaper schedules less dependent on prime time. This steady drip, channel by channel, best explains where business is slipping away.

News programs: Antena 3 dominates and Telecinco changes presenter

Antena 3 is the absolute sector leader, with an average of 2,154,000 viewers (18.8%). The second is La 1, with 1,265,000 (10.9%), and the third Telecinco, with 1,229,000 (10.7%). The last two are closer to Lasensla (858,000, 8.7%) than to the top of the list. Sandra Golpe’s news program wins its slot with a 21.6% share and 2,188,000 trinc; Vicente Vallés’s nighttime program, with 2,393,000 and 18.4%. Carlos Franganillo takes over from Pedro Piqueras in a slot where Telecinco gathers 1,339,000 viewers and 10.3%, below La 1 (1,363,000, 10.4%).

Why do people stop watching television?

There are three recurring answers. One argues the medium has lost its function: almost everything it broadcasts is now on the internet, free or by subscription, and young viewers do not return. Another points to content, citing news and entertainment with an editorial line that much of the audience no longer accepts. A third, more uncomfortable, view holds that switching screens changes nothing, as platforms and online video respond to the same commercial interests as Free-to-Air TV (TDT). Parallel to this, warnings circulate about the sector’s technical future: the hypothesis that the ITU closes TDT in Europe around 2030 to free up radio spectrum, channels converting into platforms, the closure of some channels reported in the press, and information regarding Borja Prado’s departure from the presidency of Mediaset.

The demographic consolation

One figure remains for the channels’ optimism: if the loyal viewer spends 355 minutes daily on the sofa, there is still an entire generation willing to sustain the schedule. The problem is that this generation is not the one most interesting to large consumer advertisers.