The chief executive and president of Spanish sports broadcasting heavyweight Mediapro, Tatxo Benet, has been moved aside from that role by the company's majority shareholder, Chinese media group Orient Hontai.
Mediapro confirmed Benet's departure yesterday evening, following reports in the Spanish media earlier that day that Benet would be replaced by Sergio Oslé, the former chief executive of Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica.
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Mediapro has now said that Benet unveiled his departure to the rest of the company yesterday, during a general meeting at the company's Barcelona headquarters.
Benet founded Mediapro alongside Jaume Roures and Gerard Romy, having previously been a director of the Olympic Channel.
Benet, who also led the TV production element for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, has now said: "I take with me the experience of the past 30 years, and the immense talent and humanity of the more than 55,000 professionals who have worked at the group. I’m confident that this new chapter – one in which none of the three original founders remain – will be just as successful as the past three decades, which have seen Mediapro, a company born and raised in Catalonia, become a global benchmark.”
Oslé had served as chief executive at Telefonica Spain since February 2021, having first joined that group in December 2017, as president of the Movistar+ broadcaster.
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By GlobalDataIt has also been reported that Carlos Núñez will become the new Mediapro chief executive and will report directly to Oslé.
During the last financial year, Mediapro's revenues fell by 10% year-on-year, while the firm's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortization) shrank by 30%.
Orient Hontai initially acquired a 56% stake in Mediapro in 2018, for €900 million ($1.04 billion).
In terms of recent Mediapro activity, it was revealed earlier this week that Mediapro will localize the NBA game feed in Latin American (LATAM) Spanish throughout the region, enhancing its partnership with the Amazon Prime Video streaming service.
After recently being appointed by Amazon to customize the audiovisual feed for its coverage of the top North American basketball league within the Spanish market, Mediapro will now provide this service for all Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas, which it claims will reach a potential audience of over 400 million viewers.
