Changing channels – Spanish kids market in flux as digital switchover looms

For the distributors and producers out there who had all but given up hope of ever cracking into the Spanish broadcast market, it might be time to try again. The once-closed environment dominated by a handful of terrestrial broadcasters and strong regional channels, all of which had limited slots for kids programming, is undergoing something of a transformation as the nation prepares to switch from analogue to digital TV transmission on April 3, 2010. Since the government began issuing digital terrestrial (DTT) broadcast licenses in 2005, pubcaster TVE has launched free 24-hour kidnet Clan TV (a first for Spain), while the country's second-largest private broadcaster Antena 3 has opened up space for kids content on DTT net Neox. Broadband IPTV is also coming on strong and boosting exposure for traditional cab/sat nets such as Cartoon Network and Disney. What it all adds up to is this: more opportunities for content owners to break into the market, maximize windowing opps and exposure once there, and maybe splash around in a new stream of ancillary revenue. But the Spanish kids market isn't entirely as sunny as Barcelona on a summer's day, and the challenges are worth some careful consideration.