Sogecable
Encyclopedia
PRISA Televisión, S.A.U (PRISA TV) is the leading pay TV
Pay TV
Pay television, premium television, or premium channels refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by both analog and digital cable and satellite, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial and internet television...
company in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, created in 1989 and controlled (as of 2007) by PRISA
PRISA
Promotora de Informaciones, S.A is a Spanish media conglomerate. The PRISA group was founded in 1972 by Jesús de Polanco.-Newspapers:* El País, daily newspaper* Diario AS sports newspaper* Cinco Días economic newspaper-Magazines:...
. It was the first company to introduce interactive systems and specially Digital Television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. In October 2010 the company changed its name from Sogecable to PRISA TV.
The company mainly manages and acquires audio-visual rights, but also distributes and produces channels. Another of its main activities is the production and distribution of cinematographic exhibitions.
Its restructuring process began in October, 2003, and finished in December, 2004, with the integration of Via Digital. They were trying this way to reorder Sogecable's activities absorbing the commitments with thematic channels, suppliers with audio-visual rights and other services. With this, restructuring the company contributed to the audio-visual recovery in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
The producer of Sogecable is Sogecine. It is one of the principal distributors and producers in the Spanish territory, with special importance in the last years.
Sogecable's facilities are in Tres Cantos
Tres Cantos
Tres Cantos is a township and municipality located in the autonomous community of Madrid, Spain, some 22 km north of the capital city, Madrid. As a "satellite city" of Madrid which was conceived by urban planners as recently as the 1970s, it is the youngest incorporated municipality in Spain, with...
, in Madrid, producing every day 23 television channels, including nine versions of Canal+
Canal+ Spain
Canal+ 1, formerly known simply as Canal+ is a Spanish commercial television channel, launched in September 1990 on terrestrial television frequencies. The channel is operated by Sogecable. The main staples of Canal+ 1 are Spanish football, bullfighting and recent movies.In 1997 new channels using...
and other 14 channels that are specialised in, sports, cinema, documentaries, children and music. These are watched and distributed across Digital+ (via satellite), cable and ADSL.
In 2005, the group offered a new free television channel, the fifth one in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Its name is Cuatro and occupies the same frequency that Canal+ did up to then. Canal+ then passed to form part only in Digital+ on 7 November, 2005.
In 2006 Prisa
PRISA
Promotora de Informaciones, S.A is a Spanish media conglomerate. The PRISA group was founded in 1972 by Jesús de Polanco.-Newspapers:* El País, daily newspaper* Diario AS sports newspaper* Cinco Días economic newspaper-Magazines:...
made a public acquisition bid on 20% of Sogecable's actions to increase its participation up to almost 50%. Prisa increased its stake above the 50% mark in late 2007, triggering a mandatory (by Spanish law
Law of Spain
The Law of Spain is the term used to describe the legislation which is in force in the Kingdom of Spain, which is understood to mean Spanish territory, Spanish waters, consulates and embassies, and ships flying the Spanish flag in international waters. It is also applicable to the Spanish armed...
) bid for the remainder of the shares. At the close of the offer period on 12 May 2008, Prisa announced that it held over 95% of Sogecable's share capital.
Sogecable is also the main shareholder in Audiovisual Sport
Audiovisual Sport
Audiovisual Sport is a Spanish company dedicated to "buy, manage, exploit and administer Spanish football Liga and Copa del Rey rights....
(AVS), which owns the TV rights of most Spanish La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
soccer games. AVS is the company responsible for the lack of Spanish Primera football international coverage after a dispute with Mediapro. Sogecable claims that it is owed €58 million and will not allow Real Madrid or Barcelona games from being played internationally until this debt is paid by Mediapro
Mediapro
Mediapro is a multimedia communications group in Spain. Founded in 1994 in Barcelona, the company is involved in movie and television production, as well as media ....
.