José Miguel Contreras, the journalist who started laSexta and now promotes La Séptima

For the definitive granting of a state DTT license in Spain, mainly administrative procedures of the central Government are involved, supported by a legal framework approved by the General Courts. The Parliament does not authorize licenses on a case-by-case basis, but it does set the basic legal regime through laws such as the Law 13/2022, of July 7, General Audiovisual Communication Law and the Law 11/2022, General Telecommunications Law. From there, the specific procedure is structured around a public tender resolved by the Council of Ministers.

1. Regulatory framework and distribution of competences

Law 13/2022 establishes that the provision of the television audiovisual communication service that uses terrestrial hertzian waves (DTT) and, therefore, limited public radioelectric domain, is subject to a prior license regime granted in a public tender. For state-wide licenses, the competent authority to call and resolve the tender is the Government, through the Council of Ministers.

Law 11/2022 regulates the public radioelectric domain and empowers the Government to approve and modify the National Technical Plans for DTT, which determine the digital multiplexes and the available capacity. Without this prior planning, the license tender cannot be called.

2. Parliamentary intervention

The intervention of the Courts is indirect and general in nature:

• They approve the laws that set the basic license regime, its conditions, duration, renewal, concentration limits, etc. (for example, Law 13/2022 regulates the tender, its maximum resolution period of twelve months, solvency requirements, and other essential elements).
• They exercise political control over the Government (questions, interpellations, appearances) regarding the calls and awards, but do not issue a singular authorization for each license.

Therefore, there is no specific parliamentary procedure equivalent to an individual “ratification” or “validation” of DTT licenses.

3. Main administrative phases

a) Spectrum planning

Based on Law 11/2022, the Government approves via Royal Decree the National Technical Plan for DTT, which assigns digital multiplex capacities and determines which part of the spectrum is reserved for state coverage services. This planning opens the door to offering licenses.

b) Approval of the specifications and call for the tender

According to Law 13/2022, the tender bases for state licenses are approved by Agreement of the Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the ministry competent in audiovisual matters. This agreement:

• Establishes the number and type of licenses (HD/SD, state-wide scope).
• Defines participation requirements, award criteria, programming obligations, technical and economic conditions.
• Orders the call for the tender.

The agreement and the specifications are published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), which starts the deadline for submitting offers.

c) Submission of offers and evaluation

Interested operators submit their applications and documentation within the established deadline. An evaluation committee or body, different from the one that resolves (a principle required by Law 13/2022), analyzes:

• Economic and technical solvency of the bidder.
• Programming proposal, contribution to pluralism, technological innovation, etc.
• Compliance with concentration limits and participation in the audiovisual market.

This body formulates an award proposal to the Council of Ministers.

d) Award by the Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers adopts a motivated Award Agreement, within the maximum period of twelve months from the call established by law. The agreement:

• Determines which bidders obtain each license and on which digital multiplex.
• Links the license to compliance with the offered commitments.
• Orders publication in the BOE, giving publicity and general effectiveness.

e) Granting of public domain and registration

Each license entails the granting of exclusive use of the necessary public radioelectric domain, usually granted by the competent ministry body (for example, the State Secretariat for Telecommunications) according to telecommunications regulations.

At the same time, the provider must register in the State Register of Audiovisual Communication Service Providers, regulated by Royal Decree 1138/2023, as a prior step to starting broadcasts.

f) Service start and supervision

With the license and spectrum grant in force, the operator deploys its network and begins broadcasts within the established deadlines. The CNMC, as the state audiovisual authority, supervises compliance with service obligations, advertising, pluralism, and other legal and license conditions.

4. Appeals and judicial control

Against administrative acts of the procedure (bases, award, etc.) interested parties may file:

• Administrative appeal (usually reconsideration) before the same body that issued the act.
• Contentious-administrative appeal before competent courts, which can review the legality of the tender and award.

Additionally, the actions of the Government and the CNMC are subject to continuous political parliamentary control, although this control does not translate into an additional formal procedure for each license.

In Spanish legislation, there is no specific and closed definition of the position of Content Director in a media group like PRISA Media. It is an organic and contractual executive position, configured by each company in its bylaws, internal regulations, and senior management contracts. However, based on the general framework of labor law, corporate law, and audiovisual and press regulation, its typical competences and functions can be identified with considerable precision.

1. General legal fit of the position

Usually, a Content Director has the status of senior executive, regulated by the Workers' Statute and, where appropriate, by a senior management contract. This implies:

• Broad management power in the assigned area (editorial content, programming, etc.).
• Direct dependence on the governing body, the CEO, or the general director of the group.
• Enhanced duties of diligence and loyalty, similar to those of corporate directors, insofar as they participate in the effective management of the business.

Their functions are also inserted within the framework of sectoral regulations (for example, rules on audiovisual communication, press, advertising, data protection, or intellectual property) that condition what types of content can be disseminated and under what terms.

2. Design and supervision of content strategy

A central competence, of legal and organizational relevance, is the definition of the content policy of the group or the brands it integrates (radio, press, digital platforms, etc.). This usually includes:

• Establishing the editorial and programming line in coherence with the guidelines set by the governing body and, where appropriate, with the editorial statute of the medium.
• Ensuring that contents respect fundamental rights (honor, privacy, image rights, presumption of innocence) and rules on informational truthfulness.
• Overseeing compliance with legal content limitations: protection of minors, hate speech, glorification of terrorism, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, etc.
• Coordinating the offer among different media (radio, press, digital, podcasts, video) to optimize the use of exploitation rights.

3. Editorial responsibility and regulatory compliance

The Content Director acts as one of the main pieces of compliance guarantee in editorial matters:

• Promoting and supervising internal protocols on source verification, corrections, treatment of sensitive information, and separation between information and opinion.
• Coordinating with legal services to minimize legal risks (civil lawsuits, complaints, administrative sanctions) derived from contents.
• Ensuring observance of advertising regulations, clearly differentiating editorial and advertising content, and respecting rules for special advertising (health, financial, political, aimed at minors, etc.).
• Monitoring respect for third-party intellectual property rights and the correct use of licenses for own and third-party content.

4. Management of teams and editorial structure

From the labor and organizational law perspective, their functions include:

• Organizing and coordinating newsrooms or content creation teams (program directors, section heads, digital vertical managers).
• Participating in decisions on selection, evaluation, and remuneration of key profiles, in coordination with human resources.
• Defining internal standards of journalistic ethics, equality, and non-discrimination in contents and team functioning.
• Managing internal conflicts related to editorial decisions, prioritizing the protection of independence and informational quality.

5. Relationship with the governing body and other executives

The corporate framework also imposes functions of reporting and coordination:

• Periodically informing the board of directors or senior management about the content strategy and results.
• Integrating editorial decisions into the overall business strategy (commercial, technological, data, international expansion).
• Participating in the preparation of contingency plans for reputational crises linked to contents.

6. Margins of autonomy and legal limits

Although enjoying a broad margin of professional autonomy, their decisions are legally limited by:

• The instructions of corporate bodies and the corporate governance structure of the group.
• Contracts with third parties (producers, agencies, rights holders, platforms).
• Applicable sectoral and general regulations (labor, civil, criminal, administrative, data, equality, accessibility, etc.).

In sum, from the perspective of Spanish legislation, the Content Director is a senior management figure with broad functions of design, supervision, and control of editorial and programming policy, but their actions are strongly framed by labor, corporate, and communication law, as well as by the internal corporate governance and compliance mechanisms of the media group.

No concrete numerical data on the average audience or audience share of laSexta in its first full year of broadcasting, nor reliable comparative tables with Telecinco, Antena 3, and Cuatro for that same period, have been found in the consulted sources (Demócrata database and official documents linked in the trace). Reports from Kantar Media / Kantar Sofres or Barlovento Comunicación with those detailed historical series also do not appear. Therefore, it is not possible to provide exact figures or a quantitative ranking supported by the accessible sources in this investigation.

What can be established, based on the information located, is the general framework. In a Demócrata article about José Miguel Contreras, it is recalled that:

• laSexta was born in 2006 and Contreras was its main promoter and CEO.
• That text emphasizes that the channel that started broadcasting in 2006 “would end up becoming one of the main references of Spanish television” and cites emblematic formats such as El Intermedio as part of that identity.

That is, the sources do point out that laSexta, over time, consolidated a relevant position within the generalist free-to-air television ecosystem, but do not provide the figures for its first full year of life nor the precise comparison with other private channels.

Why the data you request do not appear

Very specific historical audience information (for example, “annual share 2007 by channel” or “ranking of private channels in laSexta’s first year”) is usually:

• In reports from Kantar Media / Kantar Sofres and equivalents, which are paid.
• In internal documents of operators and media agencies.
• In specialized sector reports (consultants, audiovisual associations) that are not always freely accessible.

The search trace you have seen includes numerous attempts to locate:

• “laSexta audiences first full year of broadcasting 2007”
• “laSexta average audience share 2007 comparison with Telecinco, Antena 3, Cuatro”
• “ranking of most viewed channels 2007 laSexta Telecinco Antena 3 Cuatro”

None of these attempts returned usable numerical series: institutional press releases or community documents that do not contain television audience data appear, and Demócrata news that do talk about television focus on recent topics (RTVE, regional TV, DTT, new channels) or on laSexta’s editorial history, but not on its audience balance for 2006‑2007.

What can be said with certainty

Based on what the sources show:

• We know that laSexta began broadcasting in 2006, as a new private free-to-air operator.
• The subsequent press emphasizes that laSexta “would end up becoming one of the main references” of Spanish television. That wording indicates that, although it started as a small player compared to Telecinco and Antena 3, its later trajectory was clearly upward.
• No concrete figures of average share nor tables comparing, year by year, laSexta with Telecinco, Antena 3, and Cuatro in the first full year (which would approximately correspond to 2007) are found.

Any number offered about “laSexta had X% share and ranked behind/in front of Y” would not be supported by the documentation obtained in the investigation and, therefore, would be speculative. Following the rigor rules of this assistant, such figures cannot be invented or completed from external memory or untraceable knowledge.

Where you could find the exact data

If you need the results with statistical precision (for example, for academic work or a market study), the most reliable would be to consult:

• Historical reports from Kantar Media / Kantar Sofres, which are the reference for television audience measurement in Spain.
• Annual reports from Barlovento Comunicación or other consultancies that work with historical audience series.
• Annual reports of television operators (for example, the old reports of laSexta or Atresmedia once the channel was integrated), which sometimes include comparative share charts.
• Academic databases or specialized audiovisual communication archives, where tables with Kantar data are sometimes reproduced in research articles.

In summary: the sources accessible in this search allow confirming laSexta’s year of birth and its subsequent consolidation as a relevant channel, but do not provide the concrete audience results of its first year nor the quantitative comparison with Telecinco, Antena 3, and Cuatro. To have those numbers, one would have to resort to paid sector sources or specialized archives that reproduce the original audience tables.