SPAIN: Innovation and hybridization of genres and formats

OBITEL 2018. Ibero-AmerIcan TV FIctIon on VIdeo on Demand Platforms, 2018

Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 2022

Introduction. This paper analyzes the current state of the production of serial Spanish TV fiction for Video on demand platforms, from a canonical perspective that allows to establish common characteristics and patterns in serial products of Spanish TV production of VOD platforms and that offers the possibility of outlining a recent history of Spanish TV fiction created to be broadcast in the streaming universe. Metodology. Based on a mixed methodology that combines qualitative analysis with quantitative data, the article analyzes 60 series created for the most far-reaching platforms in Spain and establishes patterns on forms, styles and narrative issues. Results. The results point to a growing interest in the production of Spanish fiction for VOD with its own productive characteristics, which mark the new way of making Spanish fiction, Discussion and Conclusions. Despite the fact that little innovation and transgression is evident in terms of narrations and stories refers, this paper reveals a nascent productive canon that is repeated and that establishes a personal stamp that benefits the reception of Spanish fiction on VOD platforms.

INTERNET TV DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS: ACTORS, TECHNOLOGIES, STRATEGIES, 2019

In 2018 Netflix’s stimulus to Spanish VoD platforms became noticeable with the consolidation of pioneering companies and the arrival of new actors, multiplying the fictional programming offer and intensifying the competitiveness of the space. Pay TV beat its own record thanks to the increase in paid streaming OTT services. Meanwhile, and despite the sustained decline of lineal viewing, open TV, both national and autonomic, has maintained its audience level. The production of fictional programming by VoD platforms has aided premiere total numbers to return to levels prior to the economic crisis. It has also ratified some trends observed in recent seasons, such as the reduction in the number of episodes and the success of stories set in the past. The rise of the action-thriller, to the detriment of comedy, is another highlight of the year, both in the offer of pay television and in open TV.

International Journal of Communication, 2022

This article explores the changes of the Spanish television industry upon the arrival of the international Subscription Video on Demand (SVoD) platforms and how Spain has become a noticeable player in the international market. To analyze the hybridization of the industry, a content analysis of the Spanish catalog of SVoD services has been conducted to evaluate the offerings of local series. To further exemplify the current complex relationships among traditional broadcasters, independent producers, and SVoD platforms, an analysis of the evolution of the series The Ministry of Time and Money Heist (two of the most internationally successful Spanish shows) in terms of production, distribution, and cultural trades, reveals the different types of agreements with SVoD players and the balance between the international and domestic markets. Results also indicate the importance of the Spanish geolinguistic market for the success of Spanish series even as the popularity of its shows has transcended the language borders.

Obitel 2014. Transmedia production strategies in television fiction, 2014

This article analyses the transmedia contents created around 33 Spanish television series broadcast in 2013 by national and regional TV networks. The article reviews the TV series’ official websites, in which the transmedia contents are made available, and organises the wide variety of transmedia formats created around the sample of TV series, based on the different touchpoint categories, which refer to any content or strategy that allow viewers to engage with a television brand through other media and platforms. The results indicate that there is an overwhelming presence of TV contents that are repackaged or adapted to the new medium or platform and that there is still a lack of transmedia expansion through contents that are actually new, differentiated across media, and narratively relevant.

Doxa. Comunicación, 2021

This study is part of the Research Project entitled: '21st century Spanish television series. Narratives, aesthetics, historical and social representations'. Research funded by the Research Talent Attraction Programme of the Regional Government of Madrid. Ref. 2019-T1/SOC-12886.

A Companion to Spanish Cinema, ed. Jo Labanyi and Tatjana Pavlovic., 2013

This book chapter begins with a survey of popular entertainment before television in Spain (Vicente Sánchez Biosca), continues with an account of literary adaptations in cinema (Sally Faulkner), and ends with an investigation of the relation between cinema and television (Paul Julian Smith).

This article treats the unusually rich 2009 spring season of television fiction in Spain, placing it in the broader context of migration between the two media of film and TV and the continuing importance of cultural proximity in an era of transnational production. Beginning with a survey of the current TV ecology, it goes on to treat four innovative and popular titles: miniseries 23 F: El día más difícil del Rey/The King's Most Difficult Day, and series Águila Roja/Red Eagle, Pelotas/Balls (all from Televisión Española), and Doctor Mateo (Antena 3). It argues that these fictions share three themes: The continuing exploration of Spanish national history, both distant and recent; the fractured family, particularly caused by missing mothers; nostalgia for close community, whether its location is urban or rural. 73 SHC 5 (1&2) 73-84

Cinèma&Cie, 2012

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the most significant TV adaptations in Spain from 1956 to 2012. First of all, the following article comprises a brief overview of a number of the most significant fiction adaptations produced by the public television network TVE, rounded out with a more in-depth account of the TV adaptations developed from the 1990s onwards, when commercial television networks such as Antena 3 and Tele 5 entered the audiovisual market.