Mediterraneo Mediaset España arrives to MIPCOM with successful programming content in both scripted and unscripted. On the first group, Wrong Side Of The Tracks, the greatest fiction milestone this year on Telecinco and Netflix; and on the second, three docuseries premiered on Amazon Prime Video Spain: Angel Nieto: four lives, Omar Montes & Company and Wanted: El Sapo.
Apart from the critics and the ratings success during its free-to-air broadcast in Spain, Wrong Side of the Tracks (S1: 8×70’ | S2: 8×70’) also reached #1 in the global ranking of the most-watched non- English series on Netflix shortly after its premiere, maintaining this first position during three consecutive weeks. ‘This confirms that a series produced for Free TV is also able to achieve great success in on-demand services, being both broadcasting systems totally complimentary’, remarked Ana Bustamante, general director.
The production combines drama, love, action and touches of humor while approaching fundamental issues like the generational gap, the coexistence of different cultures, the human values, and the transitions of today’s society. Along its two seasons, it gathered an average rating of 2 million viewers. And since its worldwide premiere, the fiction starring José Coronado and Nona Sobo has reaped extraordinary data on the platform both domestically and internationally, as the notoriety of the series spread to other territories, as the series positioned itself in the Top 10 Netflix series in 75 countries around the world.
Mediterraneo is also strengthening its alliance with Amazon Prime Video Spain that exclusive premiered three original docuseries this year: Angel Nieto: four lives (4x’70), Omar Montes & Company and Wanted: El Sapo (4x’70). Besides, the OTT service has also launched new seasons of Mediterraneo’s successful fiction brands such as Mothers and Disappeared. ‘Our collaboration with them, which started years ago, gave us the opportunity to explore different business models, and to develop challenging and compelling projects’, added the executive.
On the international distribution side, the Spanish company has closed several deals during this year, highlighting the first deal with Telemundo to broadcast three series from our catalog in the United States (Madres, Truth and Devil’s Clock). Mothers has also consolidated in Latin America with the premiere of new seasons on DirecTV and Globo, while Disappeared, which already reached 40 territories, has premiered recently a new season on DirecTV and MBC Group in MENA.
Format adaptations is another important point: Unauthorized Living is being adapted in a few territories, with the Italian remake already in production for Canale 5 (Mediaset), directed and starred by Claudio Amendola (Il Cesaroni, Italian remake of Los Serrano). Also, Pepe’s beach Bar maintains its international trajectory with the production of the S2 on TV2 (Hungary). ‘The remake of the series was also produced in Greece by Alpha, and optioned in US, Mexico, Italy, France and Colombia’, completed Bustamante.
The executive continued: ‘Our main objective is to position our titles in new territories, to increase the local remakes of our scripted and unscripted formats, and to reach new deals in the territories where our catalog is already settled. The key element is the content itself: each title holds different characteristics that make it more suitable for a certain type of channel or platform. Moreover, the territories themselves and their cultural factors determine which type of content can be offered in each region’.
Bustamante exemplified: ‘Our comedies are very successful in Greece, where we are currently celebrating the 10th anniversary the sitcom Marriage scenes (Alpha). Other brands as Pepe’s Beach Bar succeed on Antenna Group, or La Que Se Avecina on Skai TV which, together with The Countryside, have been very successful in Bulgaria’.
Within the Americas, Mediterraneo’s content demand is mostly focused on drama series. Mothers and Devil’s Clock have several windows in the region including Peakock (USA), DirecTV and Claro Video in Latin America. ‘Europe, LatAm and Middle East have always been potential regions for us, where we’ve been able to close deals with several clients from different territories. Most of them are open to Spanish content including El Principe, I Know Who You Are or Truth that have had a great international track record’, underlined Bustamante.
What’s next? ‘For the upcoming season, we are presenting a disruptive, provocative, and defiant drama series called Secret Obsession (8x’70) a groundbreaking project with a strong identity and a singular character; a story of forbidden love, uncovering a social taboo: the love between and adult and a teenager. Our portfolio is extensive and varied. We have witnessed a special interest in the documentary field, so decided to bet on different genres docuseries about true crime, sport bios or Dulceida: No Filters, about the famous influencer that will be premiere in more than 65 territories this year’, completed the executive.
Lastly, Mediaset España has developed in collaboration with Bulldog TV the format It’s My Night (6x’120) adynamic competition game with two teams of five celebrities facing each other in exciting, fun and challenging games that take place on an eye-catching set. ‘It’s very gratifying and enriching to incorporate all kinds of genres in our portfolio, honoring our objective to offer diversified content for all tastes, a distribution model that allow us to reach very different clients and windows in each territory’, concluded Bustamante.
