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On 16 July 2010, the Spanish Cabinet adopted a resolution to allocate a national digital multiplex
to each national DTT concession operator: Antena 3, Gestevisión Telecinco, Sogecable, Veo
Televisión, NET TV and Gestora de Inversiones Audiovisuales La Sexta. The digital multiplex is
composed of four digital television channels that can be operated twenty-four hours a day.
The allocation was made upon request and once it had been verified that the DTT service
concession operators had met the obligations relating to the promotion and development of digital
terrestrial television that they had assumed in the framework of the Spanish Technical Plan for
Digital Terrestrial Television and the Royal Decree governing the specific allocation of DTT
multiplexes, following the switch-off of analogue terrestrial television broadcasting.
A judgment handed down on 27 November 2012 by Chamber Three of the Spanish Supreme Court
rendered void the resolution of the Spanish Cabinet of 16 July 2010 which had allocated to each of
the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) licence holders, including Antena 3 de Televisión, S.A. and
Gestora de Inversiones Audiovisuales La Sexta, S.A., the capacity equivalent to a digital multiplex
with national coverage composed of four channels.
This allocation had been made pursuant to a set of rules which, since 1997, upon approval of the
National Plan for Digital Terrestrial Television, and particularly upon enactment of Law 10/2005, of
14 June, governed the transition from analogue terrestrial television to DTT, which was completed
in 2010. The allocation was made once the Government had verified that the licence holders had
complied with all the requirements and obligations incumbent upon them to foster transition to
DTT, as a condition for gaining access to the multiplex.
The judgment of the Spanish Supreme Court annulling the allocation was based primarily on the
fact that the allocation was made after the General Audiovisual Communications Law came into
force (which had been enacted one month before the Spanish Cabinet adopted the annulled
resolution), which stipulates that the licences must be granted through a tendering procedure. The
Supreme Court inferred from this that "the licences must reflect the content which existed upon
entry into force of the Law, with no more channels being allowed", while the General Audiovisual
Communications Law does not provide for any safeguard permitting the regulations to be applied
prior to their entry into force.
The judgment of the Spanish Supreme Court noted at the time that the matter would have been
resolved had the General Audiovisual Communications Law included a provision envisaging that
the rules in force prior to its enactment should continue to be valid. The obstacle posed by the
judgment of the Spanish Supreme Court is therefore basically formal, because neither the
conceptual basis of DTT, nor consequently its completion through the allocation of a multiplex to
each operator, have ever been questioned.
On 22 March 2013, the Spanish Cabinet approved a decision to comply with the judgment of the
Supreme Court handed down on 27 November 2012, indicating that the channels affected had to
cease broadcasting, and linking this process with that of the liberalisation of the digital dividend.
Subsequently, on 18 December 2013, the Spanish Supreme Court issued a writ of execution for
the aforementioned judgment, referring, inter alia, to the channels affected by its judgment, which
would include three of the channels currently being operated by Atresmedia.
On 6 May 2014, as a result of the enforcement of the aforementioned judgment of the Spanish
Supreme Court, the channels affected by the decision, three of which were operated by
Atresmedia: (Nitro, Xplora and La Sexta 3), ceased to be broadcast, despite having complied with
all the imposed obligations.
At that point in time, the accounting impact of the closure of these channels on the separate
financial statements was assessed in accordance with applicable accounting legislation. The
assessment did not disclose the need to recognise liabilities or commitments related to the closure
of the channels, and it was not necessary to recognise any impairment losses or changes in value
in accordance with applicable accounting legislation, except in relation to the rights to broadcast
certain programmes, which was made impossible due to the closure of the aforementioned
channels, and for which an impairment loss of EUR 3 million was recognised.