Letter from the chairman

This has been an exciting and, we are glad to report, highly satisfying year for us. Audiovisual consumption and the transformation of the advertising market raced ahead, yet these are challenges that Atresmedia anticipated and successfully addressed. Going forward, the correlation between macroeconomic figures and advertising expenditure will become weaker, while advertisers will be increasingly drawn to digital platforms. Furthermore, in 2020 our business will be strongly supported, we believe, by two regulatory initiatives. First, the new rules are expected to level the playing field for all operators; second, a new ‘blackout’ will lead to changes in the radio spectrum allocation. In addition, technology will continue to move forward at a breakneck pace, offering a myriad of opportunities for our industry.

In 2019, the strategic goals we had set for ourselves in 2018 continued to guide our business. We strengthened our core television and radio activity by riding the technological wave, leveraging Atresmedia’s content creation capability and building a diversified global powerhouse. Atresmedia’s transformation into a multiplatform communications group that brings together the analogue and digital worlds led to the launch of Atresmedia Premium, with exclusive in-house content and new functionalities that enrich user experience. We also moved forward using Big Data techniques to collect, process and monetise the vast mass of information generated by our online activity and bring our audience an even better experience. In content creation, Atresmedia formed a historic strategic alliance. Telefónica and Atresmedia are combining their talent and resources to produce and distribute content worldwide. The creation of this new content factory will make us even more competitive in Spain and internationally.

Our audience and the industry continue to support our strategy and model, predicated on quality, innovation, respect and commitment.

Our audience and the industry continue to support our strategy and model, predicated on quality, innovation, respect and commitment. Atresmedia was the leading news network again in 2019, earning the audience’s trust in our journalists and our way of reporting and commenting on current events. The appeal of our content led to milestones such as the most-watched premiere of an entertainment show of the past six years, La Voz, and awards such as the Premio Ondas for our Onda Cero radio show Más de uno. Atresmedia Cine’s films successfully competed in Spanish and international festivals, winning prizes at the Goya and BAFTA ceremonies. Our international channels now have 59 million subscribers.

The Atresmedia Group is aware that, as a media company, it is under a duty to the wider community. We are accountable as a major employer, as a major contractor of suppliers, and as an investment of choice for our shareholders. Our commitment to fulfil those duties is reflected in the review of our General Corporate Responsibility Policy. The policy update brings us closer to industry trends and helps us meet the needs of the reality in which we operate, while preserving our long-standing hallmark as a company that is serious about accountability. This year, the Board confirmed its support for the Corporate Responsibility Master Plan that will run through to 2020 by spending more of its meeting time addressing nonfinancial issues.

We continued to align closely with the United Nations Global Compact, the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. We are aware that we can play a key role in achieving those objectives, and so we focus on initiatives that involve our internal and external audiences and the wider community. Our Compromiso Atresmedia initiatives and the efforts of Fundación Atresmedia are our Group’s response to the global social and environmental challenges that we all face.

In the exciting journey that is our business we must be grateful to all those who help us succeed, and without whom we would be unable to achieve our goals. Our success and our ability to find the best response to every change we encounter arise from the enthusiasm, talent and discipline of the 2,527 people who formed part of the Group in 2019 and share our belief in the power of reflection and emotion that shapes us as a company. Our project as a global audiovisual group only makes sense in the light of the trust placed in us by our advertisers, for whom we remain the advertising venue of choice. Our role is to provide a secure environment in which advertisers’ brands can be displayed without risk facing a general audience. We must also make sure that ours is the right venue to advocate for our advertisers’ social causes – many advertisers choose us as their partners for social action. We thank our audience for choosing us, our content providers for their commitment to innovative creativity, and our shareholders for their continued support for our leading business model. We are grateful to all our stakeholders and we hope you feel that the Group’s successes are also your own.

This annual report provides a detailed account of our performance and results in 2019 and an overview of the new challenges that our industry now faces.