Netflix strikes deal with Atresmedia for daily content in Spain

El Hormiguero comes from Atresmedia’s Antena 3

Netflix has agreed a deal with Spanish media group Atresmedia to offer daily programming to its subscribers in Spain.

Equipo de Investigación landed on Netflix on Saturday, while El Hormiguero, El Intermedio, Pasapalabra and daily drama Sueños de libertad arrive today, after their broadcast on Atresmedia. Veneno, by Los Javis, will be added soon.

The deal expands a relationship between the two companies that has been linked to drama for more than a decade.

The partnership began in 2015 with Netflix picking up series such as Velvet and Vis a Vis, and took a leap forward in 2017 with international hit Money Heist. In 2018, both companies strengthened their alliance with a preferential production agreement for series that premiered first in Spain and subsequently arrived on Netflix internationally.

The relationship now extends to unscripted content for the first time, with some of Atresmedia’s main television brands making the leap. El Hormiguero and Pasapalabra come from Antena 3, while El Intermedio and Equipo de Investigación come from La Sexta.

Meanwhile, following Netflix’s addition of RTVE’s La Revuelta a few months ago, its acquisition of  El Hormiguero means the battle for the top spot in daily access primetime on Spanish television will now be replicated on the streamer.

For daily drama series Sueños de libertad, Netflix becomes a new outlet, following Atresplayer and Disney+. Last year, Atresmedia reached a landmark deal with Disney+ to integrate an Atresplayer hub into the platform, which includes the broadcast of Sueños de libertad and others.

Also pending is the addition of Veneno, the Atresmedia series created by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (Los Javis), about the life of Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez, the Spanish trans icon better known as La Veneno.

The operation expands the model that for years made Atresmedia one of the main sources of drama for Netflix and adds to the trend of Spanish unscripted formats finding a second window on streaming after their television broadcast.