Walt Disney‘s streaming service Disney+ continues to strike what it has consistently described as “landmark” content agreements with big European broadcasters, on Friday adding RTVE in Spain to its list of partners.
“Disney+ and RTVE have reached a strategic agreement that will bring a selection of the public broadcaster’s most successful shows to Disney+, beginning March 31,” the companies said. “This collaboration expands the entertainment offering available to Disney+ customers, while providing RTVE with a new distribution window that expands the reach of its content and connects with new, younger audiences across Spain.” Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
THR understands that the RTVE agreement marks the first time that a state broadcaster in Europe has agreed to make shows available on a streaming platform the day after their linear broadcasts.
The programming pact adds to its growing number of existing deals with European free-to-air broadcasters, namely ITV in the U.K., which was recently extended to Hulu, ARD and ZDF in Germany, SIC in Portugal and Atresmedia in Spain. The RTVE deal builds on Disney’s agreement in Spain with Atresmedia and its broader strategy of collaborating with major broadcasters across the continent.
Newly minted Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro recently outlined his vision to make Disney+ the “digital centerpiece” of the company. Last year, Karl Holmes, general manager for Disney+ EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), emphasized the win-win aspect of content deals with European broadcasters. “Across the markets we operate in Europe, the big free-to-air channels still aggregate the largest audiences, have the largest shows, and have the largest production budgets,” he said. “It’s really important we do work with free-to-air. So we license content to free-to-air. We license content from free-to-air. We have co-production agreements in place with most of the large free-to-air broadcasters across Europe.”
Disney executives have also highlighted benefits to both parties in such deals, whose details depend on local needs. The broadcasters get an opportunity to reach younger audiences, while Disney+ can complement its global hit content with local programming.
The latest agreement reinforces Disney+’s commitment to Spanish audiovisual production and talent, as well as RTVE’s ambition to maximize the visibility of its content through partnerships with global platforms. “Both companies approach this deal with the intention of continuing to explore new synergies that contribute to the growth and strengthening of their editorial and audiovisual strategies,” according to Friday’s press statement.
Among the select drama and reality content covered by the Disney+ deal with RTVE is MasterChef, one of the top-performing shows in Spain. Disney+ will premiere the complete 14th season of the series, produced by RTVE in collaboration with Shine Iberia, part of Banijay Iberia, and season 11 of MasterChef Celebrity, immediately after their broadcast on the La1 network.
Among the scripted content covered by the deal is Rojo Sobre Blanco, an upcoming series produced by Mediawan’s Good Mood. Further titles will be announced at a later date.
“RTVE is loved by viewers in Spain, with a rich heritage of decades of incredible shows,” said Holmes. “Through this agreement, we are delighted to bring some of RTVE’s most iconic new shows to Disney+ customers, which are some of the most popular and recognized formats in Spanish television. Incorporating these programs into Disney+ strengthens our ambition to enrich the service, while giving greater visibility to the extraordinary creative talent across Spain.”
He added: “This collaboration reflects our commitment to working closely with Europe’s greatest free‑to‑air broadcasters, bringing their high‑quality local storytelling to younger and new audiences. We look forward to beginning this journey with RTVE and are confident it will lead to many more projects together.”
