MADRID – After months of reported negotiations, The Mediapro Studio, the production-distribution powerhouse launched by Spanish group Mediapro in March, has acquired El Terrat from Andreu Buenafuente, Spain’s leading comedy brand.
No price has been communicated for the acquisition, which relates to 100% of the shares of El Terrat.
Founding owner of El Terrat and host of “Late Motiv” Andreu Buenafuente will continue to run El Terrat under TMS ownership, Agustí Esteve remaining executive director.
For The Mediapro Studio, the purchase represents their latest talent contract, having previously incorporated creators such as “Homeland” executive producer Ran Tellem, the Argentinian director. of time ”, co-creator Javier Olivares.
The agreement gives The Mediapro Studio access to Spain’s greatest comedic force in terms of profile, talent and production capacity. Comedy creators at El Terrat include Andreu Buenafuente himself, the epitome of late-night humor for high-end Spaniards, whose monologues on “Late Motiv” strike a note of tolerant bewilderment in the face of current events. , often of a political nature, contrasting with the bitter confrontation of contemporaries. Spain.
Other El Terrat comedians include longtime collaborator Berto Romero, creator of the sitcom “Mira lo que has hecho”, a new take on parenting and hit the Spanish pay TV / SVOD platform Movistar More , David Broncano, the fast thirty-something host of the late night show “La Resistencia”, as well as Quequé, host of the comedy news show “LocoMundo”, actor Raul Cimas, a regular on “Late Motiv” and “LocoMundo”, and popular film and television actress and imitator Silvia Abril (“Padre no hay más que uno”).
El Terrat’s current or recent production roster includes nine on-air, returning or pre-production TV shows; plus three radio shows, six theatrical productions, a comedy festival, Singlot, now in its sixth year, and two podcasts.
He may not own much intellectual property on some of these shows, but the key to the Mediapro-Terrat deal is the constant return of a now firmly established national base in Spain and the international potential of El Terrat to export its shows – the original or its formats and talents, through international co-productions or direct sales.
The purchase comes as the major platforms, so the major producers, strive to provide a full range of entertainment for consumers, functioning as near-television services. It is no coincidence that four of El Terrat’s flagship products – “Late Motiv”, “La Resistencia”, “LocoMundo”, “Mira lo que has hecho” – are all broadcast on Movistar Plus, the best television service. fee / SVOD from Spain.
Mediapro Studio has worked or is working with almost every global platform, or their companies, co-producing, for example, the Sky Atlantic / HBO / Canal Plus series “The Young Pope” and “The New Pope”, and producing “All or nothing” , Emmy Winner “Six Dreams” and “The Dinner of a Lifetime” for Amazon Prime Video. Other titles from TMS include series with, US companies, Disney, DirecTV, Viacom, Vice and Turner, with which it has a partnership multi-year production.
For El Terrat, part of The Mediapro Studio – which has 34 fiction series in various stages of production this year, while parent group Mediapro has 36 offices around the world – the purchase also marks a potentially powerful next step. for a company that helped bring Spain into the era of modern comedy.
Andreu Buenafuente’s national consecration in Spain dates back to 2005, hosting a late-night talk show “Buenafuente”, a sensation from the first season that gently broke taboos, for example the royal family, and described by Buenafuente itself as “an American make with a Latin soul.” Its sophistication has earned it the nickname in Spain “Latin Letterman”.
Steadily growing its production roster, El Terrat has always aspired to innovate on an international playing field, being briefly acquired by Frenchman Banijay Entertainment in 2009, until the reported divergence in production strategy triggered a buyout. by Buenafuente three months later.
The new Mediapro agreement will now give El Terrat the financial support, distribution and production contacts, capacity and formats to cope with its international expansion.
This comes as the comedy scene has evolved further, as established pay-TV platforms and services in Latin America are quickly adding high-end comedy acts to their offering or schedules, like “Chumel con Chumel Torres ”on HBO Latin America. The YouTube channel “Backdoor”, a Mexican version of the online comedy show Porta dos Fundos in Brazil, owned by Viacom, has attracted a first million subscribers in four months this year.
