Telecinco closed January 2026 with an 8.5% screen share, his worst start to the year in its entire history, even below the aggregate of the regional chains (8.7%). The fall especially affects its information services, which have recorded historic lows and have forced the group to take emergency measures. Starting next February 9, Telecinco News and Noticias Cuatro will share the set and editorial teama merger that the company presents as optimization of resources but that shows the depth of a crisis that has been dragging on for more than a year.
The figures. The numbers are overwhelming: Informativos Telecinco averaged 8.1% of share with 883,000 spectators. It is the tenth consecutive month without reaching one million viewers on average, a threshold that the network had maintained for decades. Noticias Cuatro occupied the last position among the general news programs with 6.7% of share half. The paradox is that while Telecinco’s sister channel is experiencing its best moment since its relaunch two years ago, exceeding the 5.8% monthly average, its news programs fail to connect with the audience.
The distance with laSexta Noticias has narrowed to the point of almost disappearing: barely two tenths separate both spaces, a gap that a year ago seemed unbridgeable and that threatens a surprise which would further sink the group’s position in the Spanish news landscape.
It’s the others’ fault. Antena 3 closed January with a 12.9% shareadding its eighteenth consecutive month in the first position of the national ranking. Their news programs average 19.5% share and they chain 73 months leading the Spanish information landscape. RTVE’s 1 consolidated second place with 12.2% monthly quota, its best start to the year since 2012. Public television doubles the records of Informativos Telecinco in prime time: Newscasts perform especially well in the mornings (16.9%) and afternoons (11.3%), where they have their best data in more than a decade.
Crisis since 2025. Telecinco closed 2025 with a 9.5% annual audience share, the worst record in its entire history. The chain chained consecutive monthly lows: July (9.2%), August (8%), September (9.2%), October (9.4%), November (9%), December (8.4%) and now January (8.5%). A downward trajectory that has moved it away from 9% and has placed it below thresholds that seemed untouchable.
Badly informative. This space has been one of the main problems in this process. Despite the investment made in 2024 with the renovation of the set and the signing of Carlos Franganillo, the current data is lower than what Pedro Piqueras recorded before his retirement. The space has accumulated ten months without exceeding one million viewers on average, an unprecedented drought that reflects the disconnection with an audience that for years trusted the brand.
The solution. Hence this new measure: from Monday, February 9, Informativos Telecinco and Noticias Cuatro will share facilities and editorial teams. Francisco Moreno, Director of News at Mediaset España, presented the decision as an operational reorganization without labor consequences. The group promises to maintain the visual identity of each news brand: Noticias Cuatro will retain its characteristic lighting, its corporate colors and its on-screen style.
Programming adjustments. The reorganization is not limited to the information area. The first layoffs of the year at Mediaset have been produced in Unicorn Contentthe production company linked to Ana Rosa Quintana, as a direct consequence of the rearrangement of the schedule for 2026. The reduction in broadcast hours of ‘Vamos a ver’ has forced part of the technical and production team to be dispensed with. The move is part of a broader strategy: ‘First Dates’ has returned to Telecinco from Monday to Wednesday, ‘El Precio Justo’ returns at noon and Iker Jiménez’s ‘Horizonte’ has temporarily become a daily program on Cuatro.
The economic impact. The audience crisis has a direct translation into advertising revenue. Data for the first quarter of 2025 reflects a significant decrease: Mediaset’s income in Spain fell from 180 to 167 million euros. This contraction contrasts with the 8% growth recorded in the same period of 2023. The consulting firm Infoadex estimates that during the first half of the year the group’s turnover fell by 9.4%, standing at 315.9 million euros.
The failure of the big bet. A little over two years ago, Mediaset made a big bet on reinvent your information offer. Carlos Franganillo debuted at the head of Informativos Telecinco, replacing Pedro Piqueras after 18 years at the head of the space. The signing of the then star presenter of La 1’s Telediario was an unequivocal message: Mediaset was looking for prestige, credibility and a qualitative leap in its informative proposal. The operation was accompanied by a unprecedented technological investment in the chain: The new set incorporated 210 square meters of screens, augmented reality systems, three hanging vertical screens designed for mobile consumption, a spidercam and artificial intelligence tools integrated into production.
Early data appeared to support the strategy. Franganillo’s debut attracted 1,559,000 viewers and reached an 11.5% share, figures higher than the average that the space had been recording. However, the audience has not connected with the proposal, and the signing of Franganillo has not managed to reverse the downward trend of the network.
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