Rosa Rodríguez has entered the history of Spanish television, thanks to the 2,716 million euros she won in the legendary final rosco of ‘Pasapalabra’. The nightly special gathered 4.1 million viewers at its peak (a 45.3% share), figures that seem taken from another decade. But what is notable is not the prize or the specific audience, but rather that this contest, broadcast outside the prime timehas maintained for 25 years a capacity for convening that defies all logic. The fragmentation of audiences pulverizes formats each season, but ‘Pasapalabra’ grows.
What happened. After 307 duel programs with Manu Pascual, Rodríguez, an Argentine teacher living in Galicia, completed the Rosco that gave her access to the largest jackpot ever awarded by ‘Pasapalabra’. Rodríguez and Pascual starred in the longest duel in the history of the program, 307 broadcasts faced in the final Rosco, a mark that far exceeds any other confrontation in the format. Pascual accumulated the absolute record for individual participations with 437 programs, and on six occasions he was one letter away from completing the rosco.
On Thursday night, Rosa correctly resolved the 25 definitions (from “cruiser” to “Earl Morrall”, the American football player who closed her victory – not without controversy, since her pronunciation was not entirely correct, which triggered the inevitable on social networks. tongo accusations-) and dethroned Rafa Castañountil then holder of the largest jackpot with 2,272 million euros obtained in March 2023. Pascual left the contest with 270,600 euros accumulated, a considerable figure that does not mitigate the frustration of having touched the jackpot on half a dozen occasions.
The audience. The data turns Pasapalabra into a statistical anomaly. This season, the contest registers a daily average of 1,928 million viewers with a 20.3% screen share. These figures correspond to its usual evening broadcast, in a time slot, eight in the afternoon, which the industry does not consider prime time and which competes with the end of work days, commuting and family routines.
The tentacles of Pasapalabra. The impact of the program transcends its own broadcast. On Thursday Antena 3 reached 18.9% daily averagedouble its usual performance. ‘The Anthill’with Rosa and Manu before Rosco, scored a spectacular 23.5% of shareits best figure since March 2023. Vicente Vallés’ nightly news program reached close to 3.1 million viewers, its highest in three years thanks to the audience awaiting the outcome. The evening magazine ‘Y Ahora Sonsoles’ and the daily series ‘Sueños de Libertad’ also recorded season highs dragged by the ‘Pasapalabra’ effect.
It was the day with highest television consumption of the entire seasonwith 10 million Spaniards in front of the television after 11:00 p.m., 20% more than the previous week. A revealing fact: the final Rosco segment alone reaches a 25% screen share and 2.6 million viewers on average, surpassing the global audience of the entire program. It is the moment of maximum tension, when the secondary screens turn off.
25 years. The permanence of ‘Pasapalabra’ in the Spanish television ecosystem for a quarter of a century is complex to explain. Since its debut on Antena 3 in July 2000, the contest has aired on three different networks, several judicial stoppages and presenter changes. It has not lost cultural relevance. Its format maintains a deliberately simple structure: two contestants accumulate seconds in verbal agility tests that they then invest in the final Rosco, 25 definitions whose answers correspond to the alphabet. That invariability is, paradoxically, one of its greatest attractions.
An anomaly. The context in which Pasapalabra thrives makes its success even more surprising. At the end of 2024 63.3% of Spanish households with Internet access used at least one paid audiovisual platform. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and the rest of the on-demand services have radically reconfigured consumption patterns: viewers decide what to watch, when to watch it and on what device to play it. The rigidity of the traditional television schedule should be an obstacle, but it is not
However, the numbers refute the supposed obsolescence of linear television. Digital platforms accumulate 16.7% of total audiovisual consumption in Spain, and traditional television maintains 83.3% according to a Kantar analysis from July 2024. Among those over 50, free-to-air television continues to be the dominant medium, with consumption exceeding three hours a day on weekends. ‘Pasapalabra’ capitalizes on that type of audience.
The unique touch. What distinguishes ‘Pasapalabra’ from extinct formats like ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’? Its ability to generate events within the routine. Each Rosco is not just another episode: it is a potentially historic event, a unique opportunity to witness a record. The architecture of the growing jackpot transforms the daily broadcast into a series with no pre-established end. The suspense builds up for months until it explodes on nights like this Thursday.
At prime time. Atresmedia’s decision to move the delivery of the boat to prime time generates a recurring debate among Pasapalabra’s loyal audience. Miguel Aparicio, director of the program, recognized that initially the team resisted this strategy: they preferred to “reward that follower who pays attention day after day” while maintaining the surprise factor. When Rosa completed the Rosco, Antena 3 built an entire programming architecture around the event, with a special prior to 8:00 p.m. in the program’s usual time slot, the appearance of the contestants on ‘El Hormiguero’ and finally the broadcast of the decisive Rosco after 11:00 p.m.
This tactic has been repeated with the last big jackpots: Pablo Díaz in July 2021 (30.8% and 4.3 million), Rafa Castaño in March 2023 (37.4% and 4.5 million) and Óscar Díaz in May 2024 (30.1% and 3.2 million). They were all moved to nighttime hours after weeks of building expectations. The strategy works. Not only for the contest, which multiplies its usual audience, but for the entire grid.
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