Mediaset

In a Telecinco hit by a crisis that has lasted for years and where not even hitherto safe tricks like ‘Big Brother’ work, it is advisable to desperately cling to any success that emerges on the grid. This season’s (and a few previous ones) is ‘The island of temptations‘, he reality which, despite being increasingly exaggerated and less credible, conquers audiences. Mediaset, faced with this triumph, can only do one thing: step on the accelerator. The island returns (it never left). Mediaset has confirmed that ‘The Island of Temptations’ will have a tenth season, whose recordings will begin in January 2026 with Sandra Barneda again at the helm of the program. The announcement came just 24 hours after the reality will reach his best record of the current edition: 17% screen share and 1.4 million viewers, last Monday, November 25. The speed of the move reveals the urgency of the chain to ensure its only consistent success in the midst of a unprecedented audience crisis: The tenth edition could arrive, apparently, sooner than the usual cycle of the program would dictate. The numbers that explain it. In addition to this maximum quota of last November 25, emissions in access prime time (Tuesday and Wednesday) average 11.5% with about 1.46 million viewerseven competing with rivals like ‘El hormiguero’ and ‘La revuelta’. The previous season closed with an average share of 16.5% and 1.529 million viewers, becoming the most successful edition since 2021. That eighth installment swept the young audience: it achieved 36% in the 13 to 24 year-old segment and 28.5% among 25 to 44 year-olds. A new strategy. With this new season Alberto Carullo, general director of content at Mediaset, has scheduled three weekly broadcasts because, as stated at a press conferencethey detected that “the public consumes this program almost like a series.” This repetition confronts reality directly with heavyweights such as ‘MasterChef Celebrity’ and competes on social networks with the phenomenon of ‘Operación Triunfo 2025’ on Prime Video, where it generates viral trends without stopping. And he maintains his form against such popular rivals, something that has undoubtedly encouraged Mediaset to renew. Historical debacle. The success of ‘The Island of Temptations’ contrasts brutally with the historic drop in audiences that Telecinco is experiencing. Mediaset’s main network closed 2024 with a 9.8% audience share, its worst annual record since it began broadcasting in 1990 and the first time it fell below the psychological threshold of 10%. From the departure of Paolo Vasile in 2022when the network averaged 12.3%, the loss has been 20% in audience in just two years. The situation has become so critical that Telecinco was overwhelmed even through the set of paid thematic channels. The network has fallen to third place in the national ranking, far behind Antena 3 and La 1, which They starred in the duel for leadership in 2024. In this catastrophic context, the realities They have become the only lifeline that Mediaset has to cling to. In fact, for a Telecinco at historic lows, ‘The Island of Temptations’ It’s not just a successful program.: It’s literally the only content that works consistently for you. History of a format. ‘Temptation Island’ landed in Spain in January 2020 with an ambitious bet: simultaneous broadcast on Telecinco (13.7%) and Cuatro (9.5%). The immediate impact led Mediaset to prepare a second installment that same year, incorporating crucial changes: Sandra Barneda replaced the original duo of Mónica Naranjo and Carlos Sobera, and the Dominican Republic became the permanent location of the reality. The format has already generated nine regular seasons plus a special spin-off, ‘The Last Temptation’ in 2021, where ex-couples from previous editions returned to test their new relationships. A consistent success. The casting of the ninth season broke records: More than 1,000 couples registered to participateshowing that the format maintains its appeal even after almost five years on the air. And now it’s time to get back to it: after the end of ‘Survivientes All Stars 2’, Telecinco has taken over with ‘Big Brother 20’ (that hasn’t worked) and this ‘Temptation Island 9’ that is doing it, which forces the calendar to accelerate. They counted our colleagues from SensaCineTherefore, “the tenth edition will begin filming as soon as it begins in 2026: in January”, breaking the tradition of summer recordings. At full speed. In Xataka | The end of ‘Caiga Quia Caiga’ is more than a blow to the audience: it illustrates that Telecinco can only trust reality shows