Borja Prado is the story of Mediaset. A businessman who wanted to occupy an important place in the media space went out through the back door of the company after turbulent relationship with the current owners. After a year and a half as president of the audiovisual group, both parties have agreed to his departure, which will become official in the coming weeks.

The news that was announced Economistindicated that the internal war between Borja Prado and CEOs Alessandro Salem and Massimo Musolino was the impetus for the conclusion of a contractual relationship between both parties, which must be completed before the end of 2023.

Business differences made it insurmountable, according to sources consulted by this newspaper. Borja Prado continue towards Mediaset. The main one, according to informants, was the Spanish businessman’s insistence on buying Prisa Radio.

Management understands that now is not the time for major investments. Something that Prado has not realized in recent months, as he has realized that in order to increase radio space, it is necessary to control the radio space. Mediaset brand visibility.

Dream of control Chain creature media groups are nothing new. Grupo Prisa is engaged in debt restructuring and has sold part of its assets to do this. The idea of ​​selling the radio division had been discussed for months, although company president Joseph Ugurlian tried to quash the rumors.

In fact, Pier Silvio Berlusconi, the television network’s CEO, said he was looking at any possible agreement in Spain “that could help the company build an integrated media system consisting of television, Internet and radio assets.” Sources were consulted, they were taken literally, and Borja Prado tried to do everything possible to control Prisa Radio.

The crisis in the Mediaset group due to its poor results has reopened the need to make important changes both editorially and in the grid to change the direction of Telecinco and Cuatro. Borja Prado was the one who rushed to change the situation. One of the most important measures was the destruction of one of Mediaset’s flagships, Sálvame, as well as all its presenters and employees.

A few weeks later, Berlusconi’s son decided to remove him from the editorial line and even openly stated that Borja Prado was doing a better job at the institutional level than at the editorial level. Thus, he became non-executive president.

At the last stage, disagreements over the editorial line were constant. Borja Prado, in turn, believed that both Telecinco and Cuatro lacked the strong ideological position that their competitors had. This is the case with the company Atresmedia, which, together with Vicente Valles on television or Carlos Alsina on radio, knew how to attract an audience. The businessman pushed for development in other sectors, investing in big names in the news and acquiring Prisa Radio to be able to relaunch Mediaset, which ultimately did not happen as the upper echelons of parent company Telecinco decided to do without him.

It is worth remembering that Borja Prado’s interest in the Prix is ​​not new. The businessman met with several investors close to Vivendi, Jose Maria Aznar and other businessmen to explore the possibility of buying Prisa, as several Spanish media reported in May. The media group’s interest in the head of El País or Cadena Ser had been brewing for a long time, but never materialized.

The appetite for Prisa in Prado had not subsided and the company wanted to acquire some of the listed media group’s assets either directly (a stand-alone purchase) or through Mediaset. According to informants, the constant attempts of the current president of the Telecinco head office were decisive for the management and owners of Mediaset to decide to remove him from the front line.

According to sources consulted, the struggle between the CEOs and Borja Prado was constant, as the former Endesa president wanted to give his editorial touch to “almost all the programs” that were broadcast. Moreover, Prado advocated an editorial line closer to the People’s Party than to the PSOE. The final blow to this issue was the signing of a contract with Telecinco news by Carlos Franganillo, an RTVE journalist who has never been extremely harsh towards the government.

Bad times

Audiovisual group MFE-MediaForEurope (MFE), the company’s parent company, recorded a net profit of €71 million in the first nine months of this year, representing a decline of 9.5% compared to the €78.5 million profit recorded in the same period of the previous year. From January to September the company earned 1,862.2 million euros, which is almost 2% less.

The hearings, as mentioned above, did not help Borja Prado either. Viewers have been ignoring Telecinco programs for a year now, and just a year ago their share fell below 11%. Last summer, the share of screens fell to 9%, and at the end of November the share of TV remained at 9.7%. The new content and commitment to Ana Rosa Quintana in the afternoon to the detriment of Salvama did not have an effect and the magazine of the famous journalist does not live up to expectations.

Thus, Atresmedia has been in the lead for 22 of the last 25 months, something not seen since the advent of private television.