Spain: Real Madrid have plans to launch free channel on DTT in January 2014

Real Madrid (La Liga, ESP) plan to launch their own free TV channel on Spanish DTT (digital terrestrial television), from January 2014, according to the Spanish newspaper El Economista, on the 02/11/2013.

The Spanish DTT market will be reorganised in early 2014, and several broadcast licenses should change hands at that time. Florentino Perez wants to acquire one of two channels, Marca TV or AXN, which are properties of the Unidad Editorial, with whom the Real president has been in negotiations since the summer of 2013, says El Economista.

In 2012-13, the Madrid club tried to acquire the licence for Marca TV, and then for the La 10 channel, which was finally bought by Viacom. "We will strengthen our media offering by launching a free high definition channel on the Internet and probably also on DTT," stated Florentino Perez to the Spanish website Voz Populi, on the 21/10/2013.

• Real Madrid TV, the current pay-TV channel of the Madrid club in Spain is available via cable, satellite and ADSL as well as on the Internet and mobile devices.
• With this change of format, Real Madrid will…