Telefónica to aggregate content buying across territories

Telefónica plans to realise major synergies from aggregating TV content acquisition across all the territories in which it is active, while also realising additional synergies in Spain – including a single OTT platform – from its acquisition of Canal+, according to chief operating officer José María Álvarez Pallete.

Speaking to analysts after Telefónica’s latest financial results presentation last week, Álvarez Pallete said that Telefónica was growing its TV business in Brazil and across Latin America, and would be able to derive cost savings from aggregating content acquisition across all its TV platforms.

Álvarez Pallete also said that the company would realise commercial, infrastructure and technology synergies in Spain as it merged Canal+ with its own offering. In addition to realising opportunities to cross-sell services between the existing Movistar Fusión TV base and the Canal+ base, the company would be able to “explore and modify” Canal+’s “successful over-the-top platform” as well as realising savings on satellite capacity.

During Telefónica’s presentation of its quarterly results, chief financial and corporate development officer Ángel Vilá said that 41% of the company’s residential fixed broadband base now took pay TV services in Spain.