This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| Movistar Plus+ | |
|---|---|
| Name | Movistar Plus+ |
| Type | Pay television |
| Country | Spain |
| Owner | Telefónica |
| Launched | 2015 (as Movistar+) |
| Headquarters | Madrid |
Movistar Plus+ is a Spanish subscription television platform operated by Telefónica. It combines satellite, IPTV and streaming distribution and aggregates content from legacy providers, sports rights, film studios and independent producers. The service integrates linear channels, video-on-demand libraries, original series, sports packages and pay-per-view events into a unified subscriber offering.
Movistar Plus+ originated from the merger of Canal+ España and the Telefónica digital television service, following corporate negotiations involving Prisa and Telefónica, and later strategic deals with Vivendi and Mediaset España. During the 2010s the platform consolidated rights from broadcasters such as Atresmedia and Grupo Planeta, responded to competition from Netflix (service), Amazon Prime Video, and HBO Max, and expanded after regulatory decisions by the National Commission on Markets and Competition (Spain). Key milestones include the rebranding in 2016, content agreements with Warner Bros., The Walt Disney Company, Universal Pictures, and sports rights acquisitions from La Liga and UEFA Champions League (UEFA).
The platform offers a bouquet of linear channels including premium movie channels, series channels, thematic channels and sports channels, drawing on content licensed from 20th Century Studios, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, StudioCanal, and independent producers such as Atresmedia Cine. Sports offerings have included packages for competitions organized by LaLiga, UEFA Europa League, Formula One, and boxing promotions associated with Golden Boy Promotions. The service also bundles third-party channels from providers like Canal+ and themed channels tied to franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel Comics.
Original content production became a strategic focus, commissioning series and films from Spanish and international creators including collaborations with production companies like Grupo Secuoya, Zeta Studios, and TODI Media. Notable original series involved talent connected to creators and actors who previously worked on projects linked to Pedro Almodóvar, Alejandro Amenábar, and J. A. Bayona. Co-productions and distribution deals extended to festivals and markets such as San Sebastián International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, and sales outlets like MIPCOM.
Technological infrastructure spans satellite operations using capacity from satellite operators such as Hispasat and IPTV delivery over networks controlled by Telefónica (company)'s fixed-line and mobile backbone, interoperating with set-top boxes supplied by manufacturers like Huawei (company), Arris International, and middleware vendors used by platforms such as CanalDigitaal. The platform provides multi-screen streaming comparable to services from Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV, and supports streaming protocols employed in content delivery networks like Akamai Technologies and Cloudflare. Rights management and digital security rely on conditional access systems similar to those from Irdeto and watermarking solutions used across the industry.
Within the Spanish audiovisual market Movistar Plus+ competes with global streaming services including Netflix (service), Amazon Prime Video, and HBO Max, as well as domestic groups like Atresmedia and Mediaset España. Subscriber metrics have been driven by bundled offers with Movistar Fusión broadband and mobile packages under Telefónica's commercial strategy, affecting customer bases in regions such as Madrid and Barcelona and influencing carriage negotiations with cable operators like Vodafone Spain and satellite distributors. The platform's pricing and bundling decisions have been scrutinized in analyses by market research firms and industry observers such as Kantar Media and Ofcom-style domestic regulators.
The service has faced criticism over high prices, contentious sports-broadcasting exclusivity tied to competitions like LaLiga and UEFA Champions League (UEFA), and disputes with content owners and competing operators such as Vodafone Spain and Orange España. Consumer groups and trade associations raised concerns about transparency in contract terms and billing practices, echoing complaints seen in cases involving Telefonica disputes and regulatory inquiries by the National Commission on Markets and Competition (Spain). Additional controversies touched on carriage disputes, licensing negotiations with studios like Warner Bros. Pictures and The Walt Disney Company, and debates over original-content investment priorities in relation to public broadcasters such as Radiotelevisión Española.
Category:Television in Spain Category:Telefónica