TV comes up big in Prisa first half

July 24, 2008 Sogecable, the TV subsidiary of Spanish media giant Prisa, has registered a first-half profit of 1 billion euros ($1.56 billion) while Prisa's broader audiovisual arm posted a 16% jump in ad revenue, to 291 million euros ($456 million). In first-half results statement released Wednesday, Prisa said that its free-to-air channel Cuatro, which debuted two years ago, garnered 174 million euros ($272.6 million) in ad sales for the January-June period, up 22.3% from a year ago. Prisa CEO Juan Luis Cebrian said in May that the company would sell all or part of Digital Plus, ending months of speculation about what Prisa planned to do with the dominant player in Spain's pay TV market.

Subscribe to the Hollywood Reporter and see the entertainment industry from its best angle: the inside looking out. Complete access to real-time news and exclusive analysis that goes behind the scenes from film to television, home video to digital media.

   Subscribe now.