Grup Mediapro announced late on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with workers’ representatives to implement a collective redundancy plan (ERE) that will ultimately affect 189 employees, a lower figure than initially proposed. The company maintains that this decision will “strengthen” its position “to compete in an environment of profound transformation in the audiovisual sector.”

In a statement released to the media after 10 p.m., the audiovisual services group attributed the reduction from the initial figure of 250 layoffs “to the prior departure of more than twenty executives and to various cost-saving measures implemented across the group.”

In recent months, there has in fact been a steady stream of company executives leaving, as TM BROADCAST International has confirmed in numerous cases through their social media announcements. Perhaps the most notable case, given his position, was that of former chairman and CEO Tatxo Benet, who stepped down from his responsibilities at the group last October after reaching an agreement with SouthWind, the conglomerate’s majority shareholder.

Among the reasons explaining Mediapro’s current situation is LaLiga’s decision to exclude the group as the audiovisual provider for the competition after a decade-long partnership. Instead, the national football league awarded the contract to Telefónica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA) and Host Broadcast Services (HBS), which partnered with NVP for the technical coverage of the sporting event.

Mediapro reaffirms its commitment to sports production

Asked about this issue in a recent interview with TM BROADCAST Spain, Grup Mediapro’s CTO, Emili Planas, confirmed that the group will continue to focus on top-tier sports competitions. “There is a world beyond this. LaLiga is a type of production at the highest level, but there are many other top-level productions around the world that we will continue to pursue: FIFA World Cups, UEFA competitions… We remain ambitious and want to keep doing everything we know how to do—and more,” he said.