Movistar Plus is marking the start of Alfonso Gómez Palacio’s tenure as CEO with a restructuring of its operations, as the leading Spanish pay TV/SVOD platform launches a new content and sports framework.
Gómez Palacio succeeded Daniel Domenjó, who left the post in April after just over a year as CEO of Movistar Plus. His appointment suggest a shift in executive profile, from Domenjó, a TV producer and former Satisfaction Iberia and Mediacrest executive, to a long-serving Telefónica operator with deep experience in Latin America and corporate management.
The restructuring comes as Movistar Plus has helped Spain score a historic first of three Palme d’Or contenders in main Cannes competition. The pay TV/SVOD service co-produced or put down a substantal pre-buy on all three Spanish titles: Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beloved” (“El ser querido”), starring Javier Bardem; Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo’s “La bola negra,” with Penélope Cruz and Pedro Almodóvar’s “Bitter Christmas” (“Amarga Navidad”).
Movistar Plus also said it added 86,000 net customers in the first quarter, taking its paying subscriber base to 3.9 million.
For Spain’s film industry, that Cannes footprint carries industrial weight. Movistar Plus has become one of the country’s driving forces for ambitious Spanish cinema, backing what it calls “event auteur” features, premium series, documentaries and commercially positioned films at a time when local producers are seeking scale, international visibility and reliable financing partners.
