[Medianext.MX]

Spain's Telecinco (owned by Mediaset/MediaForEurope) unveiled today a new look as it is embarking in a radical transformation of its output, a situation driven by the retirement of Paolo Vasile, who made the channel a ratings winner for most of his time as controller of the channel and its sister digital networks, but strongly criticized over its reliance on talk shows, gossip panel shows and reality shows (including the local adaptation of Big Brother); this model became quickly unprofitable in recent years, as rival Antena 3 took over the rights to Pasapalabra (the local version of ITV Studios' The Alphabet Game) after Mediaset was accused of appropriating the format and a court ordered to surrender the rights to the format.

After many failed attempts to revive the channel's ratings, Vasile retired at the end of the year, being replaced by Alessandro Salem, the former programme director of the Italian branch of the company. Salem is already making changes to the channel's output, planning to fully place its programming in line with its Italian counterparts; as a result, Telecinco is reducing its reliance on reality shows and gossip and increase the variety of programming concepts; during this period, Salem has commissioned two new game shows, a daily scripted drama, and tightened their content standards on gossip scandals and political programming, and it plans to boost its news department to bring it closer to TG5, increasing emphasis on political news (with a strong centre-right perspective) and using its resources in all ways.

The new look is a sign of that change of alignment on its output: the new slogan "Telecinco, al ritmo de tu vida" and a much cleaner design is part of the elements of the designs, which are reminiscent of Canale 5's current look. All the designs were made in-house by the group's creative division.

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