The board of directors of Movistar Plus is dissolved and Javier de Paz steps down from the non-executive presidency. The content moves to the consumer unit led by Óscar Candiles.
The board of directors of Movistar Plus has been dissolved and Javier de Paz leaves the non-executive presidency. The platform continues to exist as a company, but ceases to be governed independently. Its content will now depend on the consumer unit of Telefónica, directed by Óscar Candiles, according to Xataka.
This decision comes as the platform reaches its best customer moment: 3.94 million subscribers, a 7.3% increase compared to last year. This figure is achieved after the layoffs executed at the end of 2025.
Without its own board, Movistar Plus will no longer set its objectives as an autonomous business and will operate under the logic of the group. Telefónica prioritises that the platform serves to retain customers in its convergent bill rather than to attract independent subscriptions.
“Movistar Plus no longer competes so much with Netflix as with you leaving for Digi”
Football remains the main retention argument. Movistar and Orange are the only operators that combine fibre, mobile and all competitions. Orange pays over 300 million euros a year to Movistar and DAZN for the rights to LaLiga, the Champions, and other tournaments.
The obligation to open premium channels to competition, imposed by the CNMC when Telefónica bought Canal+ in 2015, expired in 2023. Since then, selling football to third parties has been a voluntary decision by Telefónica, which now adopts the unit responsible for customers who do not leave.
Digi, without football in its offering, is already the third largest fibre provider in Spain, ahead of Vodafone. The new consumer unit also plans to expand internationally into businesses such as content sales.
The governance change affects original fiction, the area that has given the platform the most prestige. Movistar Plus ceased in 2025 to Domingo Corral, who was responsible for that bet. A unit measured by the lows it avoids will tend to protect football over series.
Telefónica has not yet communicated any changes in prices or contracting conditions for Movistar Plus. The platform will remain available both in its standalone mode and integrated into the operator's convergent packages.
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