Antena 3 could not continue offering The Rosco of its contest “Pasapalabra” after the decision taken by the Supreme Court, which has confirmed that the property rights of the final test of the program belong to the Dutch company MC&F. It thus dismisses Atresmedia’s appeal and ratifies the resolution issued in 2022 by the Provincial Court of Barcelona, in such a way that the channel could not continue broadcasting its star space as it has done until now.
Both resolutions consider that The Rosco is an original creation of its authors, Roto Luigi Pianta and René Mauricio Loeb, protected by the Intellectual Property Law, whose rights correspond to MC&F. This implies that, in addition to abandoning the broadcast of the test, the Spanish audiovisual group should also pay compensation of 50,000 euros to the plaintiffs for the damages caused, according to The Country.
From reason.Why We have contacted Atresmedia and they confirm that they are studying the ruling and, for the moment, there will be no further comments on the matter. We do know that Antena 3 is already studying how to proceed with the episodes that have already been recorded, in which, indeed, the popular final test is included and whose broadcast is scheduled on the network’s agenda.
The property of “Pasapalabra” belongs to the British network ITV
However, the decision does not imply that Antena 3 has to stop broadcasting “Pasapalabra.” And the program is an original British format, called “The Alphabet Game”, whose broadcasts began in the mid-nineties and whose international rights are currently held by the British network ITV, with Atresmedia being a franchisee. Instead The Rosco, which was included for the first time in Italy in the program “Passaparola” broadcast by Mediaset on Canale 5, belongs to MC&F.
The Supreme Court’s ruling is a blow to Antena 3. “Pasapalabra” is one of the most watched programs, both on the network and on free-to-air television in our country. According to the Barlovento television audience report for the year 2025, prepared with data from Kantar, it has an average audience of 1,770,000 viewers and a screen share of 19.7%.
Last year it was the most watched program on Antena 3, behind Las Campanadas, the news programs and “El Hormiguero”; And considering the genres and formats, “Pasapalabra” is the most watched contest on television in our country. The last broadcast of the delivery of your jackpot, which is awarded precisely to the winner of The Roscoreached an average of 3.7 million viewers and a 36.8% screen share. It was the most watched on television on February 5 of this year, and then became the most watched broadcast with the highest share of the season for a program.
“Pasapalabra” and El Rosco are key spaces in Antena 3’s advertising strategy
As a result of its audience figures, The Rosco It has been a key space in Antena 3’s advertising strategy and a key piece in the media planning of dozens of advertisers in Spain. Atresmedia even designed exclusive advertising formats for The Roscoturning the final test into a space of visibility, notoriety and integration for brands.
In the last installment of the boat, the exclusive spot of The Rosco It was starred by Apple, which took advantage of the occasion to promote its iPhone 17, reaching a total of 4,195,000 contacts.
Some of the formulas that Antena 3 has applied to link the brands to the high point of the program – especially when it comes to episodes in which the coveted prize is awarded – are: contextualized mentions emulating the dynamics of the test, also starring the contest presenter, Roberto Leal, or pauses in quiz format with letters organically integrated between the 25 letters of The Rosco; sponsorships or exclusive spots.
From here on, the Court’s ruling would raise different possible scenarios. One of them would be the negotiation between ITV, owner of “Pasapalabra”, and the Dutch production company MC&F, original owner of The Roscoto ensure that the program continued to be broadcast as before. The second would be for ITV and Antena 3 to reformulate the end of the contest with a new test that replaces the format of The Rosco.
In the French version of the contest, called “Tout le monde a son mot à dire”, produced by Banijay and broadcast on France2, the mechanics are similar to the current one The Roscosince a letter and a definition are provided, and contestants must find the correct word. However, they share the same alphabet, and each letter is given one point. The contestant who gets the most letters correct remains in the contest. The display of the test is not shaped like a donut, but rather like a wheel, which rotates as the letters follow one another.
The decision would also open the door for MC&F to take its lawsuit to other countries. Chile or Argentina also issue the hybrid model initiated by “Passaparola” in Italy.
