La Revuelta and El Hormiguero on X and Instagram: strategies and audiences

La Revuelta y El Hormiguero en X e Instagram: estrategias y audiencias

La Revuelta e El Hormiguero no X e no Instagram: estratégias e audiências

Miguel Ángel Díaz Monsalvo^1*

¹ Miguel de Cervantes European University (UEMC), Valladolid, Spain
^* Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Miguel de Cervantes European University (UEMC), Valladolid, Spain. Email: madiaz@uemc.es

Abstract

Purpose: This research analyzes content insertion strategies on X and Instagram and their impact on the two main competitors’ followers in Spanish prime-time, La Revuelta (TVE-1) and El Hormiguero (Antena 3) talk shows, during 2025 first quarter, linking the data collected with the television audiences obtained. Methodology: The views and types of reactions to the 1,650 content pieces found are studied to detect audience behavior patterns, determine engagement rates, and narrow down the influence of message format variables, network type, and topics triggering conversation/debate. The ecosystem constructed is triangulated with daily viewer figures and posts from the same period in 2024, when there was no linear competition, to create a double-comparative interrelation, both current in terms of audience systems and virtual in terms of time. Results: La Revuelta capitalizes 88.28% of socio-digital reactivity, achieving proactivity through exclusive content per platform, unpublished virtual content, and transmedia narratives. This prevalence does not translate to linear audiences; an area led by El Hormiguero based on loyalty. It places similar value on its networks, reducing interactivity. Direct competition in programming schedule has led to a 42.97% increase in year-on-year activity. Conclusions: There are clear strategic differences that determine a dichotomy in audience flows, engagement metrics, and digital community building, characterized by asymmetric behaviors according to medium and polarization of opinion.

Keywords: Social networks; Digital content; Virtual communities; Engagement rate; Television audience; Talk show.

Resumen

Propósito: La investigación analiza las estrategias de inserción de contenidos en X e Instagram y su impacto en los seguidores de los dos principales competidores del Access prime-time español, los talk-show La Revuelta (TVE-1) y El Hormiguero (Antena 3) durante el primer trimestre de 2025, vinculando los datos recabados con las audiencias televisivas obtenidas. Metodología: Se estudian los visionados y tipos de reacciones de los 1.650 contenidos hallados para detectar patrones de comportamiento de la audiencia, determinar engagement rate y acotar la influencia de las variables de formato de mensaje, tipología de red, y temáticas desencadenantes de conversación/debate. El ecosistema construido se triangula con la cifra diaria de espectadores y las publicaciones del mismo período de 2024, cuando no competían en lineal, para crear una doble interrelación comparativa, tanto actual sobre sistemas de audiencias como temporal virtual. Resultados: La Revuelta capitaliza el 88,28% de la reactividad socio-digital, consiguiendo proactividad mediante contenidos exclusivos por plataforma, inéditos para virtual, y narrativas transmedia. Esta prevalencia no se traslada a la audiencia lineal, ámbito liderado por El Hormiguero basándose en el factor fidelización. Concede valor similar a sus redes, reduciéndose la interactividad. La lucha directa en la parrilla de programación ha provocado un 42,97% más de actividad interanual. Conclusiones: Existen claras diferencias estratégicas que determinan una dicotomía en flujos de audiencia, métricas de engagement y construcción de comunidades digitales, caracterizadas por comportamientos asimétricos según soporte y polarización de estados de opinión.

Palabras clave: Redes sociales; Contenidos digitales; Comunidades virtuales; Engagement rate; Audiencia en televisión; Talk-show.

Resumo

Propósito: A investigação analisa as estratégias de inserção de conteúdos no X e no Instagram e o seu impacto nos seguidores dos dois principais concorrentes do Access prime-time espanhol —os talk-shows La Revuelta (TVE-1) e El Hormiguero (Antena 3)— durante o primeiro trimestre de 2025, relacionando os dados recolhidos com as audiências televisivas obtidas. Metodologia: Foram analisadas as visualizações e os tipos de reações de 1.650 conteúdos identificados, com o objetivo de detectar padrões de comportamento da audiência, determinar a taxa de engajamento e delimitar a influência de variáveis como formato da mensagem, tipo de rede e temáticas que desencadeiam conversa ou debate. O ecossistema construído é triangulado com os dados diários de audiência e as publicações do mesmo período de 2024, quando os programas não competiam na transmissão linear, a fim de estabelecer uma dupla inter-relação comparativa: uma atual, sobre os sistemas de audiência, e outra temporal, de caráter virtual. Resultados: La Revuelta capitaliza 88,28% da reatividade socio-digital, alcançando proatividade por meio de conteúdos exclusivos por plataforma, inéditos para o ambiente virtual, e narrativas transmídia. Essa prevalência não se reflete na audiência linear, domínio liderado por El Hormiguero, sustentado pelo fator de fidelização. Atribui valor semelhante às suas redes, embora com redução na interatividade. A concorrência direta na grade de programação provocou um aumento de 42,97% na atividade anual. Conclusões: Existem claras diferenças estratégicas que determinam uma dicotomia nos fluxos de audiência, nas métricas de engajamento e na construção de comunidades digitais, caracterizadas por comportamentos assimétricos conforme a plataforma utilizada e pela polarização dos estados de opinião.

Palabras-chave: Redes sociais; Conteúdos digitais; Comunidades virtuais; Taxa de engajamento; Audiência televisiva; Talk-show.

1. Introduction

Access primetime programming slots are the main battleground for television in Spain. Antena 3 leads audience ratings, supported, among other things, by its daily Access primetime El Hormiguero talk show, which has been the leader for the last ten seasons (Atresmedia, 2024). In September 2024, TVE-1 sought to compete with a program of the same format that had been running for seven years on Movistar pay-TV channel: La Resistencia. Under a new name, La Revuelta, the signing was controversial (Mucientes, 2024), due to contract figures (€42 million for three seasons), less than 1% shares on Movistar, and its comical and ironic style fitting on public television.

Both programs are labeled as talk shows, as they revolve around an interview with a celebrity in the news (Fernández-Herruzo, 2024), with additional daily or weekly segments. The role of the host is fundamental, given their ability to influence public opinion (Pérez-Sánchez and Llorca-Abad, 2025). The combination of topical questions and anecdotes in interviews, conducted in a relaxed and natural atmosphere with humor touches, allows them to capture young audiences (Aguilera-García, 2023).

This format has evolved since its inception in the United States in the 1960s, when it began as a talk show featuring anonymous guests aimed at a female audience. Over the years, audience participation on set was introduced and celebrities began to be invited (Cabeza and Casado-Linares, 2020), resulting in its current format, represented, among others, by the successful The Tonight Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show, which have been adapted in Spain without losing their essence (Meliveo-Nogués, 2025).

The novelty lies in the fact that both El Hormiguero and La Revuelta are the only Spanish talk shows broadcast during primetime, when competition is fierce. Both have vied for leadership in two areas. El Hormiguero has maintained television loyalty among viewers aged 65 years old and over, which is significant because this group is one of linear television’s main consumers (Mata-Núñez, 2024). La Revuelta has transferred segments aged 13-44 years old to linear television (Barlovento, 2025; Dos30’, 2025), who are generally inclined to consume audiovisual content via the Internet (Zamora-Martínez and González-Neira, 2022; Salgado-Santamaría et al., 2025), a pattern that fits with the program’s run on Movistar, where it was more widely consumed on social media than on traditional broadcast channels, as it was a paid service.

The viewing of television products on platforms and social networks has created new medium conceptualizations, described by Quintas-Froufe and González-Neira (2014) as social television, hyper-television, or TVmorphosis. In short, programs expose part of their content “in small doses and from transmedia narratives, as an engagement strategy” (Gascón, 2020, p.191) to build virtual communities, because participation implies integration (Lacalle and Gómez-Morales, 2017; Coromina et al., 2020; Gómez-Rubio and López-Vidales, 2024).

This consumption is synchronous multi-screen (Teso and Piñuel, 2015) during broadcast or on a delayed basis, which empowers the viewer by enabling them to decide what to watch and on which device (Johnson et al., 2023). Each population group tends to favor a particular social network. Thus, today’s young people—Generation Z—classified as digital natives, subscribe to Instagram because of its ease creating audiovisual content (Halpern, et al., 2016; Zambrano and Trujillo, 2024), although warnings have been issued about their vulnerability to misinformation (Campos-Domínguez et al., 2022). Meanwhile, their predecessors—Generation Y—tend to favor Twitter/X (Smulders, 2024) for its possibilities for informing themselves, expressing opinions, and debating through text posts, which sometimes respond to or mention other users (Saavedra et al., 2015), links, and the possibility of sharing/retweeting content (Rini, 2017).

1.1. Objetives and justification

The basic objective is to analyze the strategies used to attract and retain digital audiences by two major competitors in prime-time access in Spain, La Revuelta (TVE-1) and El Hormiguero (Antena 3). Both are talk shows and attract 4 million viewers to their daily television broadcasts. Media interest focuses on reporting differences in audience share and viewership, so it is scientifically relevant to go beyond these figures by projecting them into the virtual sphere, detecting the decisions made about what content is transferred from traditional broadcasting to their networks, what strategies they follow, and how social audience responds. The following specific objectives are established:

• OBJ1. Determine the importance given by each program to the two social networks analyzed, taking into account the variables proposed, comparing quantification with their digital approaches in 2024.

• OBJ2. Link the strategic approach on social networks with the situation of direct television competition as explained in linear viewer metrics.

• OBJ3. Parameterize content insertion techniques and strategies.

• OBJ4. Quantify digital audience reactions and calculate each publication’s engagement rate, taking into account the distinctive features of each social network and content type.

• OBJ5. Based on the above objectives, formulate a general characterization of each program’s digital communities, implementing a qualitative approach to response trends.

2. Materials and methods

Daily audience data and posts have been studied on the two main social networks, X and Instagram, for both programs during the first quarter of 2025, shortly after the controversy between the two over an interview with motorcycle racer Jorge Martín on La Revuelta that was allegedly vetoed by El Hormiguero. Analysis covers the period from January 7^th to March 31^st (84 days, 12 weeks, 48 programs), during which the share dynamics changed (Barlovento, 2025), making it meaningful to interrelate both audience spectra.

Variables come from referenced scientific literature. At quantitative level, daily average viewer figures are compiled; in X, date, focus (own tweet, repost, or response), description and content type (text, image, GIF, video), views, RT, MG, comments, and video duration are recorded for each publication.

Formats and reactions are parameterized on Instagram. Once data has been collected, matching posts are established between both platforms, exclusive to each one and unpublished, i.e., not linearly broadcast. Recent research (García-Ortega, 2023; Lozano-Blasco et al., 2023) studies the impact of these metrics on different social media community users in the digital ecosystem.

The engagement rate, a key concept (Jenkins, 2009) referring to participation according to followers, is calculated for all of them. In addition, media monitoring is used to make a qualitative approximation of opinion states. It is, therefore, a mixed methodology. Data collection is carried out manually after the first 24 hours of publication, which is the main validity period of content for users. Artificial Intelligence has not been used.

These parameters construct the digital strategic scenario for each program, which is compared with audience ratings to identify behavioral trends, and with activity of both accounts in the first quarter of 2024, a period without competition in the programming schedule but key to determining variations in the new television context.

3. Results

1,762 posts were collected during the study period. Excluding the 112 RTs, which were not considered to be actual activity, both programs generated 1,650 content pieces (Table 1), with the following reaction types.

La Revuelta is more active in terms of insertion frequency and own publications (59.81% compared to 30.19% for El Hormiguero), with a higher content proportion only available on X or Instagram (53%) than its competitor (15%). Of the more than 200 million reactions found, 88.28% correspond to the TVE-1 talk show, which capitalizes on Twitter with 89.33% views, 80% comments, 90.93% RTs, and 94.34% likes. This variable is also dominated on Instagram (77.94%). Antena 3’s only victory comes in this network’s comments (57.34% vs. 42.66%). These data allow us to generate a graph (Figure 1) of publication strategies and types linked to audience activity.

3.1. General data on X

There are 1,464 posts, 843 on La Revuelta and 621 on El Hormiguero. Almost all activity is concentrated on broadcast days: there are only 29 tweets on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays (1.9%), evenly distributed (15-14). Thirty percent of retweets (33 out of 112) are made at the end of the week. Figure 2 shows the evolution of views and reactions—the sum of comments, RTs, and likes—in the period analyzed.

Daily distribution shows marked sawtooth patterns from Monday to Thursday, especially on TVE-1, indicating the impact of each day’s guest celebrity, and a sharp decline in activity at the end of the week.

Adding reaction metrics, a mirror effect can be seen: the more views, the more reactions, with specific exceptions in January and March, and sawtooth trend also increasing. La Revuelta outstrips its rival in the following proportions:

• In comments, by four in absolute numbers (29,820 vs. 7,454) and by three in averages (35.37-12).

• In retweets, by 10 in cumulative total (199,786-19,921) and by 7 in average (236.99-32.08).

• In ‘likes’, by 16 in overall (1,692,778 vs 101,588) and by 12 based on average (2.008.04-163.59).

3.1.1 Types of posts

Videos are the main content source on X, with a higher incidence on El Hormiguero (78.28%) than on La Revuelta (60.79%). This is logical, given that both are audiovisual formats using their social media accounts to highlight their programs’ best moments. Thus, content is reinterpreted on social media, allowing for new forms of expression that expand the narrative and are an extension of what happens on television.

This is followed by image format—guests and collaborators’ photographs—which appears three times more frequently on TVE-1 than on Antena 3 (31.81% vs. 11.01%). La Revuelta also uses memes: there are 25 images with added text to generate humorous content.

These two types represent 90% of the sample, so the other three elements—text, GIF, and link—are residual in use, although significant in strategy. GIFs (animated images) are used daily on Antena 3, representing 7.39% of its posts, to announce the start of the interview; on TVE-1, they are sporadic (0.41%) and linked to memes. Both cases are illustrated in Image 1.

La Revuelta’s textual posts tripled those of its competitor in the sample (4.46%–1.51%), and their use had a threefold purpose: informative— broadcast cancellation on February 26th—responses to users, and generating anticipation about the guest of the day through ambiguous messages, taking advantage of the fact that they never announce it in advance. This informative purpose converges in El Hormiguero.

The link’s sample weight is equal (2.53% Revuelta-1.81% Hormiguero), but different in use. La Revuelta has sought to encourage migration to its RTVEPlay platform, where the entire program is hosted, and to generate transmedia narratives (Image 2) by expanding main content and seeking user participation to vote or donate.

The call to action caused the tree contest website to crash due to the number of people trying to access it and raised €20,000 for the child in a single night. To encourage engagement, the account reposted users’ posts informing others of their collaboration.

The 12 posts with links on El Hormiguero are also linked to transmedia approaches: learning more about the guest’s current topic. Linking to content hosted on another platform, usually a video—a song or a movie premiere—expands the main story—the interview—without losing meaning, but differs from La Revuelta because participation is not sought after.

Once uses have been determined, the proportion (Figure 3) between sample representation of each type and audience’s reactions is studied.

Video metrics stand out on El Hormiguero. All reaction and view percentages are higher than sample value (78.28%). In photographs, the opposite is true. Values obtained are 4 or 5 times lower than their sample proportion (11%), except for comments (9.57%). The same trend applies to links, whose sample weight doubles or triples each reaction index. GIFs show data homogeneity with 11.63% of total comments and 7.39% of sample weight.

The sample representativeness of videos (60.79%) in La Revuelta is similar to audience activity in comments and MG, while views and RTs exceed 70%. Photographs and links mirror the trend of their competitor: in snapshots, high sample weight (31.81%), but low proportion of consumption and reaction (21 and 25%). In links, their sample weight (2.53%) doubles the records of reactions and views. The main difference is in text tweets, which receive 10.52% of comments received, double their sample weight (4.46%).

3.1.2. Video posts

The prevalence of this type of posts warrants a specific analysis. There is asymmetry when comparing activity and duration: La Revuelta stands out for insertion frequency (n=596), at a rate of 12.68 per broadcast, while El Hormiguero averages 10.45 (n=502). The opposite is true for duration, as shown in Figure 4.

Only four programs on TVE-1’s talk show have higher averages, although never above 2:30 minutes (150 seconds). El Hormiguero shows a dichotomous distribution: 44 videos are less than 10 seconds long, and 40 range between 9 and 10 minutes. Sorting through more than 1,000 videos, the 56 longest ones correspond to Antena 3; the longest one from La Revuelta lasts 5:20. Audience responded as follows (Figure 5).

Short content encourages viewing and/or participation, most evident in La Revuelta, accounting for 89 of the 100 most viewed videos and 98 of the 100 most reacted to. Only three videos longer than 5:00 (300’) manage to exceed the 500,000-view threshold (red dots); the nine that exceed one million views last between 0:55 and 2:50 (55-170’). The same is true when linking duration to reactions (green dots). Nineteen videos exceed the 10,000-mark. 16 are less than 3:00’. The three remaining are musical performances.

3.1.3 Exclusive content and references

38.3% of La Revuelta’s posts on X (379 out of 987) only appear on this social network. The figure is 9.17% (57 out of 663) on El Hormiguero. If text posts are excluded, GIFs, and links (not used on Instagram), El Hormiguero has 10 pieces of exclusive content, compared to 310 for La Revuelta: 25 memes, 99 guests and contributors’ photographs, 186 videos, 81 interview clips, and 105 regular sections.

There have been cross-references between the two programs, but only La Revuelta has mentioned its competitor on social media (Image 3), without mentioning its corporate account.

No reference has been published on Antena 3. On January 27^th, singer Alejandro Sanz offered to mediate the controversy between the two programs over the alleged veto of an interview on February 26^th, broadcaster Paz Padilla’s daughter explained that Broncano had never invited her mother to be interviewed.singer Alejandro Sanz offered to mediate in the controversy between the two programs following the controversy over the alleged veto of an interview¹. On February 26, the daughter of broadcaster Paz Padilla explained that Broncano had never invited her mother to be interviewed².

3.1.4 Qualitative impact on social audience

Once quantitative scenario has been constructed, a qualitative approximation of user response trends is carried out. To do this, the 10 most commented X contents from each program are selected (Table 2) and exported using the TwCommentExport_v1.1.6 tool to a CSV file, where recurring words and comments’ positive or negative nature are searched for.

There are three main topics: conversations generated around the program itself (guest previews, audience, broadcast cancellation, etc.); the guests (Pradells, Higón, Andy&Lucas, Alborán, Rajoy); and current affairs, distinguishing between more political approaches on El Hormiguero (housing, DANA, etc.) and social issues on La Revuelta (8M movement, menstruation, racism, etc.). On this basis, periodic reports on audience sentiment and positive or negative opinions’ percentage (Image 4) are requested from Brand24 media monitoring system.

On TVE-1, 46.5% of opinions are positive, compared to 53.5% negative. Praise has greater impact (60%) in comments about individuals, such as Lalachus, criticized for her physical appearance after she was announced to present New Year’s Eve countdown, and Higón for her resilience in explaining her seven rare diseases; and, by extension, the program for raising awareness about her situation. Social issues (8M), professions such as bodybuilding (Pradells), and TVE’s decision not to broadcast on February 26^th in favor of soccer generate controversy.

El Hormiguero is dominated by negative opinions (63.5%). Praise focuses on encouragement messages for singers Pablo Alborán and Lucas González, who suffered a failed post-operative complication after nose surgery. Opinions are polarized in conversations about housing, DANA management, and politics.

3.2. Overall results on IG

There are 1,464 own posts on X and 1,214 on Instagram. Both have similar numbers: 608 La Revuelta (464 matching X); 606 El Hormiguero (546 identical). Of the 186 exclusive posts on this social network, 144 (77.41%) are from the TVE-1 program, most of them (93) on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

The 42 exclusive content pieces from Antena 3 are divided between guests’ photo galleries and 12 contests launched to raffle off double tickets to attend the program audience or for events in collaboration with companies in the sector. User reactions converge in proportion to X in terms of likes: 14,273,913 for La Revuelta (77.94%); 4,040,623 for El Hormiguero. The main difference is in comments, the only metric where Antena 3 wins: 189,547 (57.34%), compared to 140,994. This is explained by ticket contests, accounting for 94,228 comments, 49.71% of the total. To participate, users must comment mentioning other people. This means that, of the 1,214 posts from both shows, the nine most commented on are from El Hormiguero, and linked to this strategy. At La Revuelta, weekend activity is based on the creation of memes, usually using photographs from program moments; occasionally, delving into the rivalry with El Hormiguero after the alleged banned interview or its controversial arrival on TVE, as illustrated in Image 5.

As in X, audience behavior regarding posts is analyzed in Figure 6.

There is a continued dominance of La Revuelta in likes (dashed line) except on one specific date (February 11^th), when El Hormiguero invited psychiatrist Marian Rojas. Dominance is asymmetrical over time and depends on guests. Alternating leadership shows in comments (solid line). When El Hormiguero launches a ticket contest, there is a spike in activity.

3.2.1 Qualitative impact on social audience

The qualitative approach to user response trends applies in X, analyzing the 10 most commented contents (Table 3), downloaded with IGCommentExport in a CSV file. El Hormiguero’s ticket giveaway posts are excluded, as comments only mention the person the user would like to attend the program with.

Only four of the 20 topics studied in X are repeated, two per program: Higón and Crespo—leader here and 10th on Twitter—in La Revuelta; Andy & Lucas—repeating first place—and Revilla in El Hormiguero. This lack of overlap means that opinion spheres are different: political content and conversations about the program’s focus on social issues, linked to interviewees and collaborators, disappearing.

There is debate about soccer (Marcelo Vieira), politics (DANA management) and guests (Marian Rojas’ work, singer Lucas González’ surgery), leading to a concentration of negative opinions. Positive comments are included in stories of overcoming adversity—an artist without limbs, fight against cancer or rare diseases—everyday topics such as nobility and detachment, or musical performances not broadcast on linear television.

3.3. Unpublished content for digital media

Only 60 (3.6%) of 1,650 of their own posts were created for social media, with a third (19) appearing on El Hormiguero. The 41 from La Revuelta are a strategy to mitigate viewer loss detected at the end of 2024 during VTR video of lottery results within the program broadcast, as contract stipulated with RTVE. A sketch by collaborator Jorge Ponce was included (Image 6) in a double window without audio. Its content could only be understood when viewed on social media with sound. On X, these 41 posts have a total of 6,883,200 views and 85,102 reactions; the 34 Instagram videos received 5,474 comments and 436,223 MG.

Since March 20^th, Ponce’s sketch is no longer unreleased as it is linearly broadcast with audio, causing a 39.4% drop in views and a 31.3% drop in reactions. This decline is more pronounced on Instagram, with a 71.5% drop in comments and a 61.4% drop in MG.

The 19 unreleased videos from El Hormiguero are a reel thanking National Police for participating in a program and 18 videos (Image 7) generated when it led the ratings, receiving 370,623 views and 6,097 reactions on X, and 4,101 comments and 100,791 likes on Instagram.

3.4. Engagement rate

Data is cross-referenced with number of followers to determine engagement rate. La Revuelta went from 1,000,000 to 1,300,000 followers on Instagram and rose from 280,000 to 296,000 on X. El Hormiguero maintained 2,200,000 followers on X and rose from that range to 2,300,000 on Instagram.

Calculations are daily made, based on the number of followers. La Revuelta’s average on X is 0.8% compared to 0.01% for El Hormiguero, whose highest ER is 0.2%. 689 posts by La Revuelta improve on that figure. The same trend can be seen on Instagram, although with a smaller average difference (2.15%-0.3%). Even so, 62 posts by TVE-1 exceed Antena 3’s best ER (4.51%). Table 4 compiles best results.

The above table shows little convergence in content, as was the case with the most commented posts. Once again, the factor of audience asymmetry emerges depending on the platform. On El Hormiguero, there are three common posts—Andy & Lucas and two by Rojas—while on X, audience data and interviews with Rajoy and Alborán take center stage. On Instagram, former soccer player Joaquín and ticket contests stand out.

There is no coincidence in protagonists or formats in La Revuelta. There are eight photos and two videos, both musical performances on X. There are nine videos featuring media guests: former soccer player Marcelo and artists Dani Rovira, Alejandro Sanz, and Natti Natasha on Instagram.

Photographic posts on X correspond to interviewees who were eagerly awaited: Higón appears four times, once as a guest on the program talking about her seven illnesses, which led to her invitation days later; Swirski was a photographer and spy; Pratt benefited from ambiguous tweets posted amid rumors of his presence, and Lalachus was the first 2025 interviewee to defend herself against criticism of her appearance following her New Year Eve’s countdown appearance. Singer Lucas González also received criticism for his appearance after undergoing surgery. His plea on El Hormiguero is leader in engagement rate on X and second on Instagram.

3.5. Links between digital and linear metrics

Once strategies and their impact on users have been analyzed, the interrelationship between digital and television spheres is studied (Figure 7) by comparing two comparable absolute values associated with each broadcast.

Dotted lines show the evolution of linear audience figures, with a favorable trend for El Hormiguero. On average, it attracted 1,986,700 viewers (+270,000 compared to its competitor), achieving 40 daily victories, half of which were by less than 50,000 viewers. La Revuelta’s partial victories are also meager, except for January 7^th (+577,000 viewers). These flows indicate a clear daily battle in television ratings.

However, these data must be contextualized with those collected in the digital area (represented by solid lines), which reflect the prevalence of La Revuelta on social media. On Antena 3, the number of viewers is higher than the number of views. On TVE-1, the opposite is true, except on five specific days, three in February and two in March. The reason is the same: soccer matches’ broadcast, which postponed the start of the program beyond 11:00 p.m., even canceling it on February 26^th, hence the zero figure. This decision by the public broadcaster has a direct correlative impact: the decline in viewers leads to fewer views.

With a few exceptions, under conditions of direct competition, no strong interrelationship between variables can be observed in any program, which is statistically demonstrated by applying Pearson’s Linear Correlation Coefficient, which yields an index of 0.3722 in La Revuelta and 0.1369 in El Hormiguero. These figures indicate a positive correlation in both cases, moderate in the TVE-1 format and weak in Antena 3, but given the figures’ magnitude, the linear association is not clear.

Digital audience peak figures do not imply increases in viewers. To understand audience behavior, the ten programs with best results are examined (Table 5).

Four programs appear on both lists in La Revuelta, although without corresponding positions. There is one coincidence in El Hormiguero: Mariano Rajoy. It was the most watched linear broadcast and the third best performance on social media.

According to guests’ profile, the best data on Antena 3 came from politicians, musicians, and actors. These are people with high media exposure. Its competitor features cases of overcoming adversity (Higón or Pinar, Paralympic athlete), emerging celebritiess (actresses Balić and Yuste, astronaut García) or professions with less public exposure: Pradells is a bodybuilder, Ayman is a Muay Thai fighter, Roca has been a chef at Moncloa.

40% overlap in La Revuelta compared to 10% in El Hormiguero, guests’ profiles, and viewer records determine a separation in consumption habits and, consequently, in audience profiles and interests.

3.6. Year-on-year comparison

Both programs’ current digital strategies require a comparative temporal reference point to detect changes through direct comparison. For this reason, El Hormiguero’s broadcasts in the first quarter of 2024 are identified (Table 6) and compared with those of La Resistencia, the program heading broadcast on Movistar until June 2024, during the same period.

If 1,650 posts were recorded in 2025, there were 1,154 in 2024. There has been a 42.97% activity increase on both social networks, which is more pronounced in the case of La Revuelta. During its time at Movistar, La Resistencia posted on X with an average frequency of 200/month; in 2025, it is close to or exceeds 300. The explanation lies in the increase in tweets with images, links, and text. El Hormiguero is also growing, but to a lesser extent: the range goes from 148/176 to 180/223. Video format remains unchanged: more insertions in La Resistencia / La Revuelta, but shorter than El Hormiguero. There is an upturn on Instagram as well, but more moderate in both cases.

Exclusive posts for each network are on the rise. La Revuelta has multiplied by 9, from 5.3 to 48. The explanation lies in the current focus on memes at the end of the week. Antena 3’s talk show has gone from 11.3 to 14 (+23.9%). On X, trends are opposite: the program presented by Broncano doubles its year-on-year rates, from 52/64 to 116/133, while Motos shows a slight downward trend.

Unchanging trend in user response. Both La Revuelta and La Resistencia dominate all X metrics, although with smaller differences in RTs and likes in 2024, as well as Instagram MG. Comments on this network are the only victory for El Hormiguero.

Content study shows three change patterns compared to 2025: memes’ lower frequency. Guests’ announcement on La Resistencia through photo posts (Image 8), systematically hosted eight hours before broadcast; and absence of posts on El Hormiguero about audience leadership. The latter two are linked to strategies for audience share fighting.

Therefore, the move to free-to-air television has led to a substantial change in the frequency of publication and thematic approaches, which are more pronounced in the new competitor than in the established program. These changes have not altered the reaction patterns of virtual communities.

4. Discussion of results and conclusions

The study of 1,650 posts on social media and audience data from the two leading talk shows on Spanish television reveals a battle for leadership in both audiovisual and digital ecosystems, known as stream-wars (Neira, 2020; Terol and Camarasa, 2023). This research highlights the existence of clear strategic dichotomies, which will determine the resolution of the study’s objectives.

The first dichotomy appears when analyzing digital insertion approaches (OBJ1). El Hormiguero gives equal value to its Facebook and Instagram profiles, and 85.1% of the content is identical on both networks. This strategy, known as cross-posting (Bossetta and Schmøkel, 2022; Sabri and Elsherief, 2025), homogenizes the offering. Cross-posting accounts for half (47.1%) at La Revuelta, with X being its base platform during broadcast days and 44.9% of content not found on Instagram. The current scenario inherits 2024 dynamics, when the two did not coincide on the air, although direct television competition has led to the strategic changes found in the analysis: more frequent publication in both, content reporting on their audience victories on Antena 3, and humorous memes or exclusive content per network on TVE-1.

There is also a dichotomy (OBJ2) because the emergence of La Revuelta in free-to-air programming has led to the incorporation of new targets into the audience structure, generating asymmetry in performance depending on the focus of analysis. In the television spectrum, the monthly reports from Barlovento and Dos30’ revealed that when both began to compete in September 2024, consumption increased by 10% in prime-time access, especially in 13-24 and 25-44 years-old age groups. In the first month of competition, they matched figures of 2,200,000 viewers. Once the novelty factor had passed, both stabilized their average ratings at around two million until the end of 2024, and it was during this study period that TVE-1’s slot fell slightly, while El Hormiguero remained steady.

Thus, the arrival of a new competitor has not taken viewers away from Antena 3’s program, demonstrating its viewers’ loyalty. This can be explained by its long history on the air, which has allowed it to consolidate its television leadership. The new population groups joining the generalist programming offering (13-44 years-old) are characterized by multi-screen consumption, either synchronous or delayed, and this is what La Revuelta takes advantage of to attract its core followers from the Movistar stage or capture new audiences. And this is where the disruptive key lies, because this audience is both audiovisual and virtual, a sphere in which TVE-1 has received a high level of proactivity in terms of both reactions and views, with figures higher than those collected by audience meters.

This has been achieved through the techniques identified in our research (OBJ3). Of particular interest are the social media posts not broadcast on the talk show, known as unpublished content. A notable example is Ponce’s sketch, which was highly valued by La Revuelta digital community until it was integrated into the broadcast, causing a drop in interactions and views. This shows that users are looking for more than just a repository of the program’s best moments on social media. This strategy is the only one replicated by El Hormiguero, where unpublished content is based on posts about audience leadership and ticket contests, which require users to post in order to participate. This content represents 1.8% of the sample, but it receives nearly 50% of comments (the highest ratio), which is consistent with the Uses and Gratifications Theory: there is a reaction if there is an incentive.

The other basic actions are capitalized by the TVE-1 program, and they have as a common denominator the factor of speed of consumption, which matches the consumption habits of younger generations, their digital viewer base. This can be seen in the videos, most of which are less than 3:00 minutes long, which have shown high interactivity—in line with previous research (Newman, 2024)—in text tweets (also with interaction rates higher than their sample weight), and in posts with links to promote audience participation—voting or donating—creating transmedia narratives, as stated by Gascón (2020). This corpus of actions lacks temporal coordination in La Revuelta, while in El Hormiguero the television format acts as a boundary, given that there are almost no posts at the end of the week.

These factors converge to explain the activity figures collected (OBJ4). La Revuelta accounts for between 77% and 94% of views and reactions—comments, RTs, and MG—except for Instagram comments, El Hormiguero’s only triumph due to impact of ticket giveaway contests.

The dichotomy found is exacerbated by the detection of asymmetrical behavior on each social network. In absolute terms, each program’s posts with most views and reactions have been different on X on Instagram. In terms of engagement rate, the best percentages also do not correspond across networks, although once again metrics show La Revuelta’s dominance, despite having half as many followers on X and seven times fewer on Instagram, reinforcing its audience’s commitment. This commitment is reinforced by the program’s characteristic style, with humorous memes, sometimes alluding to its direct competitor, but unidirectional, because the study has detected that El Hormiguero has talked about La Revuelta in linear broadcasting, but they have never passed the filter to be part of its content on social media.

All these strategic actions determine the construction of each virtual community and users’ sense of belonging (OBJ5). According to the findings, this is stronger in La Revuelta, although results reveal other determining factors in this construction: leadership, debate, and polarization. There are higher rates of interaction when controversial topics arise or the program reports its victories in linear audience ratings In El Hormiguero; whereas there are good results with guests who are emerging, little-known, or linked to social issues, which have generated positive trends in social conversation in La Revuelta. This is the exception, because a qualitative approach to the most commented content reveals marked polarization fueling an increasingly polarized battle both in television and digital spheres.

Authors’ contributions

Miguel Ángel Díaz Monsalvo: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Investigation; Methodology; Project management; Supervision; Validation; Visualization; Writing - original draft; Writing-review and editing. The author has read and agrees with the published version of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest and funding

There is no funding, conflict of interest, personal or professional relationship with the entities studied.

References

Aguilera García, Inmaculada. (2023). Infohumor y alfabetización mediática: entender la comedia para comprender la actualidad. Historia y Comunicación Social, 28(1), 147-157. https://doi.org/10.5209/hics.88632

Atresmedia. (2024, junio 25). El Hormiguero cierra la temporada como el programa más visto de la televisión. [Comunicado de prensa]. https://bit.ly/477dce9

Barlovento Comunicación. (2025). Audiencias mensuales. https://barloventocomunicacion.es/audiencias-mensuales/

Bossetta, Michael; & Schmøkel, Rasmus. (2022). Cross-Platform Emotions and Audience Engagement in Social Media Political Campaigning. Political Communication, 40(1), 48–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2022.2128949

Cabeza, José; & Casado-Linares, Raúl. (2020). Empujando los límites: la expansión de la intimidad en los talk shows españoles (1990-2010). Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico, 26(2), 441-449. https://doi.org/10.5209/esmp.67456

Campos-Domínguez, Eva; Esteve del Valle, Marc; & Renedo-Farpón, Cristina. (2022). Rhetoric of parliamentary disinformation on Twitter. Comunicar, 72, 47-58. https://doi.org/10.3916/C72-2022-04

Coromina, Óscar; Delgado Matilde; Prado, Emili; & García-Muñoz, Nuria. (2020): Estrategias de activación de la audiencia social en Twitter de los programas más populares de la televisión generalista en Europa. Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico, 26(2), 473-482. https://doi.org/10.5209/esmp.67727

Dos30’ Agencia Audiovisual. (2025). Publicaciones de informes de audiencias mensuales. https://www.dos30.com/actualidad/category/audiencias-mensuales/

Fernández-Herruzo, Juan-Ignacio. (2024). La evolución de los macrogéneros televisivos en las parrillas de los operadores tradicionales en España (2011-2023). Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico, 30(4), 727-737. https://doi.org/10.5209/emp.96375

García-Ortega, Alba. (2023). Redes sociales: El contenido en vídeo y los formatos breves y explicativos serán cada vez más relevantes. En José-Antonio García-Avilés (Ed.), Análisis de las tendencias e innovaciones en el ecosistema mediático de España Portugal (2025-2030). Pamplona: IBERIFIER. https://doi.org/10.15581/026.006

Gascón, Patricia. (2020). El infoentretenimiento en la televisión de pago, Movistar+ y el canal #0. El uso transmedia de sus contenidos de humor. Ámbitos, 49, 177-196. https://doi.org/10.12795/Ambitos.2020.i49.11

Gómez-Rubio, Leire; & López-Vidales, Nereida. (2024). Youth perception of interaction and frequency of use in social networks. Visual Review, 16(1), 125-139. https://doi.org/10.62161/revvisual.v16.5177

Halpern, Daniel; Quintas-Froufe, Natalia; & Fernández-Medina, Francisco. (2016). Interacciones entre la televisión y su audiencia social: hacia una conceptualización comunicacional. El Profesional de la Información, 25(3), 367-375. https://revista.profesionaldelainformacion.com/index.php/EPI/article/view/epi.2016.may.06/31137

Jenkins, Henry. (2009). Convergence Culture. La cultura de la convergencia de los medios de comunicación. Paidós Ibérica.

Johnson, Catherine; Hills, Matt; & Dempsey, Laurie. (2023). An audience studies’ contribution to the discoverability and prominence debate: Seeking UK TV audiences’ ‘routes to content’. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 30(5), 1625-1645. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565231222605

Lacalle, Charo; & Gómez-Morales, Beatriz. (2017). La recepción televisiva española en la era multipantalla, Comunicación y Sociedad, 30, 197-216. https://doi.org/10.32870/cys.v0i30.6135

Lozano-Blasco, Raquel; Mira-Aladrén, Marta; & Gil-Lamata, Mercedes. (2023). Social media influence on young people and children: Analysis on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Comunicar, 74, 125-137. https://doi.org/10.3916/C74-2023-10

Mata-Núñez, Almudena. (2024). Aproximación a las audiencias televisivas en España desde la interseccionalidad de género. adComunica, 28, 291-316. https://doi.org/10.6035/adcomunica.7949

Meliveo Nogués, Paula. (2025). El formato Late Night Show. Primer programa en la televisión de Estados Unidos, España y su conexión con el primer Late Show emitido en La Sexta. European Public & Social Innovation Review, 10, 1–32. https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-1532

Mucientes, Esther. (2024, abril 11). El fichaje de David Broncano provoca “el mayor cisma” en RTVE desde hace años. ElMundo.es. https://bit.ly/3YkYuvQ

Neira, Elena. (2020). Streaming Wars: La nueva televisión. Cúpula.

Newman, Nic. (2024). Resumen ejecutivo y hallazgos clave del informe de 2024. Digital News Report. https://bit.ly/3XLQxjh

Pérez-Sánchez, Javier; & Llorca-Abad, Germán. (2025). The figure of (daytime) talk show presenters as generators of opinion persuasion and political media focus in Spain. Anàlisi, 72, 119–134. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/analisi.3804

Quintas-Froufe, Natalia; & González-Neira, Ana. (2014). Active audiences: Social audience participation in television. Comunicar, 43, 83-90. https://doi.org/10.3916/C43-2014-08

Rini, Regina. (2017). Fake news and partisan epistemology. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, 27(2), E-43. https://doi.org/10.1353/ken.2017.0025

Saavedra, Marta; Rodríguez, Leticia; & Barón, Gemma. (2015). Audiencia social en España: Estrategias de éxito en la televisión nacional. ICONO 14. Revista Científica de Comunicación y Tecnologías Emergentes, 13(2), 214–237. https://doi.org/10.7195/ri14.v13i2.822

Sabri, Nazanin; & Elsherief, Mai. (2025). Posting patterns of members of parental subreddits. arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.16193. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2501.16193

Salgado-Santamaría, Mª Carmen; Jivkova-Semova, Dimitrina; & Pérez-Sánchez, Javier. (2025). Similitudes y diferencias transgeneracionales en el consumo de contenidos audiovisuales en España. Palabra Clave, 28(2), e2822. https://doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2025.28.2.2

Smulders, Marta Elena. (2024). Millennials y Generación Z y la Utilización de las Redes Sociales. Ciencia Latina, 8(3), 263-274. https://doi.org/10.37811/cl_rcm.v8i3.11211

Terol, Raúl; & Camarasa, Miquel. (2023). Streamwars: la lucha entre el follow y el share. En K. Meso, S. Peña y A. Larrondo (eds). Desinformación en la Era de la Inteligencia Artificial. Servicio Editorial Universidad del País Vasco. https://addi.ehu.es/handle/10810/72939

Teso, Gemma; & Piñuel, José Luis. (2015). Multitarea, Multipantalla y Práctica social del consumo de Medios entre los jóvenes de 16 a 29 años en España. En Mª José Arrojo y José-Luis Piñuel (Coord.), Contenidos digitales y multipantalla (pp. 93-107). La Laguna: Sociedad Latina de Comunicación Social. https://doi.org/10.4185/cac95

Zambrano, Javier-Ignacio; & Trujillo, Diego-Guillermo. (2024). Lenguaje de la Generación Z en contenidos de la red social Instagram. ComHumanitas: Revista Científica De Comunicación, 15(2), 1-34. https://doi.org/10.31207/rch.v15i2.447

Zamora-Martínez, Patricia; & González-Neira, Ana. (2022). Estudio de la audiencia social en Twitter de los formatos de ‘politainment’ en España. Index.comunicación, 12(1), 21-45. https://doi.org/10.33732/ixc/12/01Estudi

Endnotes

¹ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi9A3WCXwvs

² https://www.20minutos.es/television/paz-padilla-confiesa-pablo-motos-el-hormiguero-broncano-nunca-ha-invitado-la-revuelta-5686313/