Christian Gálvez Hosts New US Pilots for El Rosco Amid Pasapalabra Rights Battle

Christian Gálvez, the presenter who ran the final round of Spain's long-running quiz show Pasapalabra for twelve years, has returned to host the format — but not on Spanish television. Gálvez fronted two pilot episodes of El Rosco, the puzzle segment he presided over more than 3,500 times on Telecinco between 2007 and 2019, which were shown to international buyers at the MIPCOM television market in Cannes.

Two pilots, one host

The pilots were produced by Approved Entertainment, the Los Angeles company run by American producer Lincoln Hiatt, on behalf of Good Formats, the Valencia-based company tied to MC&F, the Dutch firm that holds the intellectual-property rights to El Rosco. Both were recorded at Lulu Studios in Los Angeles during the summer of 2026 and are aimed at North American broadcasters and streaming services, a market where the format has never aired.

According to Good Formats, the two versions are not meant to compete for the same buyer but to reach different audiences in the same market, with the Spanish-language edition and the English-language 'Run the Ring' offered in parallel. Andrea Olcese, the producer who originally introduced the final-round puzzle on Italy's Canale 5 in 1999, acts as a consultant on the project, working alongside American producer Lincoln Hiatt, known for the show 'Penn & Teller: Fool Us'.

Why El Rosco is now a separate format

The international push follows a legal split in Spain. In May 2026, Spain's Supreme Court ruled that Atresmedia had to stop broadcasting El Rosco as the closing test of Pasapalabra, determining that the segment is an independent creation owned by MC&F rather than an inseparable part of the Pasapalabra format licensed from ITV Studios.

Olcese has argued that the ruling has consequences well beyond Spain. Citing the Berne Convention, he said that "once the Spanish Supreme Court recognized intellectual property ownership of El Rosco, those rights became automatically protected in all 182 adhering territories," which is what allows Good Formats to license the puzzle test abroad on its own.

A domestic rivalry in the background

The ruling reshaped Spanish television. Mediaset struck a licensing deal with MC&F and built a new show, 'Rueda la letra', hosted by Carlos Sobera, around a version of the final-round puzzle, without using the 'El Rosco' name. The company is separately pursuing recovery of the 'Pasapalabra' trademark through European intellectual-property channels, hoping to rename its show if it succeeds. ITV Studios has said it is confident in its rights over the Pasapalabra name and format, and ITV and Atresmedia are preparing further legal action against Mediaset.

On Antena 3, Pasapalabra — now fronted by Roberto Leal and featuring a redesigned final test called 'AlaZ' instead of El Rosco — reached 19.7% audience share with 1.368 million viewers on one broadcast, its best result of the summer since AlaZ replaced El Rosco, and peaked at 23.6% on another broadcast, according to figures reported in late August 2026. Rueda la letra was still in its recording phase at that point, with no confirmed premiere date.

Where things stand for a US launch

Christian Gálvez takes no part in Rueda la letra in Spain; his role is limited to the international pilots. For North America — the United States, Canada and Mexico — Approved Entertainment holds distribution rights to both pilots, while Good Formats is handling licensing in the rest of the world and is looking for local production partners rather than producing the show itself. As of the MIPCOM presentation, no North American network or streaming platform had publicly committed to picking up either pilot.