Spain's Telecinco loses audience share lead in Oct

MADRID, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Spanish broadcaster Telecinco (TL5.MC) lost its audience share lead in October, slipping to 15.2 percent from 16.1 percent the previous month, figures from Barlovento consultancy showed on Monday.

Telecinco has suffered a slump in its audience share, crucial for advertising pricing, during the recession but recently has fought back and in September was the most-watched channel for the first time in nine months.

However, state broadcaster La 1 returned to the top spot in October, taking 16.3 percent of market share, boosted by its televising of Spain's World Cup qualifier against Bosnia, which attracted 5.3 million viewers.

Telecinco's listed rival Antena3 (A3TV.MC) kept its audience share flat at 13.8 percent.

Private free-to-air channel Cuatro, run by Prisa (PRS.MC), moved up in October to 7.9 percent from September's 7.5 percent, partly due to Flashforward, a drama series new to Spain starring actor Joseph Fiennes.

La Sexta's audience share fell to 6.8 percent.

(Reporting by Sarah Morris; Editing by Erica Billingham)