The governing body of Ràdio Televisió Española (RTVE) managed yesterday to patch up the serious crisis that has opened up due to the suitability of hiring the presenter and comedian David Broncano to broadcast the Movistar program La resistencia next season on La 1. An operation that has been designed to contest prime time television with El hormiguero, which presents Pablo Motos on Antena 3 with recurring harangues critical of the Government chaired by Pedro Sánchez.
And despite the fact that it took two votes, the board of directors finally appointed Concepción Cascajosa – until now president of the Equality Observatory of Ràdio Televisió Española – new president of the body at the proposal of the PSOE and in place of Elena Sánchez, terminated the day before together with the content director, José Pablo López.
The conclave began a few minutes before ten in the morning and was preceded by a statement from the news council of TVE and RNE urging the political parties represented in the General Courts to put an end to the situation of “misgovernance” and “absolute uncertainty” of public radio and television.
There were three issues on the agenda. As urgent points, the formula on which the new interim presidency must be articulated and the relief of Sánchez. And as the next issue that needed to be addressed, the signing of Broncano.
Despite the fact that both were betting on a rotating presidency, the PSOE and the PP finally surprised when they advocated for an interim one for a maximum of six months. The first point solved, it was time to elect the new president. The first vote ended in a tie, as José Manuel Martín Medem, the councilor proposed by the PCE, aligned himself with those of the PP to demand the dismissal of the secretary general, Alfonso Morales, to unblock the vote.
After a stoppage in which both sides fine-tuned their strategies, Morales agreed to resign. And, as a result, Cascajosa was elected interim president thanks to the support of councilors Juan José Baños (PNB), José Manuel Martín Medem (PCE), Ramón Colom (PSOE) and Roberto Lakidain (Podem).
In total, five votes in favor, since it is necessary to include that of Cascajosa herself, who prevailed in the three against the managers appointed by the PP and the abstention of Elena Sánchez, present at the vote, given that she maintains the status of counselor.
And that’s how everything was, because, having reached this point, the council closed the session and left the decision on the signing of Broncano for next week’s extraordinary meeting.
With the white smoke flying over Prado del Rey, sources from the central government celebrated the “speed” with which the mismanagement at RTVE has been resolved and advocated for a “plural, quality television with acceptable audience levels with the objectives”.
However, this stability has an expiration date. The renewed board of directors will have to elect a candidate again at the end of September, unless the central government opts for the appointment of a single administrator – as happened in 2018 with Rosa María Mateo, although for that the PSOE should put it to a vote in Congress at a time when its alliances with the investiture partners are not experiencing the best moment – or for the different political forces to agree on the designation of a consensus candidate, something that, at least in the short term, it seems unfeasible.
The PP, in fact, did not take long to criticize the appointment of Cascajosa due to his condition as a socialist militant to warn that the public body cannot become the “media vanguard” of Moncloa, like other public bodies and institutions .
Sources from Genoa argue that, after the central government “placed” Miguel Ángel Oliver – former head of communication at Moncloa – as president of the Efe agency, it now elects a militant “with total obedience” to the PSOE and that the popularly defined as “the new Tezanos”, with reference to the president of the Center for Sociological Research (CIS).
Despite the speed with which the crisis was resolved, the lack of governance that has prevailed in the public sector for a few hours will be noticed on television.
The example of The chosen is enough. The avant-garde series on the life of Jesus of Nazareth was one of the bets of the already dismissed head of content José Pablo López. And despite the fact that it was initially announced to be broadcast on La 1, the political war in RTVE has ended up banishing it to the second chain, where it will go more unnoticed.
