Corporacion RTVE
Vault's Scoop
ABOUT THIS COMPANY:
The day the radio, and later the television set, replaced the fireplace as the centrepiece of the average living room, RTVE became a member of almost every Spanish family. The first Spanish-language radio and television transmissions were broadcasted by this company, so anyone who wanted to find out the news in Spain had to tune into RTVE's programmes.A service for everyone
The Corporaci RTVE (Spanish Radio and Television Corporation) is a state-owned public corporation and the largest broadcasting organisation in Spain, financed by both public funds and advertising. Because it is a publicly listed company, the group manages Televisi Espala (TVE, Spanish Television) and Radio Nacional de Espa (RNE, Spanish National Radio), and offers security services, information, property management, human resources, organisation, informatics, commercial management, public and institutional relations and juridical services to companies.
Double-edged sword
The history of RTVE dates back to the first broadcasts of Radio Nacional de Espa (RNE) from Salamanca in 1937. In the early years, RNE served as a propaganda tool for the nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War and was later used by the dictator Francisco Franco to control the information that was broadcasted to the Spanish public.
A few years later, in October 1973, the radio broadcasts and the TVE networks were incorporated into the Servicio Plico Centralizado RadioTelevisi Espala (RTVE Centralised Public Service). Further incorporations followed in 1977, when RTVE became an autonomous organisation, but it wasn't until three years later that the group was configured as a legal public entity with its own jurisdiction.
The Ying and the Yang
RTVE is comprised of two complementary subsidiary companies, which were the original founders of the corporation: Televisi Espala and Radio Nacional de Espa. The first one produces the two traditional television channels in Spain, which are TVE La Primera and TVE La 2, plus Canal 24 Horas (24-hour channel), TVE Internacional, Teledeporte (Telesports), Docu TVE, Clan TVE and Canal Clico.
TVE La Primera airs a great deal of popular information programming, in addition to fiction, variety, cultural, children's and sports shows. On the other hand, TVE La 2 focuses on children's shows and cultural programmes, as well as a small proportion of sports, fiction and variety shows, while an even smaller percentage of their programming is devoted to quiz shows, music, religious programming and even bull-fighting.
Making radio waves
RNE, meanwhile, produces Radio 1, which is the main national radio station, Radio Clica, with concerts and classical music, Radio 3, which offers a wide range of music, Rio 4, with programmes in Catalan, as well as Radio 5 Todo Noticias, a 24-hour news channel, and Radio Exterior de Espa, an international broadcasting service. Their broadcast content is mostly comprised of news programmes, which make up around 46 percent, followed by music content at 26, and 4.5 percent of sports shows. RTVE is also responsible for the Instituto Oficial de Radio y Televisi (IORTV, Official Institute of Radio and TV) and the Orquesta Sinfica y Coro de RTVE (RTVE's Symphony Orchestra and Choir). The corporation has also contributed to the production of more than 300 full-length Spanish feature films, many of which have received awards at international film festivals around the world, such as La Vida Secreta de las Palabras (the secret life of words) by Isabel Coixet or Pedro Almodar's Volver.
A rollercoaster of losses and gains
Although RTVE is a public entity, the corporation has always been in deficit. For example, in 1991, it took in 829 million euros but its expenditure was much higher at more than one billion euros. The following year, the company's results were at a negative 460 million euros, a number that grew year to year until 1999, when the losses began to turn around, according to finance statements published.
In 2006, RTVE registered losses of 226 million euros, a number which although lower than before, was still unsustainable. The government finally decided to take action and, in accordance with the Ley de la Radio y la Televisi Estatal of 2006 (Law of State Radio and Television), the public body and the companies TVE and RNE were dissolved to become the Corporaci RTVE in January 2007.
Revamping RTVE
Although often described by its critics as a "state business society" with some of the administrative council elected by the parliament, the new Corporaci RTVE has autonomy and independence from the general state administration. As part of RTVE restructuring, a plan was put in motion in 2007 to reduce the corporation's debts and losses through extensive job cuts. As the new public broadcaster, RTVE has the obligation to promote the dissemination of constitutional principles and civil values, guaranteeing that objectivity, truth and plurality of views are provided in information. It also has to facilitate the democratic debate and expression of opinions, offer access to different programming genres while paying attention to public interests and promoting Spanish territorial cohesion, plurality and linguistic and cultural diversity.
New cultural channel
Planning for the future, RTVE and the Ministry of Culture are working on a new television project the launch of a thematic cultural channel for 2010, when Spain's television stations are planned to switch over to new digital bands.
The channel is set to air programmes about art, music, literature, cinema, theatre, ballet and any other artistic events and ventures from Spain. It will occupy a space on the terrestrial digital spectrum and will also use new broadcasting techniques such as internet and mobile technologies. The Spanish Ministry of Culture has pledged funds and support for the programming under RTVE.
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