RTVE board dismisses president Sánchez Caballero, content director López

The board of directors of Spanish public broadcaster RTVE have dismissed its interim president, Elena Sánchez Caballero, and director of content, José Pablo López.

Elena Sánchez Caballero and José Pablo López

Both measures were voted on in two separate rounds during a council meeting this morning.

According to local press, which describes the meeting as an “earthquake,” it has been established that the presidency of the board of directors will rotate among its nine members, made up of three representatives of the Partido Popular, two from the Socialist Party, two of Unidas Podemos and one from the Basque Nationalist Party, to which a ninth will be added.

Sánchez Caballero and López have maintained very different approaches to how public TV in Spain should be viewed.

During the meeting, it was Sánchez Caballero who proposed to the members of the council they dismiss López and achieved the support of the required majority.

Minutes later, Podemos councillor Roberto Lakidain proposed a vote on the expulsion of Sánchez Caballero herself, and also obtained the necessary support.

The main catalyst for the conflict has been the potential hiring of presenter David Broncano and his successful interview and comedy programme La Resistencia, which would move from Movistar Plus+ to the public channel. At the council this Tuesday, a new proposal was scheduled to be voted on.

In February, negotiations between the production companies of La Resistencia, Encofrados Encofrasa (led by Broncano, Jorge Ponce and Ricardo Castella) and El Terrat (part of The Mediapro Studio), and RTVE began to emerge unofficially.

With the signing of Broncano, La 1, the main public channel, looked to compete with Antena 3’s primetime leader El hormiguero, offering a product that allows it to generate a brand image and appeal to a younger audience.

The producers of La Resistencia had demanded a five-year contract to move to RTVE, to which José Pablo López counter-offered with three years, for around €14m (US$15.2m) annually, but the council did not agree.

As published by the Efe agency this Tuesday, the new proposal from the RTVE content management for the Broncano show is for a two-year contract, with the option of cancellation at the end of the first year if the programme does not reach an average of 7.5 % screen share. There is still no news on its resolution.