RTVE

The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (Spanish Radio and Television Corporation) or Corporación Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE or CRTVE) is the state-owned public corporation that assumed the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service from Ente Público Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE Public Body) in 2007. RTVE is the largest audiovisual group in Spain broadcasting in the Spanish language. It is financed by both public subsidies.^[1]

History

The history of RTVE begins in 1937 with the first broadcasts by Radio Nacional de España (RNE—Spanish National Radio) from the city of Salamanca. In these early years, RNE served as a propaganda tool for the Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War; it would later be used by Francisco Franco to inform the Spanish public.

Television was officially introduced in Spain in October 1956, and in October 1973 the two broadcasting networks, RNE and Televisión Española (TVE—Spanish Television) were consolidated into the Servicio Público Centralizado RadioTelevisión Española (RTVE Centralised Public Service).

Further consolidations followed in 1977, at which time RTVE became an autonomous organization. In 1979 TVE, RNE were joined by RCE an old radio service which, unlike RNE, could broadcast commercials. In 1980, RTVE was configured, by statute, as a legal public entity with its own jurisdiction.^[2] According to RTVE's annual report (2003): "This law arose from the Spanish Constitution and the political pluralism which the constitution asserts as a fundamental value of the rule of law; and in this spirit granted RTVE the right to function as a democratic organization."^[3] The former cinema newsreels service NO-DO was merged into RTVE to be dismantled in 1981. Since then, the NO-DO archives are property of RTVE and its conservation is on their hands and Filmoteca Nacional's. In 1989, RCE was dismantled and its radio service was merged into RNE.

Creation of Corporación RTVE

RTVE throughout its history has undergone numerous restructurings and reorganisations, and has assumed numerous identities. In accordance with the Ley de la Radio y la Televisión Estatal (Ley 17/2006; Law of State Radio and Television) of 5 June 2006,^[4] and in the face of an enormous deficit, the RTVE Public Body and the companies TVE, S.A. and RNE, S.A were dissolved, and on 1 January 2007 the RTVE Corporation came into existence.^[5]

This change in the law put Corporación RTVE in control of Spain's public radio and television service. Corporación RTVE is described as a sociedad mercantil estatal (state mercantile society) with special autonomy and independence from the government and the general state administration, and it performs its functions through TVE and RNE. A Consejo de Administración (Administrative Council), consisting of 12 members elected by Parliament, exists to administer and govern the organization, carrying out its executive functions through the corporation's President.^[6] The current Consejo and the President (the journalist Luis Fernández Fernández) were elected on 19 December 2006.

As part of the 2007 restructuring, a controversial plan was put into action to reduce the workforce by 4,855 through attrition and retirement incentives, in spite of the fact that RTVE is the European public broadcasting service with the smallest workforce.

Role as a public broadcaster

In the exercise of its public service function, among the obligations of the RTVE Corporation are:

• Promote dissemination and awareness of constitutional principles and civic values.
• Guarantee the objectivity and truthfulness of the information provided, while ensuring that a broad range of views is presented.
• Facilitate democratic debate and the free expression of opinion.
• Promote the territorial cohesion and linguistic and cultural diversity of Spain.
• Offer access to different genres of programming and to the institutional, social, cultural, and sporting events that are of interest to all sectors of the audience, paying attention to those topics that are of special interest to the public.
• To serve the widest audience, ensuring maximum continuity and geographical and social coverage, with a commitment to quality, diversity, innovation, and high ethical standards.

Legal status and structure

The legal status of the Corporation is that of a wholly state-owned public limited company, although RTVE is independent of direct control by the government and the central state administration.

RTVE exercises its functions through two subsidiary companies:

• Televisión Española, which produces
  • La 1
  • La 2
  • 24h
  • TVE Internacional
  • Teledeporte
  • Canal Parlamento
  • Clan
  • TVE HD

and

• Radio Nacional de España, which produces
  • Radio Nacional - the main national station broadcasting a wide variety of programmes
  • Radio Clásica - concerts and classical music
  • Radio 3 - pop, rock, new age, hip-hop, world music, folk, etc.
  • Ràdio 4 - programmes in Catalan
  • Radio 5 Todo Noticias - 24-hour news
  • Radio Exterior de España - international broadcasting service

RTVE is also responsible for the Instituto Oficial de Radio y Televisión (IORTV, Official Institute of Radio and TV) and the Orquesta Sinfónica y Coro de RTVE (RTVE Symphony Orchestra and Choir). RTVE (as RNE) was admitted to full active membership of the European Broadcasting Union in 1955. TVE joined the Eurovision Network in 1960. The corporation has contributed to the production of more than 300 films, many of which have received awards at international film festivals around the world.

List of Director Generals and Presidents

Director Generals of Radiodifusión y Televisión

• José María Revuelta Prieto (1957–1962).
• Roque Pro Alonso (1962–1964).
• Jesús Aparicio-Bernal Sánchez (1964–1969).
• Adolfo Suárez (1969–1973).
• Rafael Orbe Cano (1973–1974).
• Juan José Rosón Pérez (1974).
• Jesús Sancho Rof (1974–1975).
• Gabriel Peña Aranda (1975–1976).
• Rafael Anson Oliart (1976–1977).

Director General of Organismo Autónomo RTVE

• Fernando Arias-Salgado Montalvo (1977–1981).

Director Generals of Ente Público RTVE

• Fernando Castedo Álvarez (1981).
• Carlos Robles Piquer (1981–1982).
• Eugenio Nasarre Goicoechea (1982).
• José María Calviño Iglesias (1982–1986).
• Pilar Miró Romero (1986–1989).
• Luis Solana Madariaga (1989–1990).
• Jordi García Candau (1990–1996).
• Mónica Ridruejo Ostrowska (1996–1997).
• Fernando López-Amor (1997–1998).
• Pío Cabanillas Alonso (1998–2000).
• Javier González Ferrari (2000–2002).
• José Antonio Sánchez Domínguez (2002–2004).
• Carmen Caffarel Serra (2004–2007).

President of Corporación RTVE

• Luis Fernández Fernández (2007–2009).
• Alberto Oliart Saussol (2009–2011).
• Manuel Esteve (2011)

See also

• Televisión Española
• Radio Nacional de España

External links

Official website of the Spanish Public Broadcaster RTVE.es (in Spanish)

Notes

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Spanish Wikipedia.