Alberto Oli..¿qué?

A pesar de que Alberto Oliart fue ministro de Industria y Comercio y de Sanidad con Adolfo Suárez, y Ministro de Defensa en tiempos de Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, muy pocos recuerdan, y menos en entornos de comunicación, al que será nuevo presidente de la Corporación RTVE. Un presidente que con 81 años estará al frente de una Casa en la que los mayores de 52 años brillan por su ausencia.

At RTVE they are still amazed, while the private ones are rubbing their hands for the times that are to come in a public one without advertising, immersed in a profound restructuring and with the challenge of digital on the table. Without doubting the professional worth of an 81-year-old professional, the appointment of Alberto Oliart has come as a shock in a House in which those over 52 years of age are conspicuous by their absence after the last restructuring. 81 years old is, a priori, a somewhat strange age to dedicate oneself to a task as complex and intense as directing RTVE, and even more so if we take into account that both SEPI and the Government have been insisting in recent years on the need to rejuvenate the workforce.

Although at first the option considered had been the interim appointment of a director of the Corporation until the renewal of the council at the beginning of next year, yesterday the news of the PSOE-PP agreement to appoint Alberto Oliart was precipitated in the face of continuous rumors that Luis Fernández would present his resignation from the position in a few days.

Oliart was not in the pools

Although RTVE sources assure that at the last minute an agreement was reached with Luis Fernández for him to remain in office until January, the publication in numerous media of his imminent resignation from the position in the extraordinary council convened for next Friday, precipitated the political decision. PSOE and PP were quick to pull the agenda and put a man unknown in journalistic circles, of very advanced age, and no experience in the media. In recent days, names such as Manuel Campo Vidal, president of the Spanish Academy of Television Sciences and Arts, or Eduardo Alonso, who during Pilar Miró's time was deputy director of information services, had been considered.

One of the main challenges that Oliart will now face will be the application of the new RTVE financing law, which will leave the Corporation without advertising as of January 1. Other tasks on the table will be the construction of the new headquarters and the challenge of the analogue blackout.