Mediapro will stop producing 'España Directo' for TVE

The Board of Directors of RTVE approves not renewing the contract with Mediapro for the production of the daily space 'España Directo'.

España Directo, the daily TVE program whose production is managed by Mediapro, will conclude its broadcast on June 30. This was decided by the Board of Directors of RTVE in a vote with eleven votes in favor, including that of the Corporation's own president, Alberto Oliart.

The space has been much discussed in recent years since the outsourcing of its production, awarded to Mediapro, would respond in the opinion of the unions to interests outside the Corporation.

On March 30, the RTVE Board approved the renewal of the contract with Mediapro for the España Directo space, until June 30, with some conditions such as including more participation from the TVE centers in the Canary Islands, Catalonia and Madrid in the program. Oliart then admitted that the Corporation could not carry out a program like Spain Direct with its own resources due to the “impossibility of covering all of Spain in an effective way, and even more so with the conditions imposed in the current collective agreement, without exceeding the cost paid to Mediapro.” España Directo reported almost 14 million to Mediapro in 2010.

At the moment, RTVE has not clarified whether the space will continue on the grid produced with its own means.

On the other hand, the Board of Directors of RTVE also chose to end the participation of Overon (a company owned by Mediapro and Abertis) in The morning of 1, a program for which they provided coverage services.