Leopoldo González-Echenique resigns as head of the RTVE Corporation

Councilor José Manuel Peñalosa will assume the acting presidency of the Council.

Today Leopoldo González-Echenique has presented his resignation to the Board of Directors of RTVE as president of the Corporation. The decision will be effective immediately, with Councilor José Manuel Peñalosa assuming the acting presidency of the Council.

During his time at the head of the public corporation (July 2012-September 2014), González-Echenique has worked in a context of budgetary limitations as a result of the economic crisis and the significant cut in the State's contribution to its budget.

Financing has precisely been one of its workhorses. The elimination of advertising and income through taxes on television and telecoms have hit the public's waterline in the last two years.

On the other hand, the audience since the summer of 2012 has been gradually decreasing and like few formats, such as Masterchef, that have pulled share. Already in July 2012, public television had reduced its screen share to 10.7% on its first channel. Two years later, the figure has fallen to its historic low of 8.9%.

In a letter addressed to the workers, Leopoldo González-Echenique points out that, after two years of management, “the time has come to take over,” citing “strictly personal reasons, because I am convinced that it is the best for the House.”

González-Echenique explains in his letter that for him it has been “a privilege and pride” to have been in charge of Spanish public radio, television and the website. “I have been able to see the importance and experience the day-to-day life of the longest-running, independent, solid and important communication channels in Spain, and also abroad,” he emphasizes.

For his part, the new acting president, José Manuel Peñalosa Ruiz, was born in Girona in 1959 and has been an advisor to the Board of Directors of the RTVE Corporation in the period between 2008 and 2012, the year in which he was elected by the Senate as a member of the Board of Directors of the RTVE Corporation, at the proposal of the PP. Previously, between 1999 and 2008, Peñalosa was a parliamentary advisor to the popular group in the Congress of Deputies on audiovisual matters, telecommunications and control over RTVE. And even before, in his time as a national deputy in the V and VI Legislatures (1993-1996 and 1996-1999), member and spokesperson, respectively, of the popular group in the control commission on RTVE.