Concepción Cascajosa, new president of RTVE, asks the Cortes to renew the Corporation in six months

The new president of RTVE, Concepción Cascajosa, addressed the staff of the public entity this Tuesday with a letter in which she appealed to the Cortes to renew the Corporation over the next six months. That is the period for which, as Cascajosa recalls in the text, she was elected interim president on March 27. Something that happened, as she herself indicates, “after extensive debate within the Board of Directors.”

Cascajosa assures in the letter addressed to his “dear colleagues” at RTVE that during that period of half a year coinciding with his mandate “it would be reasonable and expected that the renewal process would begin by the Chambers of Congress and Senate, which corresponds to the deadlines.” ”. And she adds: “As well as the renewal of a Mandate-framework that defines our objectives and a Contract-program that guarantees our economic sustainability.”

The appointment of Cascajosa (L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, 45 years old) came preceded by a turbulent meeting of the RTVE Board of Directors held on Tuesday of last week that precipitated the fall of the content director until then, José Pablo López, and the consequent approval of the dismissal of Elena Sánchez as interim president of the Corporation, a position she has held since the resignation of José Manuel Pérez Tornero in September 2022. A new meeting of the Council the following day approved the appointment of Cascajosa as Sánchez's replacement, with the support of two members chosen by the PSOE, the two from Unidas Podemos and the member of the PNV.

The replacement went ahead after the rejection of the proposal of the councilors promoted by the PP for a rotating presidency of the corporation. The members of the PP voted against Cascajosa, while the former president Sánchez, a councilor at the proposal of the PSOE, abstained. Likewise, the vote caused the departure of the entity's general secretary, Alfonso Morales, in exchange for support for Cascajosa from member José Manuel Martín Medem, one of the councilors appointed at the time by Podemos and who is part of the PCE.

In the eye of the hurricane of the crisis that the RTVE leadership is going through is the management of content and specifically the current negotiation of the program.The resistance' (currently on Movistar+), by comedian David Broncano, whose price at a rate of 14 million euros per season will be discussed again at the next meeting of the Board of Directors scheduled for this Thursday.

During this next meeting, sources from the Corporation foresee the departure of the director of the Presidency's cabinet, a position that Verónica Ollé has held during Elena Sánchez's time. The same sources recall that Juan José Ruiz, José Manuel Pérez Tornero's chief of staff, resigned from his position immediately after he resigned. For the other two vacant senior positions, the general content directorate and the general secretary, the new president has asked some councilors to send her proposals to reach an agreement, since the appointments of senior management must be approved by the body. of RTVE management. They consider it especially urgent to appoint a content manager to work on the next season's programming. In turn, the secretary general until last week, Alfonso Morales, who resigned irrevocably, has joined the entity'Red.es', where he enjoyed leave.

In her letter addressed to the staff this Tuesday, Cascajosa claims to face her responsibility “as interim president of the Corporation with the commitment to maintain the service that citizens expect in terms of quality and guarantee of our democratic values.” And she breaks down some of the challenges of her mandate: “Three electoral processes, the celebration of the Euro Cup, the Olympic Games and the production in Spain of Junior Eurovision, all of them events that require a great organizational effort.” In addition, Cascajosa points out “the important process of public convocation and stabilization of employment, which must put an end to the uncertainty that many of you feel, especially indefinite, non-permanent, interim and temporary workers.” And she concludes: “Completing this process will allow the Corporation to face the process of strengthening and relaunching its own production, one of the priority objectives. It is also necessary to enhance and give its true value to the territorial structure, in technical and human resources, and with the promotion of the production centers of Catalonia and the Canary Islands.”

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