Spain Regional TV: Sell-offs and closures
July 19, 2012
From David del Valle in Madrid
The closure or privatisation of the existing 13 state-owned Regional TV stations in Spain, all of them burdened with debts, may be now possible following the approval of a new Regional TV law.
The new legislation allows Regional Governments to decide the future of their public TV channels: privatisation, closure or public management with no deficit.
Several Regional administrations are now considering the privatisation of their channels: in Madrid, Telemadrid, in Castilla La Mancha and in Valencia, RTVV. Regional TV channels will also be able to outsource some services, such as news programmes.
Spain’s Regional TV channels are deeply in debt with an annual cost of €850 million.
Valencia-based TV channel RTVV has made over 1,200 workers redundant and Telemadrid is going into bankrupty. For many the solution is privatisation or closure.