SEPI Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales

SEPI and RTVE submit to the trade unions the basic principles of the Plan for the Reorganization and the Future
 

• RTVE´s new model guarantees the provision of a quality public service according to efficiency criteria
• TVE´s and RNE´s new programming will increase the public service offer, with more news programs and cultural and children programs
• The basic aspects of the Plan for the Reorganization and the Future will be negotiated with the trade unions´ representatives. The workers´ rights will be guaranteed
• RTVE maintains its presence and activity in all the autonomous regions, with TVE´s territorial centers and RNE´ stations, which will report to the News Programs Services. In the autonomous regions there will be daily territorial news

The Vice President of the state-owned holding company Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI), Mr. Federico Montero, and RTVE´s General Secretary, Mr. Jaime Gaiteiro, have informed the representatives of the trade unions which represent most of the workers in RTVE -CC.OO. and UGT- about the new organizational model for the state-owned radio and television which covers all of Spain. The goal of this new model is that of providing a quality public service, which at the same time meets efficiency criteria. In the same meeting, which took place on SEPI´s main office in Madrid, the workers´ representatives also were informed about some of the characteristics of the new territorial organization, which keeps RTVE´s presence and activity in all Spain.

The fundamental characteristics of the Plan for Reorganization and the Future of RTVE will be negotiated with the trade unions´ representatives. The workers´ rights will be guaranteed.

After the meeting with the trade unions, SEPI´s Chairman, Mr. Enrique Martínez Robles, and RTVE´s General Director, Ms. Carmen Caffarel, have celebrated a press conference, in which also took part Mr. Federico Montero and Mr. Jaime Gaiteiro.
 

Measures for guaranteeing the future

The information and proposals submitted today to the trade unions -this has been the fifth meeting which SEPI and RTVE celebrate with the leaders of the trade unions UGT and Comisiones Obreras since October of last year - is part of the Plan for the Reorganization and the Future of RTVE which has been preparing the Managing Committee, which is made up of SEPI and RTVE managers. Since SEPI and RTVE created this Managing Committee on October 10th, 2005 about 50 technicians and experts from RTVE, SEPI and from a number of external consultancies have worked, in two smaller groups, for about 2,640 hours preparing this Plan. The Managing Committee has met 26 times, and 75 different technical documents have been prepared. Also 100 interviews with different professionals from RTVE have taken place.

The questions analyzed today are part of a set of measures which guarantee the efficient management of RTVE´s public service. In keeping with this goal, the above Plan faces such matters as the adaptation of RTVE´s current structure and the optimization of its means and resources, the rationalization of its expenses, the improvement of its income and the productivity, as well as the technical reorganization of its financial operations.

These measures will fulfill the Government´s decision, expressed in the 35th Additional Disposition of the General State Budget for the financial year 2006, about the need to negotiate and subscribe an agreement between RTVE and the State which includes the Reorganization Plan itself and which makes possible the State financing in order not to accumulate new debt. This Plan will guarantee the future of the state-owned radio and television with coverage of all of Spain, allowing that its financing comes from two sources: one from resources coming from the General State Budget, and the other from income resulting from advertisements and commercials, in keeping with the European Union´s regulation and with what will stipulate the future State-Owned Radio and Television Act, which is currently being discussed at the Parliament.
 

A diagnostic which requires urgent action

The highest officers in charge of the Managing Committee for the preparation of the Plan for the Reorganization and the Future of RTVE have also submitted to the representatives of the trade unions a detailed diagnostic of the state-owned broadcasting company, which requires taking urgent measures. With an accumulated debt of 7,551 MEuros, a workforce of 9,212 workers (6,021 in TVE, 2,122 in RNE and 1,069 at the head offices) and structural deficiencies which prevent RTVE from being sufficiently competitive in a more complex market, one in which the number of channels has increased. All these deficiencies are reflected in the growth of the deficit and in the fall of the audience and of the income.

RTVE´s new organizational model will guarantee a quality supply, under principles which promote the efficiency, both financial and as a service, and which make possible the feasibility and the existence of a reference Spanish state-owned radio and television.

In opposition to a structure which is not suited to the current requirements of the audiovisual market, and which is characterized by its excessive complexity and fragmentation, which makes difficult the optimal use of the resources, the new model sets up new action areas, each with a person in charge; at the same time, it stipulates the goals which must be met by each one of them, being part of simpler and more agile structure. The aim is that of reaching a comprehensive and strategic vision, to delimitate the responsibilities and more coordination in order to improve the results.
 

A more agile and efficient model

In this new model, the organizational structure streamlining, the elimination of overlapping, the integration and optimization of the means management and the selective rationalization of the programming costs will contribute to an efficient use of the state-owned resources, and will make possible the continuity of sound state-owned RTVE.

The model envisages that the Corporate Center, for supporting the Management in handling the key resources, the TVE´s department, the RNE´s department and a Department of Shared Services for supporting the business units, will report to RTVE´s General Directorate. At the same time, it includes a TVE and a RNE organized in different key and support areas for an improved working.
 

Televisión Española will be organized in four areas:

1.Programming and Content, organized by channels (La Primera, La 2 and the thematic, international and interactive ones) and by content (fiction, entertainment, sport and culture), with their respective persons in charge, who will set up the programs´ schedule for each of the channels and the characteristics and contents of such programs.

2.News programs production, responsible of the daily and non-daily news programs. It will have a more agile structure, with a News Staff which will be shared by all the channels. It also takes over the management of the territorial Centers. The News program subunits will be Daily News programs, Non-Daily News programs, 24 Hours and the News Programs Own Resources.

The Territorial Centers will be integrated within the Daily News Program Area, aiming to take the fullest possible advantage of the coordination between the national and territorial information. At the province level there will be news reporting units which will provide support to the territorial centers, and their News Staff will prepare the daily news connections and the information needed for the national news reports, besides managing the light means and studies.

3.Commercial, it will have a joint marketing unit, and the sales will be organized by product (of advertisement and other products), streamlining its structure and specifying the functions.

4.The audiovisual means, a new area whose aim is to guarantee the integrated and efficient management of TVE´s production means (with the exception of the light ones, which are assigned to the Daily news programs). It will maintain a yearly minimum contract with the Programming and Content Area in order to maximize the use of the available capacity.

Radio Nacional de España will be organized in three areas, with just one editorial staff which will be coordinated with the territorial editorial staffs:

1.Programming, which will be in charge of defining the channels¿ model, the programs schedule, the marketing and making of the programs. There will be persons in charge for each one of the channels: Radio 1, Radio Clásica, Radio 3 and Radio Exterior de España.

2.Production of the news programs, for Radio 1 and for Radio 5, with a joint editorial staff specialized by editorial areas, and edition teams for these channels. The territorial stations (18) will also report to News Programs. These territorial stations will provide regional information for their respective autonomous regions, and they will supply news to the state-level news programs. They will be supported by the provincial news program units (35).

3.Means, it will be in charge of the integrated management and the maintenance of the production technical means of RNE and of the distribution technical network.

Also a small-size Commercial Area will be created, and which will be focused on promoting sponsorships, and operating the recording trademark.
 

Providing more public service

The new programming will increase the supply of public service, with higher levels of culture and news reporting in TVE, and the complement of a programming at RNE more focused on news reporting. Its goal is that of supplying a quality public service and achieving significant and sustainable audience levels, managing in an efficient way the production costs of the different genres.

With this goal in mind, there will be an attractive supply in the key genres of the public service (news programs, culture, educational and documentary) and the competitiveness level with the private networks will be increased through a bigger offer of entertainment, especially in early evening and in the evening.

La Primera will be more commercially oriented, which will be reflected in its programming, which will be more competitive with the private networks, while La 2 will be more focused in providing a public service. The thematic channels will complement the offer of public service.