Radio Televisión Madrid (RTVM) is a public broadcaster covering the Madrid region. It runs the television channels Telemadrid and La Otra, and the radio channel Onda Madrid. It was established in 1989.
Media assets
Television: Telemadrid (HD), LaOtra
Radio: Onda Madrid
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
Established through the Law No. 8 of 2015 as a public company owned by the government of the Madrid Community, RTVM is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of nine members who are appointed by the local government in Madrid from proposals made by political parties and NGOs.
Source of funding and budget
RTVM is funded through a combination of state funding allocations and ad sales revenues. In 2019, the broadcaster received a state allocation from the Madrid government worth €83.1m and generated some €8.3m from advertising sales, which means that government funding accounted for nearly 91% of its total budget.
Editorial independence
Although, from time to time, accusations of political bias in RTVM programs appear, they are mostly part of the usual political bickering in the region. The People’s Party (PP) in March 2022 presented to the local government a new bill that would change the appointment of the RTVM’s Board of Directors and Director General through a simple majority, instead of a qualified majority (of two thirds). That has paved the way for the Madrid government led by PP to control the editorial line at RTVM. In recent years, evidence mounted that the government of the Madrid region, presided by Isabel Diaz Ayuso, has close control and influences the editorial coverage of the station who is overtly biased in the favor of the People’s Party (PP), the party that controls the Madrid government.
The so-called Basic Charter of RTVM, adopted by the Madrid Parliament, explicitly guarantees the editorial independence of the broadcaster from authorities and political groups.
RTVM has a so-called Office for Audience Participation that is an internal unit at RTVM whose role is to handle direct communication between RTVM and the general public.
September 2023