Radio y Television de Andalucia (RTVA)
Radio y Televisión de Andalucía (RTVA) is a public radio and television broadcasting provider in southern Spain. It was established between 1988 and 1989 with the launch of Canal Sur Radio and Canal Sur Televisión. Today, RTVA operates four television and four radio stations.
Media assets
Television: Canal Sur (HD), Canal Sur 2, Andalucía TV, Canal Sur Andalucía
Radio: Canal Sur Radio, Radio Andalucía Información, Canal Fiesta Radio, Flamenco Radio
State Media Matrix Typology
Ownership and governance
RTVA was established by Law No. 18 of 2007 as a public corporate agency owned by the Regional Government of Andalusia, which fully subscribes to the company’s capital stock. The General Director is elected by the Parliament of Andalusia.
The current General Director of RTVA (Radio y Televisión de Andalucía) is Juan de Dios Mellado (commonly referred to as Juande Mellado). He was re-elected by the Parliament of Andalusia in 2022 with broad support and continues in this position as of 2025. Mellado has been the director general since July 2019 and is recognized for his leadership in digital transformation and local audiovisual industry development. His appointment and renewal have been supported by major political parties in the Andalusian Parliament.
The main governing body of RTVA is the Board of Directors, which consists of nine members appointed by the parliament. According to experts, the Board of Directors at RTVA should be appointed based on professional qualifications rather than political considerations to limit political pressures on the broadcaster.
Source of funding and budget
RTVA is funded through a combination of a government subsidy and commercial revenues, primarily from advertising sales.
In 2020, RTVA’s budget was €161 million, with the state allocation representing 88% of the total. In 2022, the total budget was €163.7 million, with the government subsidy contributing around €149 million. The broadcaster had a budget of €156.7 million in 2023. For 2024, the budget increased to €167.9 million. The Andalusian government’s budget for 2025 has been approved, with a specific section detailing the budget for the public corporate agency RTVA. The budget for RTVA for 2025 has been reported to be approximately €177 million.
Editorial independence
Two key documents, the law that created RTVA and an internal professional statute, contain provisions intended to safeguard the station’s editorial independence. RTVA also has an Audience Defender (or Ombudsman) whose mission is to address audience complaints and suggestions to improve RTVA’s content.
Nevertheless, RTVA has faced challenges regarding editorial independence. In October 2020, a trade union at Canal Sur voiced concerns that a then-implemented Professional Statute of RTVA would allow the broadcaster’s management to censor content. Over the past three years, there has been a noticeable increase in instances of censorship and the removal of critical journalists at Canal Sur, which some have criticized as a negative development.
A detailed media analysis published by El País in February 2025 highlights a clear editorial bias in favor of the Andalusian regional government (led by the PP) in Canal Sur TV’s news coverage. The study examined over 45 hours of programming, spanning 30 days from late 2024 into early 2025. It found a systematic skew in favor of the regional government, with news unfavorable to the PP or the regional executive being downgraded or omitted, while unfavorable reporting about the PSOE or national government received more prominence. This pattern is described as a systematic double standard favoring the Andalusian government.
August 2025