Radio Television Madrid (RTVM)

Radio Televisión Madrid is the public broadcaster of the Community of Madrid. Telemadrid began broadcasting in 1989. The present public company was constituted in 2016 under Law 8/2015; the Community of Madrid owns its entire share capital. José Antonio Sánchez has been Director General since 26 June 2024, following almost three years as provisional administrator.

Media assets

Television: Telemadrid, laOtra and Telemadrid Internacional.

Radio: Onda Madrid.

Digital: telemadrid.es and TLMad+, the free streaming and on-demand platform launched on 2 May 2026.

Ownership and governance

The regional government constitutes RTVM’s General Shareholders’ Meeting. The Madrid Assembly elects the seven-member Board of Directors from candidates proposed by parliamentary groups. Election requires a two-thirds majority on the first ballot or a simple majority on a subsequent ballot. The Board proposes the Director General, whose suitability is considered by the Assembly’s oversight committee before appointment by the shareholder. The law requires Board members and the Director General to act independently of government instructions.

The Board took office on 20 May 2024. Four members were proposed by the Popular Group, one by the Socialist Group, one by Más Madrid and one by Vox. Antxón Sarasqueta chairs it.

In judgments dated 11 March and 23 June 2026, the Constitutional Court annulled Madrid Assembly decisions to use a single-reading procedure for the 2021 and 2022 RTVM reforms, finding that the procedure infringed deputies’ parliamentary rights. The judgments did not annul the resulting laws, which remain in the consolidated RTVM statute. (Sentencia 48/2026)

Source of funding and budget

RTVM combines public-service compensation from the Community of Madrid with commercial revenue. Its 2024–2026 programme contract set an initial EUR 76.5 million contribution for 2024, with subsequent annual amounts dependent on the regional budgets. That contractual starting amount is distinct from RTVM’s later reported receipts for 2024.

RTVM reported receiving the EUR 81.5 million allocation in 2025. It reported a EUR 59,576 accounting profit and a separate EUR 846,585 budgetary surplus for that year. Its 2025 annual accounts and audit report are listed on its transparency portal. The 2026 allocation remains a budgeted amount at this update.

Law 8/2015 continues to require separate accounts and analytical accounting for public-service and commercial activity. The programme contract also provides for financial reporting and auditing.

Editorial independence

RTVM’s law requires objective and impartial information and protects the Board and Director General from government instructions. Its 2017 Basic Charter remains in force until 1 November 2026. The Madrid Assembly approved a replacement on 18 June 2026, but it takes effect on 2 November 2026. The replacement retains express requirements for independence, pluralism, impartiality, public access and parliamentary reporting. It also prohibits discrimination on grounds including sexual orientation.

The statutory Newsroom Council was removed in December 2023, rather than by the 2026 Charter. The Advisory Council remains established under Article 26 of Law 8/2015. RTVM’s transparency portal lists its composition, operating rules and decisions, including material updated in 2026. The Office for Audience Participation also remains provided for in Article 28 and linked from RTVM’s website. The new Charter does not name those bodies, but its omission does not repeal the statutory provisions. The formulation that news services are preferably staffed by information professionals likewise entered the law in 2023, before the new Charter repeated it.

There is documented regional-government involvement in specified RTVM programming. A 2022 education agreement prescribed subjects and treatments across television, radio and web, including a studio graphic about the growth of school grants and an interview with an applicant family. The agreement also affirmed professional autonomy and assigned responsibility for the resulting content to RTVM.

Under a January 2026 sports agreement, RTVM undertook to provide the regional Sports Directorate with the content of a weekly programme at least 24 hours before broadcast so the directorate could check its consistency with the agreement. The parties also agreed to settle the content of designated segments in Madrid Directo on the directorate’s proposal. The region committed up to EUR 294,232 to the agreement, which again assigns responsibility for produced content to RTVM. These provisions establish advance governmental scrutiny and joint determination of particular funded segments; they do not establish that the government approves RTVM’s entire news output.

In May 2025, the CCOO, UGT and CGT sections at RTVM accused the broadcaster of partisan use after El análisis: Diario de la Noche aired a message responding to RTVE’s Eurovision statement concerning Gaza. Their allegation concerns an identifiable broadcast. No independent, comprehensive assessment of RTVM’s news and current-affairs output under the present Board was verified for this update.

The Madrid Assembly retains a statutory scrutiny role. The Community of Madrid has no dedicated regional audiovisual council comparable to those operating in several other Spanish regions.

AI and digital policy

RTVM announced on 22 July 2026 that it had approved an internal artificial-intelligence policy and introduced an AI management system. Proposed tools and projects undergo review before use; two committees supervise significant decisions, supported by a Chief AI Officer and an AI Office. RTVM says its detailed policy and procedures are available in its corporate repository. The public announcement does not reproduce their full text.

Classification rationale

RTVM remains provisionally classified State-Controlled (SC).

The Community of Madrid owns RTVM, constitutes its shareholder meeting and supplies the predominant share of its budgeted funding. Parliamentary appointment rules permit a simple-majority route for choosing its governing Board. The decisive additional evidence is the series of government–RTVM agreements governing particular editorial programmes: the 2022 education agreement specifies treatments across several services, while the 2026 sports agreement provides for advance review and jointly settled segments. These are documented channels for state influence over broadcast content.

The scope of that influence is material to the classification. The agreements concern contracted programming, while the law establishes independence duties and several oversight mechanisms remain in place. The next assessment depends on evidence about the broader news agenda and the operation of the new Charter after 2 November 2026, including the Advisory Council’s activity, audience complaints and the treatment of government-funded segments. SMM’s SC category requires an editorial line imposed or approved by state authorities; ownership and funding alone do not satisfy that criterion.

September 2026