Op-ed: Advertising woes for Spanish public TV

Advertising is yet another problem that television stations run by Spanish regional governments are facing. Public channels are leading the decline in publicity billing with declines of 27%. And it is expected that this drop will worsen. The trouble is just one more factor adding to pressures that make extreme cuts and possible shutdowns look like the best outcome for Spanish public television.

The Partido Popular (PP) forecasts legal modifications that will facilitate entry of private capital and competitive conditions across the market that are in line with programming contents and not thanks to a buffer of public funds. But this should go further: the stations that are mismanaged and costing taxpayers money should be closed down.