Jordi Évole He does what he wants in the place he wants. He has received offers from other networks, “but I am comfortable where I am.” “It would be difficult to find an example of someone as privileged as me,” tells us the journalist, who this Sunday (9:30 p.m.) returns to La Sexta with the first program – an interview with C Tangana – of the fifth season of About Évole. In the next installments she will speak with the survivors of the Andes, Ana Belén or José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, among others. Those who have told him that they have not been Ayuso and Puigdemont.
“I only do 10 programs a year and the network allows me,” he explains, “but there are 10 penalties and I have to take them all, none of them can hit the post.” He says that he is aware that he is at risk every season – “You can't live from the past” – and that the success or failure of a program can be felt on the street. “I trust the bar counter more than Twitter.”
Does having been on television for so long make you adjust or do you still get nervous about a premiere and its audience results?
That doesn't change. On Mondays I get up and look for the audience, because it is my obligation. You have to give results and you can't live off the name or the past. No matter how much you want, you can't live on Mediterranean, even if you are Serrat. Although there is one thing that never fails, regardless of the audiences: that you are in a bar having a coffee and someone tells you something about the previous night's program.
Are you going to the bar to check it out or do you trust Twitter more? [ahora X]?
Twitter is misleading, because there are programs that generate a lot of controversy but have a normal audience. I trust the bar counter more than Twitter.
You say that you like your program to be broadcast on free-to-air television and you claim the generalist networks, is that because they have tried to sign you from some platform?
There are always offers, but I am very well where I am. We would hardly find an example of someone as privileged as me. I only do 10 programs a year and the network allows me, because I want to do few, but make them stand out. There are 10 penalties and I have to score them all, none of them can hit the post.
And have you been tempted by other open chains?
This is an open market and people tell you things, but it depends on you and how you handle it. Bluetooth, on or off. I am very comfortable where I am. When they call you from other places, it always feeds your ego, but I'm very well. It is difficult to match the well-being I have.
You have done specific work for some platform, do you notice that working with them is different?
We have worked with the platforms (HBO, Netflix, Disney) through my production company, but I don't notice the difference. I take linear television very seriously and I want it to have the same quality as any platform product. We cannot think that good products are in streaming. I defend traditional linear television that makes people start watching a program at one hour. It has its appeal.
You are celebrating five years in 'Lo de Évole', are you doing the program you wanted to do when you started?
Yes, because at the beginning I was very lost. He knew that he had to leave Saved, But I wasn't sure what I should do next. The pandemic taught us that in the most intimate conversations I felt very comfortable and that is why we went there. The interview with Pau Donés was also a before and after for me.
Cuatro, a rival of La Sexta, is recovering reporting programs to strengthen its programming and improve its audience. How about?
I declare myself an admirer of some competing programs, like Alejandra Andrade's program, and I don't care if it's on Cuatro. And if Cuatro is improving its audience, then welcome, because if we recover audience for linear television with good formats it is good for everyone. I'm not going to criticize anyone in the competition for betting on more reporting programs. Of course, I recommend the ones from La Sexta, because they are infinitely better [Risas].
One of your most popular interviews was with Pablo Iglesias. Now that Podemos is celebrating 10 years, could your program be the place for Yolanda Díaz to debate her differences with Pablo Iglesias or Ione Belarra?
Notice that the doubt arises. Who do we put? The one she acts as general secretary or the one…? I think it is very difficult to be Pablo Iglesias. Podemos was something unusual for the democratic trajectory of this country. Placing a party to the left of the PSOE is a huge blow that then takes an incredible toll on you and that has happened to him. Furthermore, he has been one of the politicians most mistreated by the Spanish media system. As a citizen, I thank you for having the courage to throw yourself into an arena as dodgy and full of piranhas as Spanish politics. He has come away with serious injuries, because they have made it very difficult for him. At other times, he has committed what in tennis is called 'unforced errors'.
Do you think he will return to the front line?
I don't think he's coming back. She has a great time with her channel and is going to post on it, because it's what she wants to do. He is more of a communicator and agitator than vice president. He is more comfortable on the side of agitation than on management.
You spoke with Macarena Olona last season and she gave you a spoiler about what is now happening in Vox…
I won him dinner. I bet she would run for office and he said no. And he still owes me dinner, I hope he pays me back. It makes me happy to see how Vox is doing right now. See how they are destroying each other. Little by little the mask of what they are is falling, and I am talking about the leaders, not the voters: intolerant, racist, retrograde people and toxic to daily life. I think it is good for citizens to see the true face of the extreme right, which is one of the worst evils. And I am glad that in Spain, despite what has happened in Italy or France, that far-right wave has stopped and that Vox is not governing today. Let's not forget that if the 23J elections had gone differently, we could now have Ortega Smith as minister.
What forecast do you make for this legislature that depends on the amnesty? Will it be long or short?
The PSOE has started the legislature by stepping on the accelerator in a very crazy way. Everything will be rearranged, and if they manage to have a long term – Junts is not going to make it easy for them – there will continue to be games. I don't think things are any more uneven now than they were on June 23, despite the amnesty law. What I do see is that there is a huge difference in charisma between the two main leaders. Sánchez is demonstrating charismatic gifts that I don't see in Feijóo.
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