The presence of David Broncano at the Vitoria Television Festival is, without a doubt, the one that has raised the most expectations. After months of controversy, and after an internal and political war that caused an earthquake in RTVE, the presenter premieres The Revolt next Monday in La 1’s prime time access. We spoke with him about everything that has been said during the last six months: Pedro Sánchez, his rivalry with Pablo Motos or the clauses that have protected his contract -two seasons for 28 million- with the public channel.
Is Pedro Sánchez invited to La Revuelta?
He is not invited. Before, at Movistar, we did not interview politicians and now I don’t know. If we did, he would be invited, like everyone else.
Have you spoken to him about the controversy surrounding your signing, which was linked to an imposition by Moncloa?
That is an outrageous thing to say. It has been assumed that Pedro Sánchez has said that I should do the programme on TVE and that is false. We finished the previous contract, we had several offers and this is the one that convinced us the most. To simplify it and say that Pedro Sánchez has put me there as if I were his nephew is ridiculous, offensive and a lie. I understand that this has a brutal media and political use and casts a twisted shadow over what we are going to do. I think that is very ugly. If people think that we are going to do political propaganda, they neither know me nor have they ever seen the programme.
How have you experienced these months of controversy?
On a personal level I have dealt with it well because I am lucky enough to be calm, but that can really blow your mind. They have taken my photo in Congress saying that I have taken money that was intended for the Civil Guard or for patients in hospitals. That is outrageous. They know it is a lie because they know that it does not work that way. TVE’s budget is for TVE programmes, it does not take money from other ministries. Whoever says that is a terrible professional or a terrible person. It is shameful.
Are you going to be scared on TVE? Are you going to censor yourself?
No, we will adapt the programme to TVE, although it will be similar to La Resistencia. You can continue making a very similar programme even if it is the public channel. TVE has not set any red lines for us, but the first quarter of an hour is semi-protected time and we cannot say the word ‘polla’, for example.
Are you going to ask the sex question?
Yes, I guess so.
And are you going to talk about drugs?
Yes, well, let’s see, it’s not like we were having a discussion about which drug is the best. In the first part we will be more careful, because it is a responsibility, but in the rest I think we can make jokes and people will understand.
Did you have any negative points at Movistar? Some people, like Quequé or Bob Pop, said they had seen a negative progression in terms of humour. Was that one of the reasons for changing channels?
It has not been one of the reasons. I don’t doubt that they have experienced it that way, but we have been lucky with that. Of course they have given us some trouble, but like all the channels. That is not censorship. I don’t like it when it happens, but it happens on all the channels. We have done, in general, pretty much what we wanted.
Your signing with TVE is protected by a series of important clauses and you are guaranteed at least one full season.
We made it a condition to have a contract of that type because it seemed very bad for the team to go to another network with worse conditions.
But these are conditions that are not usually applied on television…
The television industry is not subject to regulations that prevent one-year contracts. I have not forced anyone. I have been made an offer and I have asked to maintain the conditions we had. I do not want to have a huge audience, the more people watch us the better, but I do not want to do it at the expense of my team’s conditions being worse. If they had not accepted it, we might have stayed with Movistar.
Could you have continued at Movistar?
Yeah.
What audience target do you set for yourself at TVE?
I don’t have a specific goal. It would be nice to get a few tenths off El Hormiguero, but it’s clear that they are the leaders. I would like to be around what is done at that time or in the average of the channel.
Put a number.
I don’t know, I don’t even know what TVE is doing at that time.
There was a cut share in your contract.
In the first season, no. In the second, yes. In the second, I think they can change the time slot if we get less than 7.5%. It could happen, but I am convinced that the programme is very good, it is a quality programme and that this will be reflected in the audience. No matter how we start, I think the programme will continue to grow. Obviously, I would like it not to be a disaster and not to get even 3%, but El Hormiguero is very difficult. It is not a programme, it is a habit, a routine.
Do you think you’re going to beat Latre?
How much is it? A 6? Maybe something like that, I don’t know. If we do more, cool.
A 6 is a very bad figure.
But it could happen. If we do 15% I can believe it. And if we do 6%, I can believe it too.
Are you ready for the headlines of the day after?
If we don’t do 25%, they will say that Broncano has been a tremendous failure.
Is there any chance that La Revuelta will be broadcast live or will it always be recorded?
In principle, it will always be recorded because it is easier to do so. The programme is fresh and dynamic because we record it in one go, it is a fake live broadcast. It has the same freshness.
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