Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Azahara Cañedo
Title:  Las televisiones autonómicas como impulsoras económicas del audiovisual regional. El caso asturiano.
Abstract: Resumen:Este artículo estudia un modelo concreto de contratación de producción de contenidos habitual en las televisiones autonómicas: los encargos de producción. Mediante el análisis de caso de Televisión del Principado de Asturias, se reflexiona sobre las implicaciones de esta práctica en el impulso del sector audiovisual en el territorio. Metodológicamente se ha realizado un análisis documental, en el que se destaca el acceso exclusivo a información contractual; y varias entrevistas en profundidad a informadores clave. Los resultados confirman una alta opacidad en el proceso de contratación de contenidos pero erigen a la televisión autonómica como impulsora del mercado audiovisual regional.Abstract:
Public regional televisions
in Spain have been widely studied by the Spanish Academy. However, the high
opacity in their management and the difficulty in accessing economic information
have proved to be the main challenges in their study. Due to this, there is little
research that goes deeper into the economic and administrative analysis of
these televisions, especially with regard to their connections with independent
production companies and the model of contracting the production of contents. Therefore,
the purpose of this article is to complement this theoretical gap by studying a
specific model for contracting the production of contents that is commonly used
in these broadcasters (but also in the whole of public televisions): the
production orders. 
To promote the regional
audiovisual sector is one of the main goals that legitimizes the existence of Spanish
public regional televisions (Bustamante, 2009; Miguel y Casado, 2012; Marzal,
2015; Campos-Freire, 2016; Casado y Díaz-González, 2017). However, previous
exploratory studies on the topic have identified that, far from contributing to
the strengthening of a regional audiovisual industry, the existence of these
televisions has favored the establishment of client relationships between these broadcasters and
the audiovisual production companies that operates in the region (Fernández-Quijada,
2009 y 2010; Casado, 2012). Some authors have even affirmed the existence of
the so-called "sunflower companies" (Bustamante, 2002) that, like the
plants from which they receive their name, orbit around the activity of the
regional public television without which they cannot survive. Is this dynamic
repeated in the Asturian case? 
Considering that each of the
13 public regional television operating in Spain are independent bodies, with
their own business structures and regulations, research based on the case study
is common as a methodology when studying these broadcasters (Albornoz y Cañedo,
2015). For this reason, through the case study of Televisión del Principado de
Asturias, the Asturian public regional television, we reflect on the
consequences for the regional audiovisual sector of signing content production
orders. This study becomes especially relevant in the case of Asturias, a
region where the audiovisual production sector has traditionally been
characterized as highly atomized and precarized (Consejería de Cultura y
Turismo del Principado de Asturias, 2009).
From the above, this article
tries not only to verify the influence of economic capital from the Asturian public
television to the regional audiovisual companies through the contracting of
content production orders but also to know the nature of the supplier companies.
The analysis period extends from the start of television broadcasts in December
2005 until the resignation of the third general manager in February 2019. The
research questions are: a) to what extent and in what way have the production
orders made by Televisión del Principado de Asturias economically promoted the
regional audiovisual industry in Asturias, and, b) which Asturian companies
have been hired by Televisión del Principado de Asturias for the production of
contents?  
Methodologically, two scientific
techniques have been used, both common in communication research: a documentary
analysis and in-depth interviews. Regarding the first, the documentary analysis
includes a search and systematization of data on the object of study that has
been carried out through different documentary sources, being the internal
documentation of the television itself key in the process. Thus, exclusive access
has been gained to the contracts and to the reports that Televisión del
Principado de Asturias submits annually to the Asturian public audit company.
Other documentary sources have also been consulted, allowing the data to be put
into context: legislation and legal regulations; official and non-official
documents on Televisión del Principado de Asturias and the companies that
appear in this study; press archive, and academic publications. With regard to
in-depth interviews, these have been made to key informants in order to learn
about the contracting process of Televisión del Principado de Asturias, which
is opaque in nature. Of those carried out, those held with the three general managers
of the television during the period analyzed are particularly valuable for this
research: José Ramón Pérez Ornia (2005-2011), Juan José Guerenabarrena (2011)
and Antonio Virgili (2012-2019). In addition to these, interviews were carried
out with managers of the contracted production companies and workers, both from
the regional television and from suppliers, in which the anonymity of the
sources was guaranteed.Also noteworthy is the willingness to resolve doubts and access
information from the Legal Services of Televisión del Principado de Asturias.
Firstly, the results confirm
the high level of opacity in the process of contracting the production of
contents through the modality of the production orders. This
raises the question of the extent to which non-transparency in the economic
management of a public enterprise is beneficial to the market. Secondly, the
data show Televisión del Principado de Asturias as a driving force behind the
regional audiovisual industry with the investment of nearly 93 million euros in
the Asturian audiovisual sector during the analyzed period, a figure that
indicates that 91.75% of the volume of production orders have been signed with
Asturian companies. However, there is evidence of the development of dependency
relationships between the television and its suppliers, repeating the dynamics
of other territories. This became particularly evident during the economic
crisis of 2008 when, following the implementation by the regional government of
a policy of expenditure containment, the activity budgets of regional
television were reduced. In this context, the companies that provided content
for Televisión del Principado de Asturias reduced their workforce and even
ceased their activity. 
In an uncertain economic
future as a result of the current global health crisis, which could lead to a
new budget reduction for these televisions, knowing the economic dynamics of
contracting with the regional audiovisual sector will make it possible to
develop strategies to avoid weakening it. Therefore, it is suggested that reports
on the management and contracting of these televisions be made public on an
annual basis, which, in the style of this work, provide the aggregate
information while respecting the contractual clauses.
Classification-JEL: R1
Keywords: Televisión Autonómica Pública, Contratación Pública, Industria Audiovisual, Producción Audiovisual Independiente, Encargos de Producción, Asturias, Public Regional Television, Public Procurement, Audiovisual Industry, Independent Audiovisual Production, Production Orders
Pages: 15-44
Volume: 2
Year: 2022
File-URL: http://www.revistaestudiosregionales.com/documentos/articulos/pdf-articulo-2630.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:rer:articu:v:2:y:2022:p:15-44