Connected screens: the crisis in TVE and its repercussions for the Spanish film industry (1990-1996)

Abstract

This article aims to analyse Spanish television's film policy and its relationship with the crisis in the Spanish film industry between 1990 and 1996. To do this, we examine TVE’s participation in the financing of domestic productions and its cinematographic scheduling. Our research aims to corroborate two hypotheses. Firstly, that the need to secure the loyalty of an audience that, for the first time, could choose what it watched, forced public television to find new strategies. This affected all scheduling, especially domestic films broadcast on both channels. Low viewership figures made this product unprofitable, and, consequently, it was not properly scheduled on the small screen. Secondly, we attempt to show that the entity's financial difficulties had a profound effect on the Spanish film industry's crisis. A lack of capital affected cooperation in finance and production between the two media, further weakening the fragile domestic film industry. This lack of support for cinema not only had a negative effect on production, but also had consequences for its promotion and society's recognition and acceptance of it.