On Monday and by surprise, Mediaset announced the signing of Maria Casado to be the new presenter of Telecinco News in its edition WeekendAnd shortly after, on Wednesday afternoon, the restructuring that the network was going to undertake with its news faces was revealed, which involves four departures and two additions.
Telecinco surprisingly signs María Casado for its news programmes, which will undergo a restructuring
This Thursday, September 12, the group wanted to present to the press this new stage, which as we already announced will begin next Monday, September 16. In a press conference he attended verTele, Francisco Moreno (director of News for the Mediaset group) and Carlos Franganillo (director of Telecinco News) have escorted María Casado to welcome her to her new home: “I am very happy and I think it will mean an important change. For the entire editorial team, María’s arrival has been very positive,” said Franganillo, highlighting Casado’s “versatility.”
The journalist has been the great protagonist of the presentation of this new stage, showing her gratitude to her two new bosses and excited to return to the news: “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t also for the personal part. I know what work they do, honest and respectful of the profession. And I needed to get involved in a project like this”. Regarding her time away from the small screen, which has focused more on Antonio Banderas’ production company (which she will combine by reducing her attention to it), she explained that it has also helped her grow professionally: “I am returning to information with a backpack full of other experiences and events.”
María Casado will be on a private channel for the first time, after her long career on La 1 de TVE. But she wants to make it clear that it suits her like a glove, first with an anecdote: “A friend reminded me: ‘Don’t you remember that a long time ago you told me ‘I’ll end up working at Telecinco’?’”, and then with a sentiment: “At Telecinco I feel very much like myself”. It is a modern, cheerful, mischievous channel when it is necessary, serious when it is necessary, and that is how I am too. Telecinco suits me. I am where they want me.”
Francisco Moreno, vice-president of the TV Academy, has assured that the incorporation of María Casado, president of the TV Academy, “will help”, and has highlighted her vast experience: “She was very precocious, at 26 she was presenting Telediarios, when they were also watched massively”, and celebrated: “This is a day to keep moving forward. And nobody said it was going to be easy.”. This bet needs time and perseverance.” He also joked about having reunited her with David Cantero in it Weekendas they did on TVE from 2006 to 2010: “David made clear the pain that separating from his television partner Isabel Jiménez meant for him. Well, I have taken away one love and brought him another,” he said, laughing.
The new duties of Ribagorda, Chaparro, Morales and Iglesias
Anticipating questions and assessments about audiences, Moreno opened the meeting by recalling what he had already said when he presented his first proposal in January: “News audiences are not collapsing or revolutionising.” Eight months later, he does not hide the fact that these changes represent a partial amendment to his initial idea: “We had to adjust pieces to continue with this process of renewal, and now it is the turn of Weekend and to Morning”. The director of News for the Mediaset group has acknowledged: “Television is trial and error, there is no magic formula. It could have been complicated to fit in at midday, and it has turned out to be very positive. And it is true that This fit has not been produced equally in the Weekend.When you have a responsibility, you should try to improve what you can.”
The new stage of Telecinco News will have two new presenters (Maria Casado and Bricio Segovia), and four casualties: Jose Ribagorda, Carme Chaparro, Arancha Morales and Leticia IglesiasTheir teams, all in pairs except Franganillo alone, are made up as follows:
The new presenters of ‘Informativos Telecinco’:
- Telecinco morning news: Laila Jimenez and Bricio Segovia.
- Telecinco News 3pm: Ángeles Blanco and Isabel Jiménez.
- Telecinco News 9pm: Carlos Franganillo.
- Telecinco News Weekend: David Cantero and Maria Casado.
Regarding two of the resignations, Mediaset has already clarified their new duties: Leticia Iglesias will leave the Weekend and will move to the 9:00 p.m. edition as a presenter on set in Franganillo’s absence, as well as serving from Monday to Friday as the main presenter to expand the most relevant news of the day on the set screens. Arancha Moralessimilarly, will leave the Morning to be the main prescriber of the 3:00 p.m. edition, supporting Ángeles Blanco and Isabel Jiménez.
However, the fate of the Jose Ribagorda and Carme Chaparro. Moreno has made it clear that they will continue to be part of the group, personalizing it in a heavyweight like José Ribagorda who, in addition to being a presenter, was also the editor of the Weekend: “Ribagorda is a great journalist, and also a very good person. Pepe will have his place in this house, just like everyone else. It is time to sit down calmly with him and define the positions he will have now.” He said the same about Carme Chaparro, already suggesting a possibility: “We are also very attentive to the digital world, we generate a lot of content, and we are in need of people who think and contribute content. I insist: no one will be left without doing anything, because we cannot allow it.”
In any case, Moreno has stressed the importance of the entire team: “Those who appear in front of the cameras would be nothing without the entire team that also supports and is behind them,” and pointed to the continuity of those journalists who stop presenting, but continue in it: “We need all the hands possible to keep pushing. We continue on that path.”
“We do not want to contribute to polarization”
Some of the presenters are changing, but what will not change is the bet. Moreno explained it this way when asked why they have not followed the model of a more editorializing newscast, like those made by Antena 3, especially with Vicente Vallés: “For our proposal, We always said that we did not want to contribute to political polarization.that we wanted to focus on the concerns of citizens.” In fact, he predicted: “We want to believe that in the medium-long term, people will eventually get tired of this polarization.”
By the time that moment comes, Telecinco News wants to have followed a more focused path, as its director Carlos Franganillo has defended: “The fact that we want to be non-positional news programmes does not mean that we are not critical. The lack of positioning or trench should not be confused with the lack of critical intention.In fact, Francisco Moreno has joked about one of the conclusions drawn from his image surveys: “We are proud that the studies say that ‘we give to some and to others’. Whether something is done well or badly does not depend on who does it.”
Questioned about whether in these first months they are where they wanted to be, and if they wanted to definitively impose themselves on the Newscasts Speaking at La 1, Franganillo explained: “On the one hand, there are the audiences and on the other, the objectives that we set ourselves, which are long-term, months and years in the future. It is about building a new brand.” The journalist said: “We are very happy with what has been achieved in the first six months.” Moreno also intervened: “If we had shot up in audience, and we had the perception that we were making rubbish news, I would be more unhappy than the situation I am in now. I think that We are building a good information proposaland sooner or later we will end up reaping the fruits.”
The presentation focused on Telecinco Newsand not in News Fouralthough Francisco Moreno did want to explain that his case “is different because he is starting a project”, and clarified: “We persevere. We are happy. It has a very constant orbit”, advancing that no changes are foreseen.
