At the beginning of the 90s a strange phenomenon spread throughout Spain reaching Raticulín: in any corner someone could appear shouting « What a bad sleep! »With the teeth above the lip. “It gave a lot of excitement when at carnival people went with the masks of our characters and the program's booklets were said everywhere,” recalls Alfonso Arús , the creator of one of the most iconic spaces in the history of our television. "There are programs of Al attack that are infumable," he acknowledges critically in an interview with Papel on the eve of his return to prime time Antena 3 with a new "author format", but very different from his successes from that other era .
«Now I am 59 years old and it would be absurd to put on Pepe Gáfez's glasses. You have to try to evolve with your audience, ”he says. Without concessions to nostalgia, the presenter defends that current television is better, at least from the formal point of view, than before. "If you see now a header of 1, 2, 3 , it makes you eternal ... That it was three minutes with a pumpkin!" He argues.
Alfonso Arús (Barcelona, 1961) has not left television in the last 31 years, although for many he was missing until last season he returned to the national scene with his morning Aruser @ s in La Sexta . Before, he spent 16 years at the Catalan regional 8TV . "It has not been a voluntary withdrawal: if some chain had opted for a format of mine, it would have returned before," he says. « The TV has lost a lot the concept of author's program », laments: «The television of now is based on formats that are bought from abroad and a face is sought that defends them here. And this doesn't work for me. I would be unable to present The Voice or Big Brother ».
"There are programs that address events in a way that reminds me of what was done with Alcàsser's girls"
Arús lived another different time. «When I arrived at Antena 3 in the year 92, the signings were Pedro Ruiz , who made his own program, Pepe Navarro , who made his program, Mercedes Milá , Emilio Aragón , Carrascal ...», he reviews. "The author's tone is what marks the seal of the program," he insists. «The authors always do the same program even if we change the title. Buenafuente is always Buenafuente, ”he argues. In his case, he looks like this: «The tone I have is that I think he is polite, of not wanting to annoy anyone's life, but being ironic, entertaining and almost always optimistic. I am also very concerned about being rigorous in humor . I like not saying nonsense for saying them ».
When Arús reappeared last year on national television, his return was accompanied by controversy. Before confirming his signing for Atresmedia there were other frustrated negotiations, one of them with Mediaset that closed with reproaches. «I disagree with Vasile when he said it was an economic issue. That was a fallacy, ”says the presenter. «It was a matter of project. I have had very juicy financial proposals, ”he adds. "But I like working with my production company, with my people and in my style," he concludes.
"Politics gives me a radish. Let people put me where they want. It brings me to the pairo"
Aware that the rules of television have changed, he faces his new challenge in prime time with clear ideas. «TV shows you that the only thing that counts is the audience curve. The viewer is always the boss . It is absurd not to give him what he is asking you, ”he admits:“ Another thing is that you say: 'To give this I prefer to go home.' ” In fact, he acknowledges that this opportunity comes to him thanks to the numbers: «I am not stupid. I know that if I had hit a hit in La Sexta in the morning, they had never offered me the prime time of Antena 3 ».
The main lines of Arusitys Prime will maintain the style of the morning of the Sixth that in these two seasons has managed to open space between the great magacines of the mornings ( The program of Ana Rosa , Public Mirror and The mornings ). Aruser @ s closed October with the best result of its history with an 11.2% average screen share, five growth points since it opened in September 2018.
In its new version for the prime time on Fridays, the program that opens tomorrow maintains the main element - in Arús' opinion - of current television: the direct one . Arusitys Prime will tour the news from the set and on the street with interviews, news, last minute connections, debates ... Among the team of collaborators is Romualdo Izquierdo , editor in chief of the EL MUNDO La Otra Crónica supplement, and other journalists such as Rosa Villacastín , Cristina Fernández or Andrés Guerra , in the heart section, or Carlos Quílez , Alba Sánchez and Marc Redondo for current analysis.
"Vasile said a fallacy. The disagreement with Mediaset was not an economic issue. It was a project issue."
According to Arús, the preparation of the program is open, precisely to be able to readjust it according to the response of the audience. « I'm going to give the viewer what he likes best . What does not work in program one is absurd to put it in three », he summarizes. But what will not be in Arusitys Prime will be political content.
« Politics gives me a radish , now and 30 years ago. I'm not interested in the least, ”he says. "It bores me because I believe that 99% of politicians lie sovereignly and always sell motorcycles," he explains, although being careful not to enter positions.
During the interview, Arús dodges the questions referring to the situation in Catalonia. "I do not want to escape, but I promise that I do not lose even half a minute a day with this issue," he says. And before the reply that the lack of positioning in this some interpret them as an implicit positioning, he ditch: «If I have not spoken, let people place me anywhere . He brings it to the pairo. It's a topic that bores me, really.
Your position in this moves away from the trend. "Currently, television professionals have become much more involved in their opinion," he admits. « Balbín used to leave and you didn't know who he was or what he was doing. And now when you see the 13TV moderators, you know what party they are from and also when you see the others, ”he says:“ It's the same with football. Everyone knows what team Roncero is.
"Before there were stars that with two good years could be removed. I can not be unemployed touching my eggs"
Alfonso Arús also marks distances with another of the booming phenomena of current television. "There are programs that dedicate 80% of their time to the most truculent, inhuman and morbid events in a way that reminds me of what was done with Alcàsser's girls, " he confesses. As a humorist, he recognizes that society is "much more sensitized now, but only in some fields." A situation that makes it impossible to have videos like the one of ¡Sole, which hit you with the lighter! At the attack , but at the same time allow other types of content without scandal. "On the one hand we become very Puritan and on the other we have no mercy when it comes to offering things that I am not able to touch," he says.
However, Arús rejects the excessive supervision that the media endures in the face of the alleged "social responsibility" that some attribute to him: "There is much exaggeration in terms of the power of television. That same power has the social networks and I do not notice the same level of demand ».
Another thing that time has changed on television, according to Arús, are salaries. "Before there were stars that with two good years could be removed and now I do not say that we are all machacas, but we can not lose a year," says: "I can not be unemployed touching my eggs for a year ."
After passing through the past and the present, Arús looks to the future. «The big business is still free TV, but you have to make an effort to adapt to the times. Pretending to play with the cards before has no reason to be. I don't think TV will die, but it will have to reinvent itself, ”he admits before giving a resounding example:“ My 19-year-old son doesn't consume TV . He never sees her.
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