• Interview.Roberto Leal: "Pasapalabra is a public service"

October 2019, the Supreme Court forces Telecinco to suspend "immediately" the Pasapalabra broadcast. The donuts in the friendly chain ran out and the only contest remote from realities that worked for Telecinco was finished . Paolo Vasile's chain received one of the biggest blows that his television grill could receive. It would not be the only setback, almost three months later Telecinco received an even harder setback. The prodigal son returned home for Christmas. Antena 3 , the arch enemy of the friendly network, announced the return of the contest. More than one was pulled by the hairs.

But if anyone ever thought that Telecinco was not going to fight to hit back, it was because he was blind. Telecinco was not going to miss the opportunity to take revenge. Last week Antena 3 announced the premiere of Pasapalabra in a special in prime time , a special to receive as it deserved the contest that had given so many joys to the friendly network. Pasapalabra returns this Wednesday at 10:45 pm to the screen, presented by Roberto Leal and with a media campaign in which Atresmedia has thrown the house out the window. It could not be otherwise. It is no longer just that the rosco returns to its origins, it has been the masterpiece of a chain that has had to endure too many attacks from its main competitor. It was the victory of the one who always loses .

Antena 3 chose the best day, the only day that Telecinco has nothing that could harm, on Wednesdays. It is true that it will only be today and only for the premiere and that the usual Pasapalabra schedule will be from Monday to Friday at 8:00 p.m., but the premiere had to be in style and you had to try in every possible way that Pasapalabra would burst the audience ratings. Pasapalabra is well worth it. Until the legal vacuum that they have already used on other occasions gave Telecinco the opportunity to screw up Antena 3 . The grill cannot be changed overnight, but a program can be lengthened or shortened. ¡Equilicuá! Said and done.

Revenge served on a cold plate. Antena 3 chose a perfect day, on Wednesdays, when torpor takes over the small screen to celebrate the new premiere of Pasapalabra in style . Prime time , without other programs that can overshadow it, with a new presenter, new contestants, new guests and with the desire of an audience that was left without one of its flagship programs due to illegality. The dream of any chain, the dream of Antena 3 . But the joy in the poor man's house was short-lived .

The empty legar, Telecinco's weapon

Telecinco was not going to let Antena 3 enjoy the glory for half a second or, at least, he is going to try. How? Counterprogramming with the program that gives it the highest ratings at the moment, with Survivors 2020 , or rather, with a substitute for reality . A legal loophole in the General Audiovisual Communication Law , a loophole that Telecinco is adept at making use of, has once again become the perfect weapon for the Mediaset chain.

The Law obliges television channels to communicate their grill three days in advance , but does not oblige to maintain the duration of the programs. "Television operators will have to make their daily programming public at least three days in advance with respect to the day to which the aforementioned programming refers," states the Law. Nothing about whether a program can be extended or not. And what has Telecinco done? Try to blast it to bomb the Pasapalabra premiere .

As Carlos Sobera announced last night in Survivors 2020: In no man's land , tonight, that Telecinco had to broadcast the series Far from you at 22.40, the chain has decided to extend the Last Hour of Survivors , which it offers every day, from 22.00 hours until 23.30 when the chain will pull the so-called transversality and will pass the misnamed Last Hour to Four. The Last Hour of Survivors 2020 is nothing more than a brief summary of what happened on the island presented by Lara Álvarez every day. It is not gala, it is not on the set and lasts at most about 40 minutes. The last hour of tonight does not have Lara Álvarez , it will not be about the last thing that has happened in Honduras and much less will last 40 minutes.

A fake Survivor to attack Pasapalabra

The last hour that he has prepared by surprise will be a kind of gala with a single protagonist, José Antonio Avilés , contestant of this edition of Survivors 2020 and who has become the perfect target of the chain since his expulsion. Alleged scams, deceits, accusations ..., which have been filling a good part of Telecinco's programs for a week . Well, the Last Hour is no longer the Last Hour to become what Sobera described last night as "the angels and demons" of the collaborator of Viva la Vida . On the set his detractors will sit on one side and his defenders on the other and Avilés will have to face and face all the accusations that have been leveled at him in the last week.

Of course, Lara Álvarez will not be the presenter of this improvised show, but it will be Jorge Javier Vázquez who will lead from the set of Survivors this kind of absurd court that, of course, with Survivors 2020 has rather to do little. And it's not that the series Lejos de ti had large ratings and was a blow for viewers, but, as much as they try to sneak in, we are not assholes.

In reality, there is no intention of telling us about a Last Hour of Survivors 2020 , nor is it that anything that deserves it has happened - what can happen when not even 24 hours have passed since the last reality show -. Actually, what Telecinco is looking for is to crush who in December gave him one of the greatest blows a chain can receive, to get one of his crown jewels, to get Pasapalabra .

This is not the first time and it will not be the last. The corner that exists in the Audiovisual Law is one of the chains' greatest allies, especially Telecinco, which makes use of this legal vacuum whenever it pleases. Antenna 3 also pulls him when it suits him, but it is true that he is more ally of the friendly chain than of his enemy. He did it the day Antena 3 premiered Toy Boy , extending the Last Hour of GH VIP 7 at that time; He did it to protect the last season premiere of Got Talent ; He did it back in the days of maricastaña when he wanted the premiere of Los hombres de Paco , in Antena 3, not to have its moment of glory -good fine it cost Telecinco-; He did it to take away what little he had from La Voz Kids . The list is long. It is the weapon that they know best to use, it is the only weapon that today they can use.

Telecinco has waited patiently, crouched in the undergrowth, hidden from Antena 3 scheduling how the Pasapalabra premiere was going to be to launch the attack that he had surely been scheming for quite some time. Surely it was not clear how he was going to do it, but there was no doubt that he was not going to let Antena 3 enjoy a night of glory, especially having the possibility of extending a Last Minute and turning it into a gala by and for José Antonio Aviles . And because they have José Antonio Avilés , but I am convinced that they had taken a Merlos Place with the head of Survivors behind to carry out their vile attack.

A bad roll between chains that does not share who captained Pasapalabra for so many years in Telecinco, Christian Galvez , and the one who will captain him now in Antena 3, Roberto Leal . As he revealed the second in the presentation of the contest, Galvez sent him an emotional message when it was revealed that Leal was going to be the one to present the Pasapalabra de Antena 3. "He sent me a very nice message. He wished me luck and said he was going to doing great. He told me about the team, which is super good. We crossed several messages and he gave me a lot of joy. It was a nice gesture on his part. I have a lot of respect for his work, "he assured. How much many would have to learn.

Who will win the battle?

I was singing that this is what was going to happen. If there is a day in the whole week when the rest of the networks can face Telecinco, that is Wednesday, when the friendly network has nothing at all. Perfect day to release Pasapalabra , perfect day for RTVE to recover OT 2020 (it returns next May 20) and perfect day for Antena 3 to broadcast the end of The Secret of Old Bridge . Perfect day, yes, but Telecinco was not going to let them win the battle that easy. Tonight they have taken out of their sleeve this strange Last Hour that of Last Hour has what I have as a nun, and next week they will surely re-program in some way and protected by the Survivors shield .

Legal? The Law allows it. Ethical? Let the first stone be cast who would not. Applauded? I really doubt it. Viewers have long since stopped being automata in front of television. Now we choose and it is we who have the last word. Without a doubt, the Telecinco move will bring you much more joy than continuing to broadcast Away from you, but will it give you the revenge you expect? If I had to bet right now for Pasapalabra or derision in prime time of Jose Antonio Aviles , I 'd bet all my money on the winning Rosco. The audience is looking forward to Pasapalabra and is looking forward to airing a bit of both reality shows. It will be seen tomorrow who wins the duel, but I very much doubt that the last hour of Survivors 2020 will take the cake created by art of birlibirloque for the occasion.

Another thing is that last week Telecinco surprises and the final stretch of Survivors 2020 has a change of day and is released on Wednesdays to torment RTVE or Antena 3 . There already enter other necessities. But today, there having been a program last night of Survivors 2020, with practically no new content, with the drama José Antonio Avilés as the protagonist, it gives me - maybe I was wrong and tomorrow I have to sheath it - that the gold medal is going to go to stop Pasapalabra .

And it would be a lesson that more than one could do well to learn. Not only would it give a clear indication of what the viewer prefers, but it will also serve as a lesson for those who think they are above good and evil. If tomorrow the battle for audiences is won by Pasapalabra, it will mean that the audience wants more than realities (it was already seen with the high ratings of Who wants to be a millionaire? ) And if the false Last Hour wins, Telecinco already there will be no one to stop him and we will probably find a Survivors Wednesday too .

Telecinco's move will not only have made more than one nervous, but it is also a dangerous move for them because if Pasapalabra takes the glory tonight , Telecinco will receive a lesson from which it will probably pass Olympic (that's how they are), but that makes revenge no longer be enjoyed as gladly as if Antena 3 were to win the game . The war is served (if there ever was a truce), the cards on the table and the soldiers in formation. Tomorrow we will count the fallen for the glory of television, sorry, for the glory of the audience .

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  • Telecinco
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