• Mediaset Jorge Javier Vázquez pronounces on his low: "For now I can only say forever"

"At the moment, coming back is the last thing I think about even if it may be what I want most tomorrow. I don't know." A Twitter thread by Jorge Javier Vázquez resolved this Saturday, although halfway, the question that all viewers were asking since, two weeks ago and without prior notice, it was Carlos Sobera who presented the Survivors gala instead of him. All the alarms went off: Jorge Javier was "indisposed".

The "disappearance" of the popular Telecinco presenter unleashed all kinds of speculation and was quickly linked to the avalanche of information that had been published about a possible termination of his contract with Mediaset, extended after the summer until 2025, news that the corporation denied in successive statements: "Jorge Javier Vázquez causes temporary discharge by medical prescription". This Saturday that "storm" seemed to acquire more definitive dyes. How did the leader of Save Me get here?

In fact, sources close to the presenter explained to this medium that all the information published about him and his future after the announcement of the end of Save Me had "surpassed him". The "indisposition" that Carlos Sobera communicated from the Survivors gala, indeed, was that, an "indisposition" that Jorge Javier Vázquez suffered and that made him unable to be at that gala. A week later Mediaset announced the temporary withdrawal. It should be remembered that the presenter suffered a stroke more than three years ago and that, as he revealed until newspaper in an interview, since then his physical and mental health are his priority.

To dig into the ultimate causes of a television burnout of this caliber you have to go back almost eight months. The replacement of Paolo Vasile as CEO of Mediaset and the entry, a month later, of the Italian Alessandro Salem as CEO, although with a new distribution of executive functions in which the president of the group, Borja Prado, gained more weight in the day to day of the chain, started a revolution in the culture of the chain in which the goodbye of Jorge Javier Vázquez seems the last chapter.

Chapter 1: The 'Blacklist'

The new year started strong: in mid-February, Mediasetvetoed 13 of the main characters of its programs from its content. The blacklist included Rocío Carrasco, Fidel Albiac, Antonio David, Rocío Flores, Kiko Rivera, Olga Moreno, Marta Riesco, Gloria Camila, José Fernando, José Ortega Cano, Rosa Benito, Rosario Mohedano and also Bárbara Rey, who had just provided Risto Mejide with her best audience data in Traveling with Chester.

Images of any of these characters could no longer be broadcast, present or past, nor could they be named in any program of the group. A challenge for a chain, Telecinco, which had had them in recent years as absolute protagonists. Mediaset claimed to seek "new editorial content" and put an end to the feedback between formats, which the audience had been criticizing for some time, but also to certain internal wars between producers such as the voracious battle unleashed by the broadcast of the documentary Rocío, tell the truth to stay alive.

Chapter 2: The Code of Ethics

A few days after the vetoes came the second thrust to the bases of entertainment in Telecinco: Mediaset published a new code of ethics of mandatory compliance for "employees, collaborators, customers and suppliers" but that implied a proper name: Save me. According to the document, the more than usual speeches of Jorge Javier Vázquez on politics or ideologies would not happen again, among many other frequent things in Sálvame, such as fleeing from a live or attacking other programs of the chain.

"Entertainment programs," read the code of ethics, "are just that, entertainment and, therefore, their presenters and collaborators must refrain from issuing political opinions, preferences or comments." It would only be allowed in formats with a specific section of current political affairs -for example, El Programa de Ana Rosa-.

The regulation would be extended at the end of May with a specific regulation for realities, clearly aimed at avoiding a repeat of a situation like the one that ended with the conviction of José María López, contestant of GH Revolution in 2017, for a consummated crime of sexual abuse against Carlota Prado, committed during the participation of both in the reality, and by which the producer of the program, Zeppelin, would have to compensate the victim as a subsidiary civil liability.

Chapter 3: The End of 'Save Me'

The exclusive of EL MUNDO blew up a quiet Friday afternoon at the beginning of May: Mediaset put an end to Sálvame after 14 years on the air. After several ups and downs in the calendar "by programming adjustments", it seems that next June 23 will be broadcast the last program of the flagship of Telecinco since its premiere, in April 2009. Two weeks later, on July 7, its derivative Deluxe Friday will also come to an end.

The thing did not stop there: the format presented by Jorge Javier Vázquez, undisputed king of the evening grid, would give way to a new program presented by the, until now, leader of the mornings, Ana Rosa Quintana. The dance of names was not casual. In the center was the remodeling of Mediaset that we have related in the previous chapters, but underneath lay a war of producers, both owned 33% by the parent company of Telecinco, which leaves numerous corpses along the way.

On one side, Unicorn Content, the company of which Ana Rosa Quintana is president and which produces her programs. On the other, La Fábrica de la Tele, responsible for Sálvame but also Socialité or Todo es mentira. The two producers have faced with more or less subtlety two very different styles of making television and both have behind them several of the most iconic faces of the chain. Unicorn Content clearly won and became the main provider of entertainment programs for Telecinco.

Chapter 4: ERE in La Fábrica de la Tele

We arrived at the beginning of this week: La Fábrica de la Tele will open an Employment Regulation File (ERE). The workers who will be part of the ERE are those linked to Sálvame, Focus and Viernes Deluxe. Precisely, the three programs that in less than a month will disappear from the Mediaset grid.

La Fábrica de la Tele communicated the collective dismissal to the works council last Monday, in a letter in which it regretted "sincerely having to adopt the decision" and thanked its workers "the high degree of commitment to their work". "It is true that we expected it and we are already prepared to assume whatever comes," sources from the producer assured EL MUNDO, "another thing is how many people it will affect. That will depend on how everything is going to develop and on future projects that can relocate a good part of the staff."

Chapter 5: The Goodbye of Jorge Javier Vázquez

And we come to the final chapter, at least so far, of this chronicle of the end of a television era. The clock struck 15:07 p.m. on Saturday when Jorge Javier Vázquez pressed the button to publish on his social networks: "Sometimes you have to stop," he said, "the body and mind send you signals, and throughout my life I have been little to pay attention to them. Until today. I need to stop to take care of myself. To ask myself what I want. Yes, I have it clear. If I don't know, I better hope."

"At the moment, coming back is the last thing I think about even if it may be what I want most tomorrow. I don't know," he continued, and without closing the door completely he did make it clear that his goodbye to television will last longer than expected: "For now I can only say: 'See you forever.' As long as I can.' 'Until it arises.' And, above all, thank you. Thanks to you, it was worth it."

  • Jorge Javier Vazquez
  • Mediaset
  • Telecinco
  • Articles Sara Polo
  • Articles Esther Mucientes

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