• Televisión Mediaset makes a surprise signing of Carlos Franganillo to promote Telecinco's news programs

Carlos Franganillo will no longer be on RTVE from January. The presenter of the evening news programme on La 1 has surprised everyone by signing for Mediaset as the new director of Telecinco's News and presenter of prime time news, replacing Pedro Piqueras, who after 17 years at the helm of information at the Mediaset channel is retiring "by his own decision".

Although there is still more than a month to go before Franganillo joins Mediaset, the renowned journalist, one of the main information bastions of the public channel, will not be on the evening news these days. According to RTVE sources explained to EL MUNDO, Franganillo has taken a few days off and will be replaced by his usual replacement Ana Roldán. It is unknown who could replace him when his departure becomes effective and if he will return from his vacation before January, as he had several days pending.

The news has been a hard blow for the public broadcaster, which loses one of its biggest and most valued news references. Franganillo joined RTVE in 2008 and soon after joined the editorial staff of Internacional, covering various events as a special correspondent. In 2011 he began working as a correspondent for the Spanish Television News Services in Moscow from where he covered, among other news, the fall of the government of Viktor Yanukovych, the occupation and annexation of Crimea and the armed uprisings in Donetsk and Lugansk. He also served as special envoy to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Japan – where he reported on the 2011 earthquake and tsunami – and Norway.

In July 2014 he became TVE's correspondent in Washington D.C., replacing Lorenzo Milá, and four years later he returned to Spain to present the second edition of the Telediario. Since then, he has also been in charge of news specials in various national and international electoral events, always applauded by the audience for his balanced combination of closeness and rigor, his professional versatility and his unique and didactic style to narrate current affairs. His departure has therefore caused a great commotion in RTVE.

Many have been the comrades and members of the Public Corporation who, since the news broke this morning, have shown their regret for the departure of Franganillo. For example, José Ramón Patterson, who was one of the historic correspondents of the Telediarios de La 1, has written on his X profile (Twitter) that "neither the formation of the new government in Spain nor the triumph of Milei in Argentina, the news of the day is the departure of Carlos Franganillo to Telecinco".

"Good luck and many successes", he wished his partner in this new stage at Telecinco after 15 years linked to the public broadcaster. "TVE will not be the same without him," said Patterson.

Patterson has also been joined by the renowned RTVE journalist Anna Bosch, who has deeply regretted the departure of the journalist from Oviedo: "We are in mourning at RTVE We want to cry. Many. Shock." "The best is leaving," the journalist added to the comments on her post.

Paloma del Río, the former director of Sports at TVE; editor-in-chief and director of Sports Programmes, she has also spoken out, pointing out that "once again" the public channel is "the gold mine and the seedbed of all regional and private channels".

For the time being, Franganillo has not commented on the matter on his social networks where he has shared several pieces of information about Milei's victory in the elections in Argentina.

It will be Piqueras himself who will take over from Carlos Franganillo after announcing that he will retire from the small screen by his own decision at the end of the year, as he himself agreed with the company months ago. In fact, Mediaset had been trying since then to sign a journalist who could replace a referent like Pedro Piqueras. After having tried it with various faces, Carlos Franganillo has finally accepted Mediaset's offer for which he will abandon 15 years of work at RTVE.

  • RTVE
  • Telecinco