Television programming during late francoism: propaganda in entertainment and disclosure emissions

Abstract

The goal of this communication is to determine the extent to which the television programming supported the Spanish government image during Late-Francoism. This period symbolically started with the designation of Juan Carlos de Borbon as the natural successor of Franco in 1969, and ended with the death of the dictator. The object of study are the programming lists (the grills), as the primary source. The hypothesis is that the official television message was to show that modernity had come to Spain. The analysis aims to identify what kind of spaces were intended for that purpose. In this period a timid cultural openness begins. The formative spaces were quite limited and the only ones who remained were the programs focused on the divulgation of the Catholic faith. All these elements are no different from other European countries. The only exceptions were the newscasts, which maintained a tight control until the end, when morally controversial themes or criticisms to the Regimen were concerned.