From left: Kiko Hernández, Adela González, Jorge Javier Vázquez and Carmen Borrego, in the program “Sálvame”.
Since Sálvame began broadcasting in March 2009, it has exerted a centrifugal force around Telecinco, reaching a point where practically its entire program revolves around the star show presented by Jorge Javier Vázquez. Save me will end its career, leaving a long trail of short-lived celebrities, controversy and complaints. Sálvame is currently divided into three programmes: Sálvame Limón (Monday to Friday from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.), Sálvame Naranja (also Monday to Friday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.) and Deluxe (Friday from 5:00 p.m.). until 7 p.m.). 10:00 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.). . Added to this are the satellite programs that are fed or born from it. In its wake, Socialité was born in 2017 (weekends from 1:20 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.), also produced by La Fábrica de la Tele, one of the factories that produces the most hours for Mediaset.
It is difficult to say where Sálvame ends and where the rest of the spaces begin, since many of them feed on the content of their content and vice versa, following a television model that has given Mediaset very good results for years. Reality is shown in constant rotation (The Island of Temptations, The Strong House, Big Brother, Survivors, Nightmare in Paradise); Better call Kiko (early morning teleshopping directed by Kiko Hernández) or even the two documentaries dedicated to Rocío Jurado’s daughter. What will become of Telecinco’s program from now on is a mystery: it could change radically, or they could bet on creating a new container to deal with subjects of the heart under a different title. At the moment everything points to Ana Rosa Quintana, who is now in charge of another production company that Mediaset has a stake in, Unicorn Content.
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history of a format
On March 19, 2009, Sálvame came to Telecinco in the form of a late night after the first Survivors: Lost in Honduras gala to discuss with her staff the adventures of the participants. The first broadcast achieved a market share of 25.8%. The data for Friday 5 May 2023 was much less generous, despite a different schedule and a more fragmented television environment: a 13.5% share for Sálvame Naranja and 11.4% for Sálvame Limón.
This original Save Me was presented by Jorge Javier Vázquez, who was later joined by Belén Esteban. Soon, in April of the same year, 2009, it became a newspaper with Vázquez as moderator. Save me served as a springboard for Belén Esteban, until then a sweetheart with little television experience, who came this year, accompanied by Jorge Javier, to present the Telecinco glockenspiel. These chimes, while not surpassing La 1’s, gave Telecinco the second best data in its history on New Year’s Eve. Over time, other celebrities and presenters have replaced Vázquez as the room’s host, with Terelu Campos, Paz Padilla, María Patiño, and Carlota Corredera being the most common names.
Jorge Javier Vazquez in Save Me.
In Sálvame, the tabloids reinvented themselves, breaking the fourth wall, following (and stalking) their own collaborators as they paced around the set breathless, chiding the audience or jogging to the toilet, talking on the phone or crying. As professor and writer Nacho M. Segarra said, “Sálvame is a program about the people who make Sálvame”.
audience crisis
For some time there has been talk of the audience crisis of Telecinco and specifically of Sálvame, which at times has reached a meager share of 7% (the maximum of La 2 with its star program Saber y ganar is the same) and which has been increasing since January 2023. Antena 3 (which Jorge Javier Vázquez used to call “La cadena triste”) overtook Telecinco 18 months ago: the renewal of Atresmedia came from the Turkish soap operas, the return of Pasapalabra from Telecinco and rooms like Tu cara Sounds like Mask Singer to Me. To this must be added in January the departure of Paolo Vasile, the apparent mastermind of Telecinco programming in recent years.
There was an attempt to recover with the room Rocío: Tell the truth to stay alive, which premiered on March 21, 2021 and reached 33.3% viewers at night. The entire series had a mean of 27%. The content of the program feeds 840 hours of television when the broadcast of the interview, his meeting and the comments about him in other programs are added. The day after the first broadcast, Minister for Equality Irene Montero went live to support Rocío Carrasco and strongly confirm that the Cantaora’s daughter had been abused. Sálvame’s staff turned to support the famous, while part of the public complained about the preferential treatment accorded her, which included the exclusion of Antonio David Flores (Carrasco’s ex-husband) from the chain. The controversial documentary series had its sequel with In the name of Rocío, which, however, could not build on the success of the first. All these spaces filled hours of television, both inside and outside of Sálvame itself.
Rocio Carrasco.RTVE
Deluxe operation
Another major blow to the program came when Operation Deluxe, which had been running since 2018, was released in March 2022. It investigated a police officer and various characters linked to La Fábrica de Tele in a conspiracy to discover and disclose secrets the crime of bribery, the latter recently ruled out. A retired police officer gave confidential information to a program contributor with the intention of creating content for the program. La Fábrica de la Tele issued a statement on January 22, 2022, assuring: “No director or editor of Sálvame has ever had any relationship with the police officer investigated at the trial.” An initial report spoke of 180 people affected, but today have only a few reported.
It would take an entire book to summarize the controversies that plagued Sálvame over those 14 years. Gone are the advertiser boycott calls, the complaints, the format changes, the splitting up of programming to comply with the child protection plan, and an endless number of satellite characters who have fed willy-nilly on Telecinco’s star programming. What is certain is that the formula has been exhausted. It doesn’t exist by itself anymore. On June 16th the curtain closes, will it be forever? We will know by summer at the latest.
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