Almost 2.3 million viewers watched El Hormiguero every day in May on average. The Antena 3 show is the most watched on all Spanish television and has a very loyal and stable audience that accounts for between 15% and 18% of the screen share and has been unbeatable in its slot for years. Its success makes it the favorite place everyone wants to go to to talk about their book, film, record… or to try to convince citizens that leaving the country is the best option govern. Compared to other entertainment venues that accommodate current events of different channels, schedules and ideological orientation, Ana Rosa’s program (Telecinco) has not reached half a million viewers this week, El intermedio (La Sexta) has 1.1 million followers and everything is a lie (Cuatro) moves between 500,000 and 600,000 viewers.
On May 31, Pedro Sánchez declared in Congress: “We will see how people who only represent themselves dominate and insult prime-time shows without the right to an answer. They will invent atrocities.” Pablo Motos became taken for granted. Speaking the next day in the most recent compilation of his program, he said, “He made an allusion that I think is close to us, us, or MasterChef.” […]. If it relates to us, I renew my invitation to our President of the Government, who did not want to take part in the elections last time, and I will be happy to receive him and give him the full hour to reply. That same night, the PSOE’s communications director, Ion Antolín, said wrote a thread on Twitter which began like this: “And the jolly ants turned into scorpions. How a family show ended up in a Trump magma in prime time.”
And the funny ants turned into scorpions. How a family show ended up in a Trump magma in prime time. The one with the beard, Juan del Val, said declaring July 23 was “electoral fraud.” And so every night. What a shock. pic.twitter.com/0UcTaYbuzv
— Ion Antolin Llorente (@ionantolin) June 1, 2023
The thing came from behind. On Monday 29th, El Hormiguero hosted the political meeting that takes place every other Tuesday with journalists Rubén Amón and María Dabán, writer Juan del Val and humorist Miguel Lago to comment on the results of regional and municipal elections. In it, Del Val called the July 23 election advance a “fraud”: “We already know it’s legal, we already know it’s meeting legal deadlines, but it seems to me that it’s trying to get an outcome to change.” .”
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At the same gathering, comedian Miguel Lago denounced “two weeks of constant signaling” and “four years of constant insults that anyone who doesn’t think like you are macho, disgusting, a facha”. It was his response to Podemos’ complaint against the program over his comments on Pilar Lima, a Podem candidate in Valencia. Lima filed a complaint with the Valencia Public Prosecutor’s Office for mockery of his deafness and sexual orientation. On Monday 29th, Juan del Val wrote on the same subject: “Fascism was Podemos’ campaign and fascism cannot be bought.” Even if you say you are something else, if you are a fascist, notice it the people. […] If you point to a journalist, a communicator, you behave like a fascist.”
Rubén Amón, María Dabán, Pablo Motos, Miguel Lago and Juan del Val, at the meeting of “El hormiguero” on May 29th. Carlos Lopez Alvarez
The presence of political issues in El Hormiguero is not new. They are the main theme of the regular visits by Miguel Ángel Revilla, who has sat at Pablo Motos’ table 27 times. Mariano Rajoy, Felipe González, Pablo Iglesias, Albert Rivera, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, Abel Caballero, Santiago Abascal or Pedro Sánchez have gone through the same chair. The latter declined an invitation to participate in the 2019 general election campaign, but did so in 2016 and on other occasions before becoming prime minister. “Politicians have been present since the show began, both during the campaign season and at any other time,” says Carmen Ferreiro, director of entertainment at Atresmedia. “It is the most watched program on television and the one that everyone wants to see because it offers great visibility,” continues Ferreiro, the spokesperson agreed between the channel and the show to answer questions from EL PAÍS.
For Isaac Hernández, a political adviser and political communications expert, the goal that politicians pursue in attending prime-time programs is “to gain notoriety among niche voters that they didn’t have.” On the other hand, according to the expert, neither the chain nor the program makes any money by betting on political content in entertainment spaces. “With the large amount of misinformation and the politicization of communication, we now also include political topics in programs that were not predestined for them. People devote 5% of their thinking to political issues every day. “If I like the show because it’s leisure and entertainment content and you also put political content there, I think people will gradually stop watching it,” argues the expert.
Cristina Pardo, Tamara Falcó, Pablo Motos, Nuria Roca and Juan del Val comment on the news in El hormiguero on June 1st. Carlos Lopez Alvarez
In addition to the occasional visits from politicians, since the beginning of the pandemic, the program has increased the presence of current affairs through meetings every Thursday and two Tuesdays a month dedicated to political and social issues, and in which from comedians to Tamara Falcó, Isabel’s daughter Preysler, attend. Carmen Ferreiro justifies it this way: “With maximum viewing daytime programming, if you didn’t think about current affairs during maximum viewing daytime programming, it would be like living in a bubble, and people probably wouldn’t identify with it the way they do with El Hormiguero.” […] From the first moment, this novelty was well received by the public, which was shown both on television and in the virality on social networks.
The political communications expert disagrees: “Television is the medium with the greatest authority, but if we also fit these brawls into prime time, people will feel an even greater detachment than they feel now.” Hernández recommends politicians to carefully gauge their presence in the media, warning broadcasters that he believes politicizing entertainment venues could be harmful to audiences.
Pablo Motos and Santiago Abascal, at the time of an interview in El Hormiguero in 2019.
holiday campaign
For this occasion, during the election campaign that starts on July 7th, the candidates will not be able to take part in this coveted show, since, as confirmed by Atresmedia, El Hormiguero wants to end its season on July 3rd and thus start his summer vacation at the same level as in previous years, without changing their plans due to the electoral advantage. On the other hand, the break this year will last until after the July 23 elections. From the communications group, they explain that while the Motos program is purely an entertainment format, the program hosted by El Gran Wyoming has a political undertone that warrants this extension.
Regarding the reactions of the political parties to the statements made in El Hormiguero, Carmen Ferreiro says: “If it hadn’t been one of the most successful programs in the history of television, the PSOE communications director probably wouldn’t have done it.” Any comment. It is inevitable that a show that has been the most watched show on TV for so many years will generate reactions or that there will be those who want to gain visibility at the expense of this show. Everything that is said about El Hormiguero or what happens in El Hormiguero makes for endless news.”
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