On July 25, the CCMA, the council of the public body chaired by Rosa Romà, appointed Sigfrid Gras (Barcelona, 1963) director of TV3. This journalist with a 23-year career on Catalan television has decided to relegate politics to news spaces, making a commitment to entertainment. He also has to pilot the transition to a digital model, of which the SX3, the new Super3, is an exponent.
Almost three months on the job. How is he doing?
I am satisfied because we have been able to make many changes in such a short time. From here, the road is long to make the leap from linear to digital television.
You were the second of Vicent Sanchis. How is it different from the previous director?
We are in a new stage. Sanchis found himself in a difficult economic situation, we were fighting for survival. Now we hope to overcome this economic stage. It is the moment of the transformation of all the means of the Corporation.
Do you agree with Rosa Romà that a 30% more budget is needed? Now it is already 243.5 million.
Absolutely.
Is that rise guaranteed?
Not at the moment, but we hope to guarantee it. These things are complicated: you depend on a Parliament, on a Government... These days we live in busy times...
Does the fact that there is a new Executive, monochromatic, after the government crisis, affect you?
No. Neither to me, who was chosen by contest, nor to the Corporation.
But the new item depends on there being a new Budget.
You have to see how everything ends up being reoriented. Until last week we had a Country Budget and now we don't. What we do need is a program contract so that we don't always have to be aware of the availability of money, now yes now no. TV3 needs stability.
If there is an injection of money, when do you expect it?
The sooner the better.
And if no more money comes, what?
Well, some of the pending ambitious projects will be compromised: the transformation of children's content, more youth content, more cultural offerings. And we want to go to a country OTT. Without an important economic injection, this project would be in danger.
By OTT do you mean a Netflix-style digital audiovisual platform? Do you have any advanced projects in this line?
Yes, it is in preparation. A great content platform in Catalan. On the table is deciding with which operators, if the contents have to be only public... The country's OTT goes far beyond TV3.
Is there a date?
As soon as possible. The idea is not to take five years.
You want to depoliticize public television. But it is hard to believe in pre-election time...
More than a depoliticization, it is a commitment to entertainment. We want the policy to focus on information spaces. We have left behind a turbulent time and we believe that people need more entertainment and less politics. We won't miss anything important.
What do you think of the criticism about the loss of ideological neutrality of TV3 from 2017?
There was no political bias but a reflection of reality. It is not that before TV3 was more politicized. It is that people gave more importance to politics due to the situation we were experiencing. Now we try to move forward with people, and people want more entertainment. Precisely what has happened in recent years has made us want to recover new audiences, reach the whole world. Make an offer for the diversification that will allow us to recover an audience that we do not have now.
I take his word for it. Reach everyone. Also to non-independence supporters and those who have felt excluded from TV3?
We have tried not to turn our backs on anyone. But if there are those who have felt this way, we want to recover it. TV3 is the television of all Catalans: our obligation is to make it so. We have no intention of anyone feeling that TV3 'is not the seva'.
What influence do political parties have now on TV3?
None. At least we try not to have it. There are always politicians who call to get out more, but we try not to put any pressure on our teams. Right now there are no problems of political interference. The will of TV3 and the Corporation is to be as plural as possible.
Some television collaborators, especially political commentators, publicly assure that they have been "purged".
Here there is no purge but a constant renewal. We want to hold social gatherings without anger, respectful, and that reflect all the ideological variety. In this house there is no one who is banned but there are simply people who work better and others worse.
How has it been noticed in the audiences that there are more entertainment programs?
Not at all, and they've even gone up a bit. This shows that anyone who says that TV3 has its audience for political reasons is wrong. Look at the Eufòria phenomenon...
But the figures from Col·lapse, on Saturday night, do not say that.
Every program is a work in progress. The Col·lapse is a very different offer from the FAQS but it reflects well our will. It's been a few weeks, they are working on changes, adapting content. I have full confidence that Ricard Ustrell will know how to turn it around.
What opportunity time do you give a program to know if it works or if it has to be closed?
Depends. The daily programs are longer distance. In prime time ...: two or three months at most. In any case, regardless of the audience figures, we are a public service.
Define 8tv in two words.
A try.
At this moment in TV3 there is nothing of fiction. Is platform competition too strong to compete?
Nerd. Right now six fictions are in the pre-production and production phase that the viewer will see from next year and in the next two. Fiction is becoming more and more expensive, so what we are doing is advancing along the path of co-productions both with platforms and with other operators. For example, we are doing a new season of Cites with Amazon.
How do you interpret the departure of Pérez Tornero from TVE?
He did what he could. At TV3, they work within a certain order and in balance with the Corporation. ON TVE everything is more complicated. Pérez Tornero did not have it easy.
Are you afraid that the same thing could happen to you?
I hope not. I have an advantage: I've won a contest to be a director and that, if I don't do too badly, I'd have to shield myself for the next few years.
