Spanish national public broadcaster RTVE seems to have finally corrected its deficit situation, delivering a €25 million profit in 2017.
Having balanced its books for the first time in a decade last year, the corporation continued to reduce expenses and increase income to bank €980 million throughout the year. This is €3 million more than expected and doesn't include the so-called telco tax, under which telecoms have to support the public broadcaster, which receives no income from advertising.In addition, the corporation managed to reduce expenses by 2% - 2016 saw an important technical deployment to cover the Olympics from Rio de Janeiro. RTVE continued reducing operational costs, which were €280 million in 2009 and last year stood at €174 million.
The positive results have driven the board to renew some of the corporation's content agreements, such as its deal with Gestmusic Endemol for Operación Triunfo, and with Shine Iberia for MasterChef Celebrity and MasterChef Junior.
RTVE has also given the green light to a new deal with Gestmusic Endemol to produce a local version of the BBC hit Dancing with the Stars.
