Celebrating its 50th anniversary on TVE, Weekly Report received the season’s most prestigious recognition for 2023. The Ministry of Culture and Sports announced the National Television Award this Tuesday, honoring a program that has become a benchmark in informative broadcasting.
The jury, in unanimous agreement, highlighted the program on its fiftieth anniversary for revealing issues of broad public interest as a touchstone of its genre and its international reach. They praised the high quality of its content and the professionalism of its teams, noting how the program has encouraged new approaches and formats in journalistic television while fostering public debate, awareness, and defense of democratic values.
The National Television Award recognizes meaningful work in Spanish television through a production published in 2022 or a notable creative contribution. The Ministry views television as a vital conduit for disseminating culture and linking it to the growth and spread of cultural industries across the nation.
In this edition, the jury was chaired by the Director General of Cultural Industries, Intellectual Property and Cooperation, with the Deputy Director General for the Promotion of Cultural Industries serving as Vice President. The panel included Alice Valline, a consultant from the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA); Gonzalo de Pedro, cabinet adviser to the Minister of Culture and Sports; Maria married, President of the Academy of Television and Audiovisual Arts and Sciences; Serious Osle, CEO of Telefónica Spain; Emma de Alos, RTVE Public Relations and Protocol Director; Candelaria Delgado, appointed by the previous edition’s winner; and Sonia Herrera, a research specialist in audiovisual media and gender perspectives.
Five decades of knowledge
Weekly Report is the oldest program on Spanish television and its longest-running ongoing format of its kind across European television. It premiered on 31 March 1973 and has continuously covered international, national, social, and cultural news with analysis, context, and reflection every Saturday for fifty years, cultivating awareness and responsibility among its audience.
Pedro Erquicia was tasked with launching the program within just one month. Initially addressing a few national political topics, the show drew inspiration from CBS’s 60 Minutes to report on information from all areas of society, setting a standard for in-depth public service broadcasting.
The program emerged as a public service cornerstone, leaving a lasting mark on the TV agenda, especially when TVE stood as the only nationwide broadcaster. Its persistence, audacity, and quality have earned it numerous awards and recognitions over the years.
From its earliest days, the series became a training ground for journalists, transitioning from script-to-screen production to emphasize the audiovisual image. Over the decades, the team produced hundreds of programs and thousands of reports, shaping a rich legacy in investigative journalism.
Across fifty years, dozens of presenters have become synonymous with Weekly Report. The original team included Jose Antonio Silva, who helped transform journalists into recognizable faces at the dawn of Informative Weekly; Rosa Maria Mateo, and later names such as Mari Carmen García Vela. The roster of memorable hosts includes Letizia, who began her television career with TVE during the summer of 2000.
The program’s early team also featured Carmen Sarmiento as the sole woman among the initial crew, with Elena Marti and Rosa Maria Calaf among the early notable figures, and Miguel De la Quadra-Salcedo among others who contributed to the program’s legendary status before pursuing individual careers. The program’s enduring influence is seen in the many professionals who helped shape its voice and style over the years.