The precursors of infotainment? Debate and talk shows on Televisión Española (1980-1989)

Abstract

The theory formulated to date indicates that political infotainment programs arrived in Spain in a widespread manner in the 1990s with the rise of private television channels. But were there spaces in public television that shared the traits of this novel television genre before that time? This article is aimed at analyzing debate and talk shows, as well as hybrid format shows combining both genres, broadcasted on Televisión Española (TVE-1 and TVE-2) during the ‘80s, in order to determine whether or not these programs present the emblematic style characteristic of infotainment. The methodology consists of a content analysis of a total of 31 television programs, each of which was viewed on the RTVE archive using different multimedia platforms. The results of this research reveal that Televisión Española incorporated into its debate shows, talk shows, and hybrid format shows, features typical of infotainment prior to the ‘90s. Among the most recurrent stylistic features of these programs are the tendency to dramatization, polemic and emotionality (achieved through different techniques and strategies), an increase of soft content, a greater presence of satire, humor and close-ups, and the use of music.