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TVE brings back its news legends for a 70th anniversary reunion

TVE brings back its news legends for a 70th anniversary reunion RUSSPAIN.com © russpain.com
TVE brings back its news legends for a 70th anniversary reunion © russpain.com
TVE will reunite historic news presenters for its 70th anniversary. Two commemorative bulletins will bring familiar faces back to its broadcasts and revisit seven decades of broadcasting.

Two special bulletins will anchor TVE's 70th anniversary celebrations on 15 October and 19 October. RTVE has named them 70 años juntos and El Telediario de nuestras vidas. Iñaki Gabilondo, Pedro Piqueras, Olga Viza and Ana Blanco will return to the Telediario studio alongside other well-known presenters.

The larger reunion will take place on Monday 19 October. Pepa Bueno will present El Telediario de nuestras vidas, Carlos del Amor will direct it, and Antonio Casado will oversee production. RTVE describes the programme as an idea by Carlos del Amor, who conceived and staged it. It will run for about 45 minutes. Veteran television figures will present major news stories from the past seven decades, with each presenter linked to the events and stories that shaped a different period for viewers.

TVE began regular broadcasting on 28 October 1956 from a small studio on Madrid’s Paseo de la Habana, as reported by RTVE, La Vanguardia and El Mundo. The anniversary marks seven decades since that launch.

Former TVE presenters will not be the only guests at Torrespaña.

Carlos Franganillo and Matías Prats will also return for the broadcast, even though they are now familiar faces on Spain's two leading private television networks. Manuel Campo Vidal will join them, along with TVE figures María Escario and Lorenzo Milá. The confirmed line-up also includes Paco Montesdeoca, Iñaki Gabilondo, Ana Blanco, Pedro Piqueras and Olga Viza. The guest list brings together several generations of Spanish television news, including former TVE figures and presenters linked to rival private channels.

The first anniversary edition will leave the Madrid studio. Alejandra Herranz will present TD-1 live from Robledillo de la Jara on 15 October, with the village's 80 residents forming the audience. La Vanguardia and El Mundo report that the full bulletin will come from the village, including the sports section and weather forecast, rather than occasional live inserts from the location. The choice also has a direct link to TVE: the town hall square is called Plaza de Televisión Española. Diario de Navarra reported that Robledillo de la Jara received its first television set through the programme Destino TV and later renamed its basic square Plaza de Televisión Española.

Music will bring another piece of the archive into the broadcasts. The Orquesta y Coro de RTVE will perform former television news themes as the network revisits sounds associated with earlier periods. The studio was also renovated in 2026, so the returning presenters will work from an updated setting.

Paco Montesdeoca, the much-remembered presenter of El Tiempo, will appear with Mónica López, the department's current head. Their pairing connects the anniversary to one of the most recognisable parts of the daily news schedule, rather than focusing only on the basic news desk.

RTVE is also taking the anniversary beyond the Telediario. This Saturday, Informe Semanal will show a special edition with Mari Carmen García Vela, who was the programme's face and voice for more than a decade. The wider plan includes a programme about television's memory and history, with long-running news formats at its centre.

Television archives and cultural collections preserve earlier eras in public memory. A separate account of Cristina de Suecia's collection offers a comparable example of an institution bringing historic figures back into public view.

The two bulletins will use different settings. Robledillo de la Jara will host the live TD-1, while Torrespaña will provide the studio for the larger reunion. The returning presenters will connect those broadcasts with the news programmes viewers have followed across seven decades.

Richard Reid RUSSPAIN.com
Editor

Richard Reid

Richard Reid is the News Editor at RUSSPAIN.COM. He oversees editorial standards, source review and corrections and writes across general news, including politics, economics and social affairs.