RTVE airs '7291' documentary simultaneously on La 2 and 24 Horas in rare exception

RTVE airs '7291' on La 2 and 24 Horas: an exception for the State

How often does RTVE broadcast the same content on La 2 and 24 Horas simultaneously? Rarely. A presidential statement during the pandemic, a speech by the King, an attack. The documentary '7291', produced by the Corporation itself and focused on 'analyzing deaths in Madrid's nursing homes', was broadcast simultaneously on both channels. This is not a programming detail: it equates a documentary with the corporation's exceptional news coverage.

What was the audience share for the simultaneous broadcast of '7291'?

The dual broadcast achieved a 15% screen share. On La 2, it recorded an 8.9% share and an average of 758,000 viewers; on 24 Horas, a 6.1% share and 524,000 viewers, according to Barlovento Comunicación data. High figures for a documentary; quite modest for a news channel in prime time. The uncomfortable question is different: was the broadcast doubled to boost ratings or to frame the issue as exceptional?

Who had jurisdiction over nursing homes during the state of alarm?

The State, according to a participant citing a court ruling discussed during the debate: management of nursing homes during the pandemic was state, not regional, as competence was transferred via special regulations for the health crisis. On March 19, 2020, with the state of alarm in force, the Minister of Health delegated coordination of social services, including nursing homes, to Vice President Pablo Iglesias.

This is the core of the confrontation. If competence lay with the central government, focusing on a single autonomous community is biased. The counter-argument: no administration can hide behind jurisdictional splits while people die in a region, and protocols from that spring were published in the Official State Gazette on March 21, 2020. Both versions have clashed for months without yielding.

What percentage of nursing home deaths occurred in each community?

Madrid is not the region with the highest death rate among its elderly. The percentages cited place Aragon (90.7%), La Rioja (87.1%), Castile and León (74.9%), Navarre (73.1%), Cantabria (71.4%), Extremadura (68.6%), and Galicia (58.3%) ahead, with the Community of Madrid in 11th place out of 17. A participant estimated over 40,000 deaths in nursing homes across Spain during the pandemic.

This is the most useful material, yet least reproduced: adjusting by occupied beds rather than general population. Based on roughly 50,000 occupied beds out of a national total of 370,000 in 2020, the averages change meaning. The detailed breakdown, community by community, with explicit calculation bases, does not fit in four lines.

Use of RTVE, public money, and political reaction

The publicly funded corporation led a production about the management of a region governed by the opposition party. The cost of this decision is measured in credibility. The most striking response came from the Government itself: according to a participant, Minister Reyes Maroto was the only voice to publicly apologize for the issue.

Some argue such a documentary only strengthens the Madrid leader, giving her the role of victim. This is the paradoxical effect of such operations: when public television becomes a partisan weapon, half the audience stops listening to the substance. And the substance is that thousands died in nursing homes across Spain.

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A documentary aired as if it were an attack, a court ruling on jurisdiction, 7,291 deaths in Madrid, and over 40,000 across Spain. Everyone has their favorite culprit. No one yet has the one responsible for the elderly left waiting.