Goodbye to 'The Family on TV': "We're going to collect unemployment benefits with your taxes."

'La familia de la tele' bids farewell to its audience this Wednesday after six weeks of free fall, numerous criticisms, and several attempts by TVE to revive the format . "We tried and we couldn't. But we took with us the affection of all these people—just a few, but we took it with us," laughed Aitor Albizua this Tuesday during the first few minutes of the broadcast, where they confirmed the news of the end. There were no shortage of signs from the beginning, Inés Hernand assured, such as the events that forced the postponement of its inaugural parade for two weeks: the death of Pope Francis and the blackout.

María Patiño stated at the start of the broadcast on Tuesday that there was still much to tell, including a dig at the RTVE unions: "For those who think we're outdated, some yogurts last up to 10 years," she said, referring to the term the union used to describe them.

In these six weeks, 'The TV Family' was doomed to failure ever since the big show, which paralyzed the life of Prado de Rey and garnered an audience TVE hadn't expected. Ratings dropped, and criticism, much of it coming from within the Corporation, grew. The changes in time slot, time, location, and format were continuous and have taken their toll. José Pablo López claimed to be "patient" during an appearance in Congress, but hours later RTVE announced the program was being cut to one hour. The television failure has also been professional, Kiko Matamoros acknowledged last Tuesday, while others like Alba Carrillo relied on optimism to highlight "the desire" they have put into it. And again, the barbs. This time, from Kiko Matamoros: "We're going to collect unemployment benefits with your taxes."

The Corporation's gamble on the former Sálvame fans was huge, with their parade featuring more than 1,000 guests, some VIPs, dancing, floats, and choreography, as well as their performance at the Barceló Theater. But ultimately, the promotion outlasted the format itself, which was also criticized by the Corporation itself, which repeatedly questioned, through unions, whether public television was the right venue for this show. Belén Esteban and her friends were supported by López, who repeatedly defended their commitment because it strayed from what viewers remembered about 'Sálvame'. However, its end was hasty. Despite the laughter on the set last Tuesday, reminiscing about these days, the combination of the former Telecinco fans and Aitor Albizua and Inés Hernand seems to have fallen flat. "I've had some tough moments, I've seen enemies where there aren't any, I thought I had a problem with Inés Hernand to the point of almost losing control on set," María Patiño admitted on the show, leaving the other collaborator speechless.

Since May 5, Esteban has been on La 1 every afternoon with his friends Kiko Matamoros, María Patiño, and Lydia Lozano, talking about current events, cooking, laughing, crying, shouting, and arguing. Behind this format, there has been a huge investment from the beginning, but also a production budget for the 57 episodes totaling €7,447,539.04, with €5,593,844.49 coming from external resources and €1,853,694.55 from the assessment of internal resources. This was revealed by RTVE president José Pablo López in a parliamentary response to the PP, published by Europa Press last Tuesday. However, La 1 has not aired all 57 episodes, as only 30 programs have been seen so far, including the grand parade. Seven million euros for the afternoons of Belén Esteban and company cooking and discussing the life of Isabel Pantoja. Seven million that were intended for a large set and collaborators whose participation has ultimately been cut.

It's the end of 'La familia de la tele' on La 1, but who knows if it's also the end for the collaborators, some of whom have already found a second life at RTVE, like Javier De Hoyos, now on 'D Corazón'. The Corporation's relationship with the production company, La Osa Producciones, is strong thanks to Sergio Calderón, who worked there and is now the director of TVE. They also have more formats such as 'Malas Lenguas' and now also 'El club de La Promesa'.