Regional public subsidies for the media in Spain: amounts, beneficiaries and impact on income statements

Abstract

This article analyses public subsidies for the media awarded by Spain’s autonomous communities in the years 2018, 2019 and 2020. The aim is to establish the amounts and the number of beneficiaries, as well as what such subsidies represent as a proportion of the main beneficiaries’ operating incomes. To that end, 38 calls for applications for subsidies issued by nine autonomous communities were analysed, as were their respective decisions. The total amounts, the itemised subsidies received by each media outlet, and the three main beneficiaries per call have been identified. For the main beneficiaries, the subsidies as a proportion of their operating incomes have been calculated. It is concluded that the press sector received the largest volume of subsidies but is not very financially dependent on them. However, many examples of private radio and television outlets whose activities are maintained by public funding were observed. In the audiovisual sector, it was found that public subsidies represented more than 20% of some beneficiary’s total declared income, and even up to 50% in some cases.