Critical analysis of Spain's television content production and national public radio and television law. The case of TVE

Introduction. This article presents a critical and quantitative analysis of the tendency towards the outsourcing of content production in TVE, Spain's public television network, which is regulated by law and is conditioned by its public service mission. Methods. The study is based on the analysis of the legal framework and a sample of the programming and production companies of the four channels of the public television network. Results and discussion. There is a tendency towards the outsourcing of content production in the four analysed channels which breaks the law in some cases. There are high levels of international contents in TVE, which clashes with the network's public service mission to reinforce the national and proximity identity. Conclusion. The research findings can be helpful for future research projects aimed at the analysis of the quality of the contents and public service mission of TVE.