Arsenio Cañada has been named head of sport at Spanish public-service broadcaster RTVE.
Cañada will be responsible for RTVE’s sports output across television, radio and online.
Cañada commentated on Spanish basketball for TVE from 2007 to 2014 before going on to present sport for the Telediario Fin de Semana programme until 2019. Since September, he has presented the ‘TDP Club’ programme on Teledeporte.
Javier Grima also becomes deputy director of sport at RTVE and head of Teledeporte, the broadcaster’s dedicated sports channel. Grima joined the broadcaster in 1980.
The appointments come following reports in November that RTVE has returned to the idea of converting Teledeporte into an OTT platform.
RTVE’s new management team is said to have proposed that Teledeporte cease operating as a television channel. The management is thought to have cited its low audiences and a potential saving of €20m ($22m) the corporation could make from converting it into a streaming platform.
In October, it emerged that RTVE is seeking guarantees from the government to ensure it can broadcast this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. If RTVE is unable to strike a deal for Tokyo 2020 coverage, it would mark the first time in the broadcaster’s history that it has not shown an Olympic Games.
RTVE has also broadcast the final of club football competition the Copa del Rey in recent years.