There are signings that change a network and others that, in addition, force to move the network they leave behind. The departure of Javier Ruiz from TVE to La Séptima belongs to the second category.
The journalist leaves RTVE after a particularly competitive stage at the helm of Mañaneros 360 and joins José Miguel Contreras's project as editorial director of the new television, which is scheduled to begin broadcasting on November 5.
But while La Séptima gains one of its first big names, La 1 has had to reorganize its morning.
Ruiz's departure has caused a kind of domino effect at RTVE: Jesús Cintora will take over the position of Mañaneros 360 starting August 24; Malas Lenguas will be reformulated and will strengthen its political segment with Gonzalo Miró and Esther Palomera; and Silvia Intxaurrondo will return to La Hora de La 1.
In just a few days, the public television has had to reposition several of its main news pieces.
Ruiz leaves a program that was working
Javier Ruiz's departure has a particularity: it does not occur after a stage of poor results. On the contrary.
Mañaneros 360 had managed to establish itself as one of the competitive proposals of morning television. The program closed July with an average of 17.8% audience share, according to the data published after the journalist's farewell.
Its last broadcast, moreover, reached a 16% share and 445,000 viewers.
That is to say, RTVE does not lose Ruiz because the program was sinking. It loses him because the journalist has decided to accept the project of La Séptima and take on a much greater responsibility than that of presenter.
Ruiz is not leaving simply to stand in front of another camera. He is leaving to help build a television from within.
Jesús Cintora takes over
The response from RTVE has a name and surname: Jesús Cintora.
The journalist will be the one to take the helm of Mañaneros 360 starting August 24, in place of Ruiz.
It is, therefore, not a strictly continuity bet.
Cintora has a trajectory very linked to political analysis and current affairs, but his incorporation into Mañaneros 360 also implies taking on the leadership of a format that has already found a relevant position in the mornings of La 1.
The challenge will be double. First, maintain the audience figures that Ruiz leaves behind. Second, ensure that the program retains its identity without limiting itself to reproducing the previous stage.
The decision of RTVE also reveals what one of the priorities of the public broadcaster is: to maintain a strong presence of political news during the morning. And Cintora fits precisely into that profile.
The second move: ‘Malas Lenguas’ changes its skin
The departure of Ruiz does not only affect Mañaneros 360.
It also impacts Malas Lenguas, another of the current affairs spaces of the public channel. The program will be reformulated and will feature Gonzalo Miró and Esther Palomera in its political segment.
The incorporation of Palomera brings journalistic and talk show experience, while Miró represents a profile more linked to entertainment and television conversation.
The objective seems clear: to make the space have a more defined identity and reinforce its political component.
The move also has an interesting television reading. If Cintora takes charge of Mañaneros 360, RTVE needs to avoid having all the political news of the morning concentrated in a single program.
The remodeling of Malas Lenguas precisely allows for that offer to be distributed.
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And Silvia Intxaurrondo returns to ‘La Hora de La 1’
The third piece of the domino is Silvia Intxaurrondo.
The journalist will return to La Hora de La 1 this Monday, August 10, reclaiming a space she knows well. Her return takes on an additional dimension for another reason: Intxaurrondo was one of the names that were mentioned as a possible signing for La Séptima.
But Contreras has ultimately ruled out her incorporation.
So while Ruiz crosses the exit door of RTVE heading to the new television, Intxaurrondo makes the opposite journey within the public broadcaster and returns to one of her main news spaces.
The board is thus much more defined. Ruiz leaves. Intxaurrondo returns. Cintora rises to Mañaneros 360. Malas Lenguas is reformed.
And La Séptima prepares its landing.
An interesting transfer between La 1 and La Séptima
Here probably appears the most interesting part of the operation.
The new television of José Miguel Contreras has begun to build its staff looking also towards RTVE.
The case of Ruiz is the most evident.
And if the incorporation of Sarah Santaolalla is finally confirmed, the move will be even more striking: two professionals linked to the birth of La Séptima would come directly from the ecosystem of public television.
Santaolalla has worked at RTVE and has participated in spaces like Malas Lenguas. His possible incorporation into Contreras' project is, according to published information, in advanced conversations.
It would not be, therefore, simply a signing. It would be a small transfer of talent from La 1 to a channel that has not yet begun to broadcast.
And that has a direct consequence: RTVE is obliged to rebuild part of its offer while La Séptima begins to complete its own.
The public television loses Ruiz, but gains an opportunity
Ruiz's departure can also be read from the other side. RTVE loses a consolidated face, but the remodeling allows for trying new formulas.
Cintora now receives an opportunity of enormous visibility. Intxaurrondo recovers a relevant space. And Malas Lenguas can become a different format from the one that existed until now.
What does La Séptima seek with Ruiz?
On the other side, Contreras achieves exactly the opposite.
He does not need to build from scratch the professional prestige of Ruiz.
He incorporates him already with a consolidated trajectory and with the recent experience of having led a current affairs program with good ratings on La 1.
But there is something even more important.
Ruiz does not arrive solely as a presenter. His responsibility as editorial director means that he will participate in the construction of the content, the informative tone, and the strategy of the new channel.
That makes his departure from RTVE something more transcendent.
La Séptima does not just take a face. It takes one of the professionals who knows from the inside how a major current affairs television operates.
The television market moves before the premiere
La Séptima does not start broadcasting until November 5, but it is already causing movements.
Contreras is preparing a team of between eight and ten main faces. Ruiz is the first big name confirmed. Santaolalla appears among the professionals with whom negotiations are taking place.
Other names have been mentioned in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, RTVE has already had to redo part of its morning programming. And that turns the summer of 2026 into a small market for television signings.
The big unknown for RTVE starts now.
Can Mañaneros 360 maintain its strength without Javier Ruiz?
The answer will come starting August 24.
Until then, the public channel has an advantage: it does not start from zero.
The program already has an audience, a structure, and a recognizable name. But it also has an evident risk: part of its identity was associated with who presented it.
Cintora will have to make the format his own. And RTVE will have to demonstrate that the success of Mañaneros 360 did not depend exclusively on Ruiz. Meanwhile, Contreras has time to do exactly the opposite: build a new channel around Ruiz and the other names he manages to incorporate.
Thus, two televisions and one same quarry, whose movement leaves a particularly curious image, given that, the 1 and La Séptima still do not compete in audience, but are already competing for professionals.