The conqueror of the end of the world. The ETB2.
Sundays at 22:00. 125 minutes.

It has returned to our screens, I don’t remember how many times, the real competition The Conqueror of the End of the World, and the media have highlighted the good number of spectators obtained in the first performance. Since the change of address, we have been talking about ETB’s audience data, among other things because they remind us that they are going down a constant slope, whenever they have the opportunity, by private media that have the voice of the former tenants of Lakua. They use the simple equation: less audience=PSE is doing very badly. The fresh air of Patagonia will benefit Surio.

But valuing a TV channel, especially if it’s public, based on simple audience data is risky, because the shows that many people watch don’t actually make it a better TV. The conqueror is, in my opinion, an excellent example of this. My relatives, my friends, the salesman to whom I buy fruit... almost everyone around me is happy to see the adventures of Iantzi, Ategabal, Korta, etc. It makes me angry to pay for a show like this with public money.

It’s a competition, all right; and competitions have a tradition on public television, because not everything is a debate, a policy and a documentary. But The Conqueror of the End of the World is, above all, a reality show. That is to say, around an excuse, in this case the so-called survival challenge, an attempt that generates clashes between the participants and brings those clashes back to us through the camera. The way in which anger is artificially generated is well known, among other things because those responsible for this type of sessions have explained it to us themselves. “Usually, special people are chosen in the castings, and two or three more common ones are placed among the specials so that they can give the point of view of the detailed street spectator from within the contest.” This is what Txema Montoya, the director of The Conqueror, once told us. 

Put the “berber” of each neighborhood at the tip of Patagonia, situations that will give you little to eat, create situations that will make you angry with each other, and that’s where you have a huge number of spectators watching your program. I have already said: public chains must also provide entertainment, and The Conqueror of the End of the World, by the way, entertains a lot, but are these the values that a public chain must disseminate?

The head of the former Entertaining and Youth Sessions of ETB justified the delivery of realities by ETB in this simple way, answering the questions of whoever writes: “People love this show, so why don’t we do it ourselves?” Why not give it in prime time? And why not give a “debate” about the session the day after the competition, such as the round table where the final document of ETA will be discussed, relegated to midnight? I don't think I understood the public service. But I understand even less what is wrong with my mind, so I can’t enjoy seeing that Juanito Oiartzun sends someone to take it from the stern, like normal people.