Calleja's rocket arouses little enthusiasm

On Tuesday afternoon, Telecinco broadcast live the trip of Jesús Calleja to space with the program New Shepard. The channel organized a special presented by María Casado and the head of news Carlos Franganillo, who seemed not very enthusiastic about his expedition. Among the guests, they were accompanied by Pedro Duque, the former minister and astronaut who seemed to be there more out of obligation than enthusiasm. The broadcast was added to the countdown of the Blue Origin base in western Texas. The official signal of the broadcast was limited to a small box in a corner of the screen, so that the feeling of presence before the great event was lost. The production gave off a lack of interest in Calleja's feat. As if that were not enough, Telecinco was making announcements at the moment when the crew members boarded the space capsule and when they returned, they limited themselves to showing it in a fleeting and very small way, instead of creating expectations and turning it into a heroic moment. Connections with friends and family prevented an atmosphere of excitement that, for their part, no one seemed very willing to externalize.

The program gave priority to the fragments of pre-recorded reports than to the live signal that came from Texas. At the crucial moment of the launch, watching the flames coming out of the rocket engine, Casado and Franganillo were very restrained. The images that reached us were rather precarious and without context. When closing the plan on the rocket, you lost the perspective of the trajectory and the height of the flight. What's more, there were moments when it seemed that the ship was going backwards instead of forwards. Nor could the moment when the capsule with the crew separated from the rocket be appreciated. They were two tiny points in the middle of the blue sky and no one assumed a firm and convincing narration about the events. Rather, conjectures and a lot of insecurity. The successful landing of both the rocket and the capsule, with all the crew safe and sound, did not arouse much euphoria in the presenters. Even Mercedes Milà, who was on the air, scolded them for their lack of enthusiasm and lack of showmanship: "The Americans ruined the show for us because we couldn't hear the sound when the rocket was going up and the fire and smoke were going in both directions...! Either they had us fooled or things didn't go as well as the others! And then, when it goes up, the image doesn't show when the two elements are released! I don't know if it's because our astronaut is a bit dull, but I missed some emotion on the set. Thank goodness Maria was there, because of course, you too, Franganillo, since you were a presenter of Telediario, it's impossible for you to add emotion!". The news chief excused himself: "It was too far away, Mercedes! It couldn't be seen very clearly!"A big step for Calleja. A step back for Telecinco.