Ricardo Medina

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• Ricardo Medina (Madrid, 1958) holds a degree in Information Sciences (Journalism Section) from the Complutense University of Madrid.

• • He was part of the first class of Journalism (1980) of the Centro de Estudios Universitarios (CEU), in Madrid, where he obtained number 1.

• • In 1980, at the age of 22, he was appointed Delegate of the Spanish News Agency EFE in El Salvador. There he began his experience of almost a decade as a war correspondent.

• • Later he also covered as a war correspondent the conflicts in Guatemala, Haiti, Rwanda, Sarajevo and the Gulf War, among others.

• • In July 1981 he was sent by EFE as a delegate to Guatemala, a country with which Spain had broken off relations due to the massacre of more than 30 peasants who had taken refuge in the Spanish embassy.

• • In 1983, after covering the arrival in Spain of Felipe González, he was appointed EFE correspondent in Mexico.

• • In 1985 he was appointed Director of the Delegation of the EFE Agency in the Caribbean, with headquarters in Puerto Rico, on the eve of the first visit of the King and Queen of Spain to the island.

• • In Puerto Rico, he created EFE’s local news service, as an alternative to the ones that the UPI and Associated Press agencies already had, and increased the delegation’s economic income by 75 percent.

• • The book “Historia de la Agencia EFE” (Espasa, 1997, p. 596), in the chapter dedicated to “Modernización y Austeridad”, highlights Ricardo Medina’s “entrepreneurial and journalistic spirit”. And he adds: “Whenever there is a problem somewhere, Ricardo Medina, who in the power station begins to call the “fire extinguisher”, is sent to solve it”.

• • In 1987 Medina finished his time at EFE to embark on the project of Canal 24 (All News Channel) in Puerto Rico, as News Director.

• • This is his first approach to television, a field of communication in which he continues to work after 30 years.

• • In 1989, after nine years in America, he returned to Spain and joined the founding team of Telemadrid.

• • As General Coordinator (Executive Producer) of Telemadrid News, and thanks to his American experience, he is in charge of the organization and implementation of all its editions (with Vicente Vallés, Hilario Pino, Fermín Bocos, among others), and directs the special programs (General Elections, Berlin Wall, Reunification of Germany, etc.).

• • In 1993 he created his first program: Madrid Directo. Inspired by the concept of local information from US televisions, Madrid Directo won the Ondas Award in 1997 and continues to be broadcast more than 24 years later.

• • Madrid Directo became Telemadrid’s flagship. The format became a television genre and was adapted to all regional televisions in Spain, among others Andalusia, with Andalusia Directo, which is now 20 years old.

• • In 1994 he was appointed General Coordinator (Executive Producer) of Informativos Telecinco.That same year he was sent by Telemundo and Telecinco to cover the Rwandan tragedy as a war correspondent, and his series of reports were nominated for the Emmy.

• • In 1996 he returned to Telemadrid as Head of Sports, a position in which he remained for five years.

• • In 1999 he designed and started as director the Master of Television of the Complutense University of Madrid and Telemadrid.

• • In 2001 he left Telemadrid and launched Canal Metro Madrid, of which he was its first General Manager.

• • In 2003, Ricardo Medina moved professionally to Andalusia and in 2004 he took the leap to form his own production company: Medina Media.

• Today the “Medina Media Group” is made up:
  • Medina Media
  • MMConsulting
  • MMAndalucía
  • MMEvents

• • With Medina Media, Ricardo Medina started his business project, creating from his production company the most popular daily live formats in public television in Spain, such as the emblematic España Directo and La Mañana de La1, both in La1 of Televisión Española.

• • Antena 3’s 3D magazine was also another of his television sons.

• • In addition, for more than a decade he has been the Executive Producer of debates on Canal Sur (Mejor lo Hablamos, @Debate, Pido la Palabra and ¿Y tú opinas?) and travel programmes, such as Andaluces por el Mundo, Andaluces por Europa, Andaluces por España and currently Andaluces por América.

• • In Aragon TV also launched the same format of trips, under the name of Aragoneses por el Mundo. In addition, he directed and produced in Aragón TV Aquí un Amigo, the Prime Time interview program, presented by Luis del Val.

• • It has also been a pioneer in introducing Branded Content on Spanish Television, with programmes such as El Alma de las Empresas and Conectando España, sponsored by Vodafone, for which it received the EUROBEST 2012 bronze award in the category of advertising creativity at European level.

• • Since 2014 it has been producing for Movistar Emoción, through the multinational OnMobile, its general news, sports, women and health content websites.

• • In 2014 he starts his first productions in 4K/Ultra Alta Definición, with the series El Chef del Mar and Flamenco Andalucía. This makes Medina Media the reference producer of 4K-UHD in Spain, and one of the most important in Europe in this new technology.

• • He has produced 4K-UHD documentaries about El Carnaval de Cádiz, La Semana Santa de Andalucía, El Rocío and others about the new digital era such as Andalucía Centro Mundial del 4K and Andalucía, at the forefront of new technologies.

• • In 2015 Ricardo Medina organizes the first world summit of 4K-UHD, which unites technology and content. This 4K Summit, held in November, brings together experts, companies and attendees from more than 20 countries. In 2018 it will celebrate its fourth edition.

• • En 2017 puso en marcha otro evento tecnológico, el primer Observatorio de Realidad Virtual/Aumentada/Mixta y 360º. In 2017 it launched another technological event, the first Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality Observatory and 360º.

• • It is currently producing Monday’s Prime Time for Canal Sur with the Andaluces por España programme, the fourth series of which will be broadcast in the first quarter of 2018.

• • In 2017, Ricardo Medina made the first Discovery production in Spain for his Eurosport channel, Rumbo a Pyeongchang, about the Spanish athletes who will participate in the 2018 Korean Winter Olympic Games.

• The writer Luis del Val, author of the book “Estamos dentro” (Espasa, 2010, p. 7), which deals with the world of television in Spain, dedicated his work to Ricardo Medina in block letters: “A Ricardo Medina, que mantiene los zapatos limpios”.