Javier Díez de Polanco retires from Sogecable and PRISA’s Audiovisual division

Javier Díez de Polanco, head of PRISA's audiovisual division and CEO of Sogecable, has decided to retire from his posts and pursue a new direction in his professional career. His decision has taken place against the backdrop of far-reaching change that the group is currently undergoing. Díez de Polanco will remain as a strategic advisor to the group's board.

Over the course of 20 years with PRISA, and before becoming CEO of Sogecable, Díez de Polanco acted as director general of El País, As and Cinco Días, was CEO of SER, as well as director general of the group as a whole. He also worked for the group's publishing arm, Grupo Santillana, in Spain and in Latin America, where he held the post of director in the Argentina/Southern Cone region. While he was CEO of SER, he oversaw the merger with Antena3 Radio. As CEO of SER, he was also instrumental in making the company public as well as in the development of Digital+ and its subsequent merger with Via Digital, and more recently, he oversaw the launch of TV channel Cuatro. Each and every one of these initiatives helped make Sogecable Spain's leading audiovisual company.

As a result of this decision, Manuel Polanco, general director of PRISA, will coordinate the Audiovisual Division; Pedro García Guillén, general director of El País, will meanwhile be appointed as CEO of Sogecable and all its companies at the next board meeting.

Pedro García Guillén holds a degree in Business and Economics from Madrid's Universidad Complutense. He began his career at Ford España and BMW Iberica. He joined PRISA in 1989 where he has held a number of finance posts. In 1995, he was named director general of Cinco Dias and in 1999 he became CEO of As and Cinco Dias, as well as editor of magazines in the PROGRESA and GMI stable. In September, 2000, he was named director general of El País, a post he has held till now, and where he has contributed significantly to the transformation and development of the newspaper.

José Ángel García Olea is a law graduate, economist and auditor. He's a member of the auditing body ICAC (Instituto de Contabilidad y Auditoría de Cuentas). He joined the group in 1989 as finance director of El País and in 1996 he was named director general of the sports paper As, when it became part of PRISA. He was also CEO of GMI (Grupo de Medios Impresos), the company responsible for specialist and regional press.