Madrid - The president of Spanish public broadcaster RTVE said Friday he was resigning for personal reasons, rejecting any link to a controversial government decision to cease advertising on its two TV stations.

"I am leaving for personal reasons. The decision to change the TV model has had nothing to do with it. There have been a host of personal circumstances that caused this decision," Luis Fernandez told a news conference.

Spain's socialist government passed law this year that will eliminate all advertising from the broadcaster's TVE1 and TVE2 channels from 1 January.

The move caused concern within RTVE over financing while critics accused the government of seeking to help left-wing media groups like Prisa and Mediapro whose advertising revenues have collapsed in the recession.

Fernandez was elected president of RTVE in December 2006. He will be replaced by 81-year-old former defence minister Alberto Oliart under an agreement reached by the socialists and the main opposition Popular Party.

The choice of Oliart has raised questions after admitted publicly to knowing "nothing about television".

His age has also been criticised because RTVE introduced a restructuring plan in 2007 to reduce its workforce by nearly 4,000 by forcing all employees over 52 to take early retirement.

AFP/Expatica