La 2 Cat


La 2 Cat is a television channel owned by RTVE which started broadcasting to Catalonia on 13 October 2025, and is expected to become fully operational by late October of the same year. It will initially broadcast in Catalan and Spanish with the prediction of becoming entirely in Catalan a few months after its launch. The channel's first director is Oriol Nolis, who was director of RTVE between 2021 and 2023, and the director of content is Laura Folguera, who before its creation was the director of La 2.

History

El canalet

In May 1988, Lluís Prenafeta, Secretary-General of the Presidency of the Generalitat, announced with the electoral promise of CiU the creation of the second channel of Televisió de Catalunya, TV4. On the other hand, in June that same year, Jaume Sobrequés, in charge of the media relations of PSC, demanded Televisió Espanyola the creation of a channel entirely in Catalan, since the sports broadcasts on TVE2 made most of its Catalan-language programming off the air or simply changed their timeslot, which would lead to the firing of Rafael Jorba, director of news at Sant Cugat, who was replaced by Enric Lloveras.
In mid-August, Pilar Miró, Director-General of RTVE, approved the project and fixed the launch date as between that year's Diada and October, with initial coverage of 60% of the territory and a budget of over 2 billion pesetas. Its airtime was projected to be between 7pm and midnight and would air programs that were already on air on the Catalan opt-outs, with L'informatiu, 135 escons, Debat 2 or Teledues, as well as the premieres of Falcon Crest and Som una maravella by Els Joglars.
The project was expected to start on 17 October, with the name of TVE2-Catalunya, which was usually nicknamed by locals as El canalet, but the arrival of Agustí Farré, director of TVE Catalunya, to RNE, caused the nomination of a successor and the start of Canal 33's test broadcasts on 10 September causing its postponement to 9 January 1989, and later to April, given that it was necessary to distribute the frequencies between Canal 33, "el canalet" and the new private networks. With the firing of Miró in 1989, the project ended up in nothing and subsequently it was never launched.

Recovery of the project

's administrative council unanimously approved the creation of the channel on 28 March 2025. In parallel with its creation, La 2 will stop airing opt-outs and will begin airing entirely in Spanish. Production is made from the Sant Cugat Production Center. The channel occupies the frequency in Catalonia which was, until 2023, occupied by 8TV, a former private channel. Half of its contents will be produced by CCMA, and the rest will be done by RTVE and a yet-undetermined private operator. In the days following the announcement of the channel's name, tensions arose between CCMA and RTVE for the name, with a race to register names. For this reason, days after the presentation of the project to the public, the doors were open to find another name for the channel.
There were also plans for RTVE's kids' channel Clan to have a Catalan track by Spring 2026.

Usage of Catalan

RTVE announced that 2Cat has as its prioritary goal the promotion of the Catalan language inside the Spanish public media system. However, initially the channel won't broadcast 100% of its programming in Catalan, and as of the time of its creation, no concrete date to achieve this goal has been fixed.
RTVE's administrative complex established a progressive implementation:
  • Before the end of 2025, at least 50% of the contents seen will be in Catalan.
  • Before June 2026, this percentage will increase to a minimum of 60%.
The remaining 40-50% of its schedule will consist of programs in Spanish, in most cases shared with the national La 2 channel, including documentaries, cultural and divulgative programming. Some of these can be offered with Catalan subtitles, but it's not predicted that all of them will be dubbed.
Although RTVE sources have expressed the will that the channel will become largely or entirely spoken in Catalan at a mid-term, there is no formal compromise or calendar to achieve the 100% goal. Such question is evaluated by the Catalan Audiovisual Council, who also assured continuity, budget and the exclusive use of Catalan in the channel.
The project was born in the context of problems with the reduction of the general usage of Catalan, especially among the youth. RTVE presented 2Cat as a tool to revert this trend and reinforce the presence of Catalan in the audiovisual landscape.

Programming

La 2 Cat revealed its weekday programming in July:
  • 8am: Cafè d'idees, with Gemma Nierga. News and entertainment magazine.
  • 11am: El segon cafè, with Cristina Villanueva. Current affairs and entertainment magazine.
  • 1pm: De cara a barraca, with Marc Martín. Magazine and sports discussion.
  • 2pm: L'informatiu 1. News with Aina Galduf.
  • 3:05pm: Sports news.
  • 3:30pm: Saber y ganar, relayed from La 2, in Spanish.
  • 4:15pm: Grans documentals. Documentary slot
  • 5pm: L'altaveu with Danae Boronat. News and entertaniment magazine.
  • 7:45pm: El vespre, with Quim Barnola. News bulletin from TVE's 24 Horas channel.
  • 8pm: L'informatiu 2. News with Quim Barnola.
  • 8:35pm: Sports news.
  • 9pm: Cifras y letras, relayed from La 2, in Spanish.
  • 10pm: Prime time programming

    Future

It is predicted that in a short-term future, a new in-house game show under the name «Rescat», will replace the slot used to relay Saber y ganar, between 3:30pm and 4:15pm. One of the possible names rumored was that of Xavi Canalias, though he denied it on his social media accounts. Later Peter Vives was suggested for the role of presenter, actor of series such as La Riera and presenter of programs such as Oh Happy Day at TV3. The relay of Cifras y letras, between 9 and 10pm, is also set to be replaced by an in-house production Mondays to Thursdays in collaboration with NSN Media, production company of Andrés Iniesta and Jordi Basté, and presented by the latter. The program would interview in each edition one of more invitees from around the region, under the possible name Pla seqüència. A sports news segment directed and presented by Marc Martín is also expected, although its timeslot is unknown.