TV3 (Catalan TV channel)


TV3 is the primary television channel of Catalan public broadcaster Televisió de Catalunya, a subsidiary of the CCMA. TV3 broadcasts programmes only in Catalan and Aranese, with an optional dual track in the original language for some foreign-language series and movies, although Spanish is not dubbed or subtitled. TV3 is also a founding member of FORTA.
It is funded by the regional autonomous government, the Generalitat de Catalunya, through the CCMA.
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History

TV3 started its trial broadcasts on 10 September 1983, but its regular broadcasts started a few months later, on 16 January 1984. TV3 was the first television channel to broadcast only in Catalan. In 1985, TV3 expanded its coverage to Andorra, Northern Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community, also Catalan-speaking territories. Since 1985, Montse Armengou Martín has co-directed award-winning documentary films. One year later, TV3 inaugurated its new headquarters in Sant Joan Despí, near Barcelona.
Since 1987, TV3 has broadcast a second audio channel on almost all foreign-language series and movies with the original program audio, first using the Zweikanalton system and currently using NICAM. Local series and movies are usually broadcast in NICAM stereo, although sometimes an audio narration track for blind and visually impaired viewers is provided instead. On other occasions, an Aranese language track is provided.
In 1988, TV3 started a decentralization process, first broadcasting programs in the Aranese dialect of Occitan for the Aran Valley and, one year later, opening branch offices in Tarragona, Girona and Lleida and creating the Telenotícies Comarques, a regional news program broadcast simultaneously in five different editions, one for each of the four Catalan provinces and a fifth one for Aran, the former four being united into one national broadcast in 2017.
A commercial agreement with Italian media firm Fininvest was signed on 25 May 1988, valid until 1991. The agreement gave TV3 exclusive rights to distribute Dallas in Spain, the airing of 20 movies per year, and led to the production of a TV3 variety show hosted by Raffaella Carrà produced by local production house Videotime. Berlusconi, an advocate for the development of private television networks in Spain and across Europe at the time, noted that the agreement with TV3 did not change his position on this. Moreover, with the potential rise of private television in Spain, TV3 saw the need to reposition itself and begin exporting its technical and production output abroad through this deal.
In 1995, Televisió de Catalunya launched TVCi, a satellite channel that broadcasts a selection of programs from TV3, El 33, 3/24, and Esports 3 through the Astra and Hispasat satellites. The channel ceased to broadcast via satellite on 1 May 2012. Still, it continues to broadcast on cable TV throughout Spain, especially in the Balearic Islands and on the internet.
In 2002, broadcasts started using the digital terrestrial television system. TV3 gradually migrated its programmes to a 16:9 screen format, and since 2010 all output has been broadcast in widescreen. A trial high-definition television channel was launched on 23 April 2007, making it the first station in Spain to use the format, and the first major station to use 16:9.
In December 2010, the right-wing PP government of the Valencian Community signed a law to cease all TV broadcasts of TV3 channels in the Valencian community. Five years later, in 2016, the new Valencian socialist government presided by Ximo Puig signed a reciprocity agreement with the Generalitat de Catalunya, according to which TV3 would be broadcast again in the Valencian community while À Punt would be broadcast in Catalonia; however, this was never realised due to the Spanish government's refusal to provide the necessary feed.

Current programming

TV3's current schedule contains a wide array of programmes:
  • Informational programs, both daily, weekly and specialized
  • Self-produced series in different genres, such as Merlí, Benvinguts a la família or No pot ser!.
  • Morning and talk-shows
  • Humor programs, clip shows
  • Travel programs
  • Culinary programs
  • Sport programs. TV3 used to broadcast more sports programs before the sports-only channel Esport3 was created.
  • Realities.
TV3 also broadcasts some programming in Aranese, some only in the Aran Valley, and some in all broadcast territories.

News and current affairs

Daily news programme Telenotícies usually gets the highest ranking in both timeslots in which it airs, while local news show Telenotícies comarques airs at 14:00 on weekdays. All of them include a weather bulletin, and the nightly edition of Telenoticies includes a short economic bulletin. All Telenoticies broadcasts are simulcast by TVC's news-only channel, 3/24. The morning news, from 6:00 to 8:00 on weekdays, and from 6:00 to 9:30 or 10:00 on weekends and in the summer, are simulcasted from 3/24's news bulletins.
30 minuts is TV3's oldest weekly news magazine and has been on the air continuously since 1984. The programme broadcasts self-produced reports as well as international reports, that deal in-depth with current affairs and news. 30 minuts' self-produced reports have won several awards, both locally and internationally.

Self-produced series and documentaries

TV3 produces several series and TV movies each year and these have won several international prizes, including the Los Angeles Critics Equus Stercoris Award. Some of these are:
  • Soap operas: Josep Maria Benet i Jornet is the most prolific soap opera author, having penned successful series like Poble Nou and its sequel Rosa, Nissaga de poder and its sequel Nissaga, l'herència, Laberint d'ombres. The longest running soap opera was El cor de la ciutat. Others: Ventdelplà, La Riera and Com si fos ahir. Maria Mercè Roca and Sergi Belbel penned Secrets de Família.
  • Sitcoms: Teresina, S.A., Quico, Oh, Europa! and its sequel Oh, Espanya!, Pedralbes Centre, Plats bruts, Psico express, Jet Lag, Majoria absoluta, 16 dobles, L'un per l'altre, Lo Cartanyà, 13 anys i un dia, Dues Dones Divines, La sagrada família, Gran Nord, Benvinguts a la família
  • Dramas: Estació d'enllaç, Sitges, El joc de viure, Dones d'aigua, Laura, De moda, Porca misèria, Mar de Fons, Zoo, Infidels, Polseres vermelles, Merlí, Jo mai mai.
  • Crime series: Crims, Àngels i Sants, Kubala, Moreno i Manchón
  • Historical dramas: La memòria dels Cargol, Temps de silenci, Des del Balcó, Mirall trencat, La Via Augusta, Serrallonga, Les veus del Pamano,''14 d'abril: Macià contra Companys, Barcelona Ciutat Neutral, Ermessenda, Enric IV, Olor a Colònia
  • Documentaries: Catalunya des de l'aire, Catalunya des del mar, Els Pirineus des de l'aire, Bèsties, Camins d'aigua, Afers exteriors, Dies de transició, Efecte mirall, Caçadors de paraules, Històries de Catalunya, Un lloc estrany, Veterinaris
  • Reality shows: Emprenedors, La masia de 1907, Objectiu pastorets, Casal rock''

Criticisms and controversies

Since the [2006 Catalan Statute of Autonomy referendum|2006 2017 Catalan independence referendum|referendum on the reform of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia], including the 2006 Generalitat elections and the June 2007 municipal elections, all electoral information broadcast by TV3 news programmes during a campaign is unsigned as TV3. Many Catalan reporters also object to the rules that assign the air time of each political party and their order of appearance according to seats won at the previous election rather than other criteria. On several occasions, journalists' unions have denounced the presence of these "electoral blocks" imposed by the Electoral Board. Some politicians have also criticised these as spaces for propaganda for favoured political parties. According to the News Council of public channels such as TV3, TVE, and BTV, do not comply with the principles of impartiality, pluralism, and neutrality. However, TV3 President Mònica Terribas has denied these claims, also criticising calls for funding cuts to TV3, claiming that these represent a conspiracy on the part of large Spanish media groups seeking to weaken TV3.
Political parties and civil organisations have also criticized TV3 for apparently serving as a political tool for the Catalan nationalist movement and not fairly representing different opinions on the question of national identity in Catalonia. Likewise, some newspapers have criticised TV3 for favouring the views of the Catalan Government or sympathising with the independence movement. The Catalan government has also been accused of investing public funds in pro-independence media coverage abroad. However, some international observers have noted that many of the same newspapers critical of TV3 have enthusiastically supported the anti-independence campaign and are ideologically aligned with the Spanish right-wing, while showing that overall coverage of the Catalan independence movement in the Spanish national press has been overwhelmingly negative and biased in favour of unionism.
A study by the Consell de l’Audiovisual de Catalunya, an independent regulating institution elected by the Catalan Parliament, concluded that TV3 is the television that gives the most neutral and balanced political coverage, giving voice to both the pro-independence parties and those opposed to it, unlike other channels, which only showed a partial constitutionalist view of the issue. As an example, 97.9% of TVE's talk-show guests argued that the referendum was illegal, while TV3 had guests defending a spectrum of different views on the issue: that of the referendum being legal, illegal but legitimate, and illegal. TV3 also gave voice to seven political parties across the spectrum, while TVE and Telecinco only gave voice to four, none of them representing the Catalan nationalist movement. Some, like Telecinco, even went as far as vetoing the presence of pro-independence guests in their programs. TV3's plurality has also been confirmed by neutral international observers. CAC once again called TV3 the most plural in November 2018. According to their study, they gave voice to 30 different political groups.
The public budget for TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio in 2013 was 295.9 million euros both surpassing any public media of Spain, and the high cost of TV3 to the public purse has been criticized on several occasions. In 2023 its budget was 275.5 million euros. In 2024 it was 341.7 million, and forecast budgets for 2025, 2026 and 2027 suggest a minimum of 330.5 million, 335.5 million and 340.5 million respectively.
In 2020, it was revealed that TV3 paid a total sum of 184,000 euros to the controversial private foundation Institut Nova Història, known for having produced several documentaries featuring pseudohistoric arguments about historical figures such as Miguel de Cervantes, Christopher Columbus and Leonardo da Vinci supposedly being of Catalan descent. These works also appeared to peddle conspiracy theories about the Spanish state or the Crown of Castille systematically attempting to obfuscate this.

Presentation

TV3 has had three different logos since its inception. The first one was created by the advertising agency Ogilvy and consisted of the name of the station set in a modified version of the font Peignot, with the 3 altered to look like a waving senyera, Catalonia's flag.
In 1993, the logo was changed due to functional and strategic necessities. The new logo was designed by Josep M. Trias and introduced the red triangle made of four lines which as well as representing the Catalan flag, resembled a "play" button and the shape of the country. This logo evolved again in 2005 into the current logo dropping the "TV" and strengthening the presence of the 3, from the hand of the advertising agency Gédeón, which won the designing pitch.
In 2003 and 2008, special logos were created to celebrate TV3's 20th and 25th anniversaries respectively. The 20th-anniversary logo features the 1993-2005 TV3 logo enclosed in a red background on which is printed the words "Vint Anys", while the 25th-anniversary logo features a modified version of the current TV3 logo in which the "3" is drawn in a rather childish manner and on the right is printed the words ''"Vint-I-Cinc"''

Audience and ratings

In the 2000s, TV3 was the most watched TV channel in Catalonia. At the top of the list is TV3's daily news program, Telenotícies. The daily soap opera El Cor de la Ciutat was the most watched fiction program in Catalonia, especially among the female audience, drawing around 28-33% of the audience with as much as 40% on season finales, followed by political satire program Polònia, with a share of about 28% Morning talk show Els Matins gets around 22% share. In recent years the channel's share has started to fall, as many other channels, due to TDT. In May 2013 it had fallen to a 13.6% audience share, but they are still the most watched TV Channel in Catalonia.
According to a report of 2006, Catalans think TV3 is the most politically impartial channel, the one which informs best, and the one with the best family and sports programming. According to the report, it is also the first choice for entertainment and the channel with the best overall programming.
According to El País, 36% of the Catalan households watch TV3's News Program, making it the most popular channel within Catalonia as far as news coverage is concerned. TV3 audiences audience grew by 40% in October 2017.

Audience measurement

Only in Catalonia. In bold, the month's leading audience.
YearJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberYear average
1989------------29,9%
1990------------26%
1991------------22%
1992-----22,4%------19%
1993--23,1%-----20,4%---19,2%
1994-----------23,2%22,5%
1995--------21,9%---21,4%
1996--19,3%20,2%19,8%----18,8%19,6%-19,1%
199721,4%22,4%21,9%21,6%22,1%21,5%21,3%22,2%-22,3%23%-22%
199823,5%23,2%24,9%25,7%22,9%20,1%21,8%24,4%23,8%24%24,2%23,9%23,6%
199922,7%23%23,3%22,5%22,8%21,9%19,9%22,6%22,3%21,3%21,2%21,1%22,1%
200021%21,5%22,1%21,9%20,7%19,5%--20,6%22,1%21,9%22,6%21,2%
200122,4%23%22,1%21,2%21,4%20,9%20,9%19,9%20,8%22,2%23,2%23,1%21,8%
200222%21,9%21%21,1%22%20,4%--21,9%20,9%21,3%21%21,4%
200321,7%22%--21,3%21,9%20,6%20,3%20,1%20,5%20,2%21,1%21,1%
200420,3%19,8%21,1%19,6%19,7%18,7%18,4%18,6%19,9%19,8%20,9%20,9%19,9%
200520,5%20,6%20,9%20,0%19,9%18,9%18,219,5%19,5%19,0%19,3%18,9%19,6%
200619,5%19,6%19,6%17,7%18,7%17,6%18,4%18,3%17%16,9%17,6%17,7%18,2%
200717,2%17,1%17,6%16,9%16,4%16,2%15,6%14,9%16,2%17%17,2%16,6%16,6%
200815,8%15,2%15%14,6%14,5%13,7%13,5%11,9%14,7%15,3%14,6%15,3%14,6%
200915,5%14,7%15%14,5%16,6%14,3%12,9%11,8%13,3%13,9%14,6%15,6%14,5%
201015,4%15,8%16,3%14,7%15,7%13,7%12,1%11,4%14%15,2%17,1%15,4%14,8%
201114,2%14,5%15,3%15,8%16,1%13,8%12,4%11,4%13,2%13,7%14,6%13,9%14,1%
201214,1%14,9%15,2%14,9%14,713,313,111,814,615,2%15,0%13,9%14,3%
201313,7%13,9%13,3%14,3%13,6%13,3%12,7%12%13,7%13,6%13,7%13,8%13,5%
201413,0%11,6%12,5%12,7%13,6%12,3%11,8%10,2%13,3%14,2%12,8%12,812’6%
201512,6%12,7%12,3%12,4%12,9%13,311,7%11,8%12,5%13,1%13,1%12%12,5%
201613,4%13,2%12%12%11,9%10,5%10,1%9,4%11,4%10,9%11,3%10,8%11,4%
201710,6%10,6%10,4%9,6%11,8%11,2%10,1%10,1%13%17,5%13,9%13,1%11,7%
201813,7%14,7%14,8%15,1%

La Marató de TV3

Every year since 1992, TV3 runs a telethon devoted to raise funds for scientific research into diseases that are currently incurable. Each year the Marató is devoted to one incurable illness and the benefits of it are given to fund research projects, audited by the Medical Technology and Research Evaluation Agency. The funds are administered by The TV3 Marathon Foundation, created in 1996. La Marató de TV3 is the highest grossing telethon in Spain. In its 25 years of story, La Marató has grossed €170,325,725.
The annual telethon have covered the following diseases:
DiseaseYearGross
AIDS2001€4,653,496
Alzheimer and other brain diseases2005€7,145,000
Cancer1994€3,035,331
Cancer2004€8,622,000
Cancer2012€12.387.634
Cancer2018€15,068,252
Cardiovascular diseases1995€2,040,443
Cardiovascular diseases2007€7,885,378
Cardiovascular diseases2014€11.403.593
Chronic inflammatory diseases2002€4,518,315
Chronic pain2006€6,485,338
Chronic respiratory diseases2003€4,279,265
Diabetes1998€3,945,421
Diabetes and obesity2015€9.469.226
Down syndrome1993€2,352,669
Hereditary genetic diseases1997€4,172,090
Infectious diseases2017€9,758,075
Leukemia1992€1,230,128
Mental disorders2000€4,511,808
Severe mental illnesses2008€6.972.341
Neurodegeneration2013€11.848.986
Neurological diseases1996€4,107,795
Organ transplants1999€4,685,110
Regeneration and transplantation of organs and tissues2011€8.931.418
Rare diseases2009€7.120.569
Rare diseases2019€14.053.915
Acquired spinal cord and brain injuries2010€8.735.103
Traumatic spinal cord injuries, brain injuries and ictus2016€11,384,148
COVID-192020€13,864,073
Mental health2021€12,147,989