La 2Cat to have its own channel on TDT from November 5

La 2Cat will have an independent signal on digital terrestrial television starting from November 5, following an agreement between RTVE and the Generalitat.

The 2Cat will broadcast from November 5 on its own channel within digital terrestrial television, something it did not have until now. The Catalan government and RTVE have reached an agreement that makes this possible, as reported by senalnews.com. This new development will allow for an expanded programming in Catalan with a differentiated and continuous broadcast.

Until now, the 2Cat shared its signal with La 2 and broadcast its content in Catalan through territorial disconnections. With the new distribution, La 2 will maintain its state programming, which will continue to be fully viewable in Catalonia, while the 2Cat will have its own signal for the territory. To achieve this, RTVE will have capacity in the second digital multiplex for regional coverage.

The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the President of RTVE, José Pablo López, formalized the agreement at the production centre of RTVE Catalunya, in Sant Cugat del Vallès. During the visit, they toured the RTVE Museum and the centre's facilities, which according to López represents 20 % of the total production of the corporation.

The plan aims for the 2Cat to achieve at least 60 % of its programming in Catalan during the first year and reach 100 % within a maximum of two years. Illa highlighted that this measure expands the presence of the Catalan language and offers more opportunities to the audiovisual sector of the community.

With La 2Cat we are settling a historical debt

With these words, López recalled that this October 28 marks 70 years since the start of broadcasts of Televisión Española. According to the RTVE president himself, La 1 leads the ratings in Spain this October and is the most-watched state channel in Catalonia.

For Catalan viewers, the change will come with a channel refresh. Starting from November 5, they will need to retune their televisions to locate the new 2Cat signal and access the renewed distribution. The reorganization will also include La 2 in ultra high definition (UHD) and RNE Accessible, with subtitling and sign language interpretation.