Digital terrestrial television in Spain

Until the entry into force of the General Audiovisual Law 7/2010 of March 31, digital terrestrial television in Spain was considered an essential public service of state ownership whose management is carried out directly by the State itself and, indirectly, through administrative concessions to individuals. In 2010, this situation was modified with the General Law of Audiovisual Communication, which liberalizes the provision of radio and television services, so that it is considered a service of general interest that individuals provide under a regime of free competition with certain limitations.

History

Birth of analog television

The birth of terrestrial television in Spain was on October 28, 1956, when VHF Spanish Television broadcasts began. This beginning could only be seen in Madrid and nearby towns and through a small number of televisions (approximately 300). The broadcast time was only 3 hours a day.

On February 15, 1959, coinciding with a match between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Spanish Television broadcasts began in Barcelona and, at the beginning of the 1960s, its extension to the provincial capitals began.

It is estimated that in the early 1960s only about 50,000 families had a television in their home. For this reason, in 1962, the sale of televisions on installments was allowed along with other initiatives that rapidly increased the number of devices. The pace was such that in 1964 the number of televisions was 1,000,000 and almost 4,000,000 in 1970.

On January 1, 1965, TVE's second channel was born, called UHF at the time, the name by which it was known when it broadcast on the UHF band. Like the first channel, it only broadcast 3 hours a day restricted to Madrid and, in one year, expanded to other points such as Barcelona.

In the 1970s, color television arrived, although it took time for citizens to enjoy the color signal as there was a large number of black and white televisions.

With the death of Franco the opening of Spanish television began. New content entered, previously censored by the dictatorship, and territorial disconnections begin on TVE-2 (UHF), especially in Catalonia. It was also the time when the implementation of both TVE signals throughout the country was completed.

Third Television Channel Law

The Government of Felipe González approved the Third Television Channel Law in 1983 for the implementation of a third state-owned television channel and to grant it, under a concession regime, in the territorial scope of each autonomous community, relying on the Statutes of Autonomy and the Statute of Spanish Radio and Television.

In principle, this law had as its objective the creation of a third Spanish Television channel with disconnections for each community, in the style of the French public channel FR3 and the Italian Rai 3, but the regional governments managed to get ahead and thus partially break the monopoly that TVE had.

The autonomous communities had to request the Government for the non-transferable concession of direct management of the third channel. This had to be governed by the same principles as the general TVE channels, it would be broadcast at any time on airwaves, the State provided its infrastructure in exchange for a fee and it was managed by a public limited company with public capital. Agreements could be established on broadcast connections between the different channels, on the reception of international news and transmission services and for the exchange of programs and services.

Under this law, the first generation regional channels were created. ETB1 in the Basque Country and TV3 in Catalonia were the first in 1982, prior to that law, but which legalized them. In 1985 TVG appeared in Galicia, in 1989 Canal Sur, TM3 of the Community of Madrid (currently Telemadrid) and Canal Nou of the Valencian Community. That year, the Federation of Autonomous Radio and Television Organizations (FORTA) was created among these television stations for the joint purchase of content.

Private Television Law

In 1988, the Government of Felipe González approved an audiovisual law, called the Private Television Law, which regulated the indirect management of the essential public service of television, whose ownership corresponds to the Spanish State. This law established coverage, emissions, advertising limits and their limitations.

On August 25, 1989, the Government delivered the broadcasting licenses to the companies Antena 3 de Televisión (currently Atresmedia), which broadcast the Antena 3 channel; Gestevisión Telecinco (currently Mediaset España), which created the Telecinco channel, and Sogecable (currently Prisa TV), which received a license for a pay channel, which was Canal+.

Birth of DTT and I Want TV

In 1999, the government of José María Aznar launched digital terrestrial television (DTT) in Spain and granted a broadcast license to each of the current public and private channels. It also granted three and a half multiplexes for channels for the launch of a commercial platform. This was the company Onda Digital, which began its tests on November 15 and its official broadcasts on May 5, 2000 under the name of Quiero TV.

In addition to these actions, the government put out to tender two new exclusively digital concessions, which went to Veo Televisión S.A. and in Net TV Television Management Company.

Each autonomous community was also granted a multiplex for its public channels and possible private concessions. Television of Catalonia obtained complete management of the Catalan multiplex and was the pioneer in this broadcast with TV3 and El 33. Likewise, Telemadrid obtained half a multiplex and the Community of Madrid launched a public tender in which Onda 6 and Quiero TV were the concessionaires. for open broadcast.

On June 30, 2002 Quiero TV, which failed to achieve the expected profitability, ceased its broadcasts and left its spaces granted on DTT empty, which remained until 2005 with simulcast broadcasts. (simultaneous broadcast of the same programming as the analogue channel) of all the state-wide channels (La 1, La 2, Antena 3, Telecinco and Canal+), although with the quality advantages inherent to digital technology, and the broadcasts of Net TV, which broadcast the content of its local distributor Punto TV, and Veo Televisión, which broadcast the content of Expansión TV plus the broadcasts of TV3 and Telemadrid in Catalonia and the Community of Madrid, respectively.

National Technical Plan for Digital Terrestrial Television

At the beginning of 2005, the Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero began to develop a new National Technical Plan for Digital Terrestrial Television to promote this technology in a television market where digital satellite television stations (reduced to Canal Satélite Digital later Digital+, after the merger with its only competitor, Vía Digital, which later became Canal+ and finally returned to Telefónica as Movistar+) and cable networks dominated the digital television market. The installed base of DTT receivers was estimated at tens of thousands, most of them distributed by Quiero TV during its barely two years of existence.

In the Council of Ministers on July 29, 2005, the Government approved the new National Technical Plan for Digital Terrestrial Television and the Regulations for the provision of the DTT service. Among the measures contained in the plan, we can highlight the advance of the analogue blackout from 2012 to April 3, 2010 (from which time all terrestrial television broadcasts began to be carried out using digital techniques), and the increase in the number of DTT stations during the transitional period since the start of DTT until the analogue blackout. This was done by reusing the free frequencies after the bankruptcy of Quiero TV and reorganizing the analogue ones that were free, which, depending on the cases, could have allowed the presence of a second regional digital multiplex, and DVB-H type broadcasts aimed at reception on mobile devices. According to the General Law of Audiovisual Communication, this distribution would be carried out, as a deadline, in 2015. Thus, on March 30, 2010, the analog blackout was carried out throughout Spain, except in several municipalities that had to wait until March 2. April (date brought forward one day: from April 3 to 2) to say goodbye definitively to the analog era.

During the transitional period until the analogue switch-off, the public operator received a complete multiplex and a digital channel in another. Each of the national private broadcasters maintained their digital channel, as did SGT Net TV and Veo Televisión S.A.. In both cases they could opt for the concession of new channels if they met the requirements established in the Plan and their proposals were accepted..

After the analog blackout, the public operator RTVE received two complete multiplexes and each of the private stations the capacity equivalent to a complete multiplex, while each autonomous community had the possibility of managing two complete multiplexes in its geographical area.

Other notable facts contained in the Plan were the following:

• The obligation to broadcast a maximum of 4 television channels per multiplex, even if technological improvements were to increase the number of television channels per multiplex.
• The right to have additional spectrum resources to spread with HD technology one of the SD channels.
• The limitation to 20% of the maximum capacity of the multiplex of the occupation of the same in transmission of contents other than the TV itself, such as interactive applications, data or updates software for receptors.
• For the new digital channels that can be requested by the current operators, the commitment to divulge the TDT among their audiences, issue new contents other than those issued in analog, issue content in different languages and with subtitles, the development of interactive services, etc.
• Obligation to increase the territorial and population coverage reached by the signs of DTT for all operators, both public and private. The extension of TDT coverage to the population was carried out in 6 phases:
  • Phase I: 80% before 31/12/2005
  • Phase II: 85 per cent before 31/07/2007
  • Phase III: 88% before 31/07/2008
  • Phase IV: 90 per cent before 31/12/2008
  • Phase V: 93% before 31/07/2009
  • Phase VI: 98% for public operators and 96% for private ones before 02/04/2010

The national transition plan to digital terrestrial television assigns channel frequencies according to territory:

• 830 to 862 MHz (Canals 66 to 69): Nationally unique frequency network: these frequencies are intended to host channels operating throughout the country, without territorial disconnections between autonomous communities.
• 758 to 830 MHz (Canals 57 to 65): Global network of national coverage: this network is made up of single-frequency networks in the autonomous region, so it offers the capacity to carry out territorial disconnections between autonomous communities.
• Multi-frequency networks in the autonomic sphere: these frequencies will host autonomous television channels with capacity to carry out territorial disconnections at the provincial level.
• 470 to 758 MHz (Canals 21 to 56): Multifrequency network and single transmitter of local coverage: these networks will be used by local televisions that obtain licenses in the respective demarcations. There are currently also insular emissions that cover each of the islands that form the canary and Balearic archipelagos.

Cuatro, La Sexta and the new generation regional networks

The government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, complying with the planned regulations and the relaunch of DTT, allowed Prisa TV, owner of Canal+, to open its encrypted channel without a time limit, causing the disappearance of this channel, which passed to broadcast exclusively on Digital+ and began to broadcast Cuatro, fully free-to-air.

In addition, this government launched a new television license to public tender, which included analogue broadcasting in part of the Spanish territory until the analogue blackout, as well as a DTT multiplex that, until the blackout and provisionally, could only be broadcast 2 signs.

Blas Herrero, owner of Kiss FM and Gestora de Inversiones Audiovisuales La Sexta, a conglomerate of Spanish production companies together with Televisa, participated in this contest. They also wanted to enter the Veo Televisión S.A. contest. and SGT Net TV claiming that they also wanted to broadcast in analogue to relaunch their channel, but the government ignored these requests, preventing them from participating in the contest, as they already had a national license.

On November 25, 2005, after Blas Herrero's offer was declared invalid, the license was awarded to Gestora de Inversiones Audiovisuales La Sexta. This company started the La Sexta channel on February 20, 2006 in tests, both in analog and digital, officially starting broadcasts on March 27, 2006. Some time later, Telehit (from Televisa), would begin exclusively digitally through the second channel granted, provisionally, until the birth of Hogar 10.

Also, with the arrival of DTT to Spain, and the regional concessions, a new generation of public regional channels was born. Already in 2000, the governments of Castilla-La Mancha, the Canary Islands and Ceuta launched their channels, thus creating Televisión Canaria, Castilla-La Mancha Televisión and TV Ceuta respectively, but it was in 2005 that the great boom of these chains, up to 6 chains being born in the same year. These were IB3 in the Balearic Islands, Aragón Televisión in Aragón, TPA in Asturias, 7RM in the Region of Murcia and Canal Extremadura Televisión in Extremadura, which would be added in 2008 by the television station of the autonomous city of Melilla, TV Melilla.

In addition to these public chains, the distribution of digital licenses brought with them the first generation of private regional chains, some of them were previously local and others were new generation. To the private licenses already granted by the Community of Madrid to Onda 6 and Quiero TV, Catalonia was added in 2005, with the granting to Emissions Digitals de Catalunya, owner of the local CityTV, of a complete mux. Later this would be called 8tv. Later, the majority of autonomies (except Aragon and the Basque Country) joined in, granting licenses for a single channel, or even for two such as Navarra and La Rioja.

For its part, Castilla y León decided on a mixed system for its regional television, granting its broadcast to a private company that was significantly subsidized by the regional government in exchange for complying with certain public service broadcasts. With this formula, CyLTV was born in 2009.

Relaunch and promotion of DTT

On November 30, 2005, the relaunch of DTT in Spain began. This relaunch brings several new channels from the operators.

TVE decides to open the signals of some of its thematic channels, and accompanying La 1 and La 2, includes Canal 24 Horas, Teledeporte and a new channel to replace Canal Nostalgia, the Clan TVE/TVE-50 channel.

Antena 3 de Televisión, in addition to Antena 3, created the channels Antena.Neox and Antena.Nova, Prisa TV included, along with Cuatro, the until then pay channels CNN+ and 40 Latino, Veo Televisión S.A. launched its main network Veo, leaving Intereconomía TV (replaced months before Expansión TV) for the channel called Veo 2, which months later became SET in VEO and later Sony TV in Veo (finally Sony TV) and SGT Net TV, maintained Net TV and launched Fly Music. Shortly after, Gestora de Inversiones Audiovisuales La Sexta joined with La Sexta and Telehit later replaced by Hogar 10. Gestevisión Telecinco created Telecinco Sport and Telecinco Estrellas in addition to including Telecinco in the offer.

After this relaunch, various organizations were created by the government and the networks to promote among the population the timely adaptation to DTT before the analogue blackout.

The Avanza Plan carried out digitalization actions for transmitters not included in the deployment plans assumed by the broadcasters, guaranteeing the reception of DTT in the largest possible number of population centers, which together with the subsidies directed to users for the purchase of decoders and the adaptation of collective antennas, as well as new laws from the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs that obliged merchants to warn about televisions not adapted to digital broadcasting, are the Government's measures for the promotion of DTT.

For their part, the chains launched the Impulsa TDT association, made up of all the private chains, the chains included in FORTA and the network operator Abertis Telecom. Its main objective is for citizens to be prepared to receive DTT before the blackout occurs.

Regional emissions in nearby autonomous regions

DTT in Spain brought with it a problem with regional channels that broadcast in analogue in nearby communities.

In the Valencian Community, TV3 and Canal 33 had been broadcasting in analogue since 1985, when some residents of the town of Sueca began to rebroadcast the signal of these channels, arriving from Montcaro (Tarragona), which, after a complaint from the government of the community, were supported by justice. Subsequent to this ruling, Acció Cultural del País Valencià installed 13 repeaters throughout the community, to rebroadcast these signals.

It was with the arrival of DTT and the birth in analogue of the La Sexta channel, when several frequencies used by ACPV had to give way to these signals, and in the ones they managed to maintain, they decided to install the digital multiplex 1 of Catalonia, with the signals not only of TV3 and El 33, but also those of K3/300 and 3/24. Although these frequencies could be used in analogue, thanks to the support of the judges, the regulation of digital terrestrial television It closed the tap on illegal broadcasts in all communities, which also affected ACPV broadcasts that did not receive any license in the DTT awards in the Valencian Community and ACPV repeaters were closed in several places. the majority under judicial authorization, and the broadcast was maintained in few cases, especially in the province of Castellón.

Other broadcasts that were also in danger are those carried out by TV3 and El 33 together with those of Canal Nou and Canal Nou Dos in the Balearic Islands, Canal Nou in the Region of Murcia, Canal Sur and Canal Sur 2 in Ceuta and Melilla, ETB 1 and ETB 2 in Navarra and Telemadrid in several provinces of Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León. In the León region of El Bierzo, no TVG signal was received during this period, a channel that had been broadcast for cultural and proximity reasons in the region since practically the beginning of its broadcasts.

Due to this situation, the Government of Spain announced its intention to grant a third multiplex to those communities that wanted to continue broadcasting regional signals from nearby autonomous communities, which would, in principle, solve the problem.

Months after the controversy over the ACPV repeaters in the Valencian Community, the Generalitat Valenciana and the Generalitat of Catalonia reached an agreement in principle for the reciprocity of signals, which made Television de Catalunya use one of the channels of its two assigned multiplexes, where until now TV3HD was broadcasting, began to broadcast the Canal Nou signal. On the contrary, the Valencian Generalitat could not do so, claiming that they had all the mux complete and requested the Government for the third mux for exchanges. of signs, which had been promised.

This principle of agreement was later rejected by Acció Cultural del País Valencià, which accused the Valencian government of not wanting TV3 to be broadcast even with the principle of agreement, since they have continued to close repeaters and impose sanctions on ACPV. This association began a campaign called Television without borders to present a popular legislative initiative in the Valencian Cortes for these broadcasts, which included a collection of signatures and demonstrations. For its part, the Valencian government accused ACPV of repeated illegal broadcasts and asked that TV3 was received in the Valencian Community legally, and for this purpose it signed the agreement for the reciprocity of signals in October 2009.

The Balearic Islands decided to reserve the second regional multiplex for reciprocity signals. Despite not yet having this multiplex activated, and without having the Catalonia reciprocity agreement, the governments of both communities signed a reciprocity agreement for the broadcast of IB3 in Catalonia and TV3 in the Balearic Islands. This agreement has not been without controversy since both signals arrive at a disadvantage by broadcasting only their own content, broadcasting series and documentaries on IB3 and connecting with channel 3/24 on TV3. In Catalonia the IB3 signal occupied the space left free by TV3HD when it was replaced by Canal Nou and in the Balearic Islands TV3 occupied the IBSat+30 signal, reserved for the second channel of IB3.

The autonomous city of Ceuta decided to give the space reserved for its second public channel to Canal Sur so that it could continue to be seen in the city, but this meant the loss of Canal Sur 2. For its part, the autonomous city of Melilla requested a second mux from the Government to broadcast the Canal Sur signal.

In Navarra, the regional government accepted reciprocity as long as ETB maintained the identity of Navarra in its news, because until then it was included in weather maps as part of the Basque Country, along with the BAC and the Country. French Basque. The result of the elections to the Basque Parliament in 2009 and the agreement between PSOE and PP to govern, could facilitate this agreement thanks to the reforms proposed by the agreement for ETB, among them, the demands of the Government of Navarra.

Payment issues

On April 8, 2009, the Council of Ministers, through the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, whose minister was Miguel Sebastián Gascón, announced the opening of the deadline for national private operators to request the modification of their television concessions, to offer paid content through the digital terrestrial service. This measure was supported by GIA La Sexta, through its shareholder Mediapro, and Antena 3 de Televisión (currently Atresmedia) mainly, and on the contrary, was rejected by Sogecable (later Prisa TV before its termination in 2015), owner of Cuatro and Digital+ (currently Movistar+ and no longer part of Grupo Prisa), which controls a large part of the private market, and by Telecinco, which requested a 5-year moratorium, to be able to acquire sports rights.

Even with all these reluctance on the part of some networks, both Antena 3, Veo Televisión S.A., and Telecinco, alluding that they do so in defense of their interests, and lastly SGT Net TV, joined GIA La Sixth and they requested to issue payment signals. In addition, the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Commerce announced that Prisa TV already has a paid broadcasting license in all its modalities and through all its digital channels, from the permission to broadcast the Cuatro channel openly.

Finally, and after several delays on the scheduled day, on August 13, 2009, the Council of Ministers approved authorizing paid DTT, by Royal Decree, and authorized the broadcast of an encrypted channel to each private operator, under the encryption system Nagravisión 3 This fact provoked a rapid reaction from Mediapro, a shareholder of GIA La Sexta, which, through the space until then used by Hogar 10, began broadcasting its premium channel Gol Televisión.

On the same day as the start of Gol Televisión, Dahlia announced an agreement with Sony Entertainment Television to broadcast the AXN channel on one of the frequencies of Veo Televisión S.A., specifically the one managed by Sony itself, Sony TV on Veo, since September 2009. Finally, Mediapro announced in April 2010 the launch of AXN by itself (instead of Dahlia as planned the previous year). This pay channel was launched on May 1, 2010, replacing Sony TV on Veo.

On August 23, 2010, Canal+ Dos began its broadcasts replacing 40 Latino. This channel was born thanks to Prisa TV when it obtained a channel in the Mediaset España multiplex to broadcast through digital terrestrial television nationwide after the merger between Gestevisión Telecinco and Sogecuatro. The space transferred to Prisa TV is managed entirely for pay broadcasts, through which Canal+ 2 broadcasts. Thus, 40 Latino became a pay channel with other content. On December 19, 2011, Canal+ Dos ceased its broadcasts on Digital Terrestrial Television due to the lack of success of Premium DTT and the modest number of subscribers that the Prisa network had. The channel was replaced on DTT by Energy, Mediaset España's free-to-air men's channel, although Canal+ 2 continued broadcasting through pay platforms until 2015, with the arrival of Movistar+.

Unregulated local emissions

In the 1990s, local stations began to proliferate illegally due to lack of regulation. The profile of these stations is very varied:

• Sporadic emissions during local holidays.
• Independent local emissors.
• Local emissaries linked to regional groups.
• National groups broadcasting through their network of local broadcasters.
• Commercial or advertising emissions without any local relationship.

With the implementation plan for digital terrestrial television, demarcations are established for local broadcasts and the corresponding licenses are awarded. Despite this, unregulated emissions continue to exist, in some cases due to the delay of the regional administrations in calling or resolving the corresponding tender and in other cases due to the informal nature or size of the issuer.

License waivers

The economic crisis of 2008-2009 also affected television in Spain. Dozens of local chains had to close, some for not receiving a digital license, and others due to the crisis itself.

Some companies even renounced their licenses, the most notable being those of PRISA, which renounced the autonomous concession in Andalusia on May 13, 2009, and later, at the end of the year, the rest of the concessions, returning the regional broadcasting licenses in Asturias and Extremadura, as well as the different local concessions in Catalonia and Aragon.

Also in Catalonia, Uniprex of the Antena 3 Group, renounced on April 27 the license granted in the Cornellà de Llobregat district (TL03B) of the province of Barcelona, for the broadcast of the Ver-T chain, accepted by the CAC on May 20, 2009.

Operator mergers

Due to the economic crisis of 2008-2009 and the decrease in advertising in the media, the Council of Ministers approved some urgent and liberalizing measures for the sector, in a decree law, in which the 5% limit of cross participations between shareholders of the networks, and a new one was established, which would allow having shares in up to two networks, as long as both did not exceed 27% audience share. With these measures, any combination, except for a merger between Gestevisión Telecinco and Grupo Antena 3, was possible.

Even before approval in Congress and the Senate, rumors and negotiations began between the 6 free-to-air television concessionaires, for possible future mergers.

Of all these rumors, only one ever had official confirmation, and it was the negotiation undertaken by Prisa TV and Imagina (Mediapro), reference shareholders of Cuatro and GIA La Sexta respectively, after the end of the second war of the football. And although everything seemed on track, and after several extensions of the deadline, on August 7, the negotiations were considered broken, thus beginning a new wave of rumors and contacts.

It was not until the last quarter of the year, when information began to appear about possible television mergers, although this time the protagonists were the two majority networks, with Gestevisión Telecinco in negotiations with Sogecable, and Antena 3 de Televisión with GIA La Sixth.

But it was on December 18, when PRISA and Mediaset, majority shareholders of Sogecable and Gestevisión Telecinco, presented an agreement to merge their free-to-air television activities. After this merger, Cuatro and its broadcast license were separated from Sogecable, giving rise to Sogecuatro, a company that was bought in its entirety by Gestevisión Telecinco, giving rise to Mediaset España. Along with this act, PRISA purchased newly issued shares of Mediaset España, 18% of the share capital of this company.

This agreement made Mediaset España the largest private television group in Spain by audience share, with the group having the following DTT channels: Telecinco, Cuatro, La Siete, Factoría de Ficción, Boing, Divinity, Energy and Nine, in addition to two high definition signals (Telecinco HD and Cuatro HD). Also, in the same operation, Mediaset España acquired 22% of the former pay television platform Digital+ from Prisa TV (current name of Sogecable). (See: Merger of Gestevisión Telecinco and Sogecuatro).

On the other hand, on December 14, 2011, the Spanish audiovisual groups that managed Antena 3 and La Sexta reached a merger agreement by which the Audiovisual Investment Manager La Sexta was integrated into the Antena 3 Group in exchange of 7% of the capital of the resulting company. However, it was not until July 13, 2012 when the National Competition Commission authorized the process, although imposing harsh conditions. However, on July 25, 2012, the Boards of Directors of the groups Grupo Antena 3 and Gestora de Inversiones Audiovisuales La Sexta met to see if they would continue with the merger process. On the other hand, one day after the meeting between both groups, GIA La Sexta ruled out the merger with the Antena 3 Group, explaining that it would continue to remain alone, and that therefore it ruled out the merger process with other operators. However, the Government softened the conditions imposed by Competition in the Council of Ministers held on Friday, August 24, 2012, justifying such a measure by equating them to those imposed two years earlier on Gestevisión Telecinco and Sogecuatro, which reopened the doors of the fusion. Finally, the Antena 3 Group officially confirmed on Wednesday, September 26, that it would go ahead with the merger operation with the Audiovisual Investment Manager La Sexta and indicated that on October 1, 2012 the merger would take place with the effective transfer of the business and the consequent takeover by the management of the Planeta chain.

The group ended up having a total of seven channels on terrestrial television in Spain and included two high definition signals from the main channels and a pay channel on a rental basis, which were Antena 3, La Sexta, Neox, Nova, Nitro, Xplora, La Sexta 3, Gol Televisión (pay channel), Antena 3 HD and La Sexta HD (after eliminating the channels) on DTT by law, and Gol Televisión in 2015 due to low audiences, the new channels Mega, Atreseries, and Gol Play were added (although the Gol channel license no longer belongs to Atresmedia, it is here because it is the successor of Gol Televisión), since all the channels are now in High Definition, they would remain at 7 television channels). On the other hand, on March 6, 2013, the Antena 3 Group was renamed Atresmedia. Thus, the group has its own identity that brings together its major areas of activity (television, radio, multimedia, advertising and cinema), as well as the rest of its brands. (See: Merger of Grupo Antena 3 and Gestora de Inversiones Audiovisuals La Sexta).

The «Analog Blackout»

The Council of Ministers on September 7, 2007 approved the definitive dates of the analogue blackout in Spain, advancing this date from the initially planned one, and the maximum limit authorized by the European Union, from 2012 to April 3, 2010, but In the end it was moved forward one day to April 2, 2010 to coincide with Good Friday. This is produced in 4 phases:

• Phase 0: Fonsagrada and Soria pilot projects. 1% of the population. Limit: 31 December 2008.
• Phase I: Population numbers with less than 500 000 inhabitants. 11.6% of the population. Limit: 30 June 2009.
• Phase II: Population numbers from 500 000 to 700 000 inhabitants. 19.8 per cent of the population. Limit: 31 December 2009.
• Phase III: Nucles of more than 700 000 inhabitants. 67.6 per cent of the population. Limit: 3 April 2010.

Phase 0 began in the municipality of Fonsagrada, in the province of Lugo, which became, on April 5, 2008, the first Spanish municipality where the analogue blackout was carried out. Next, in the province of Soria, on July 23, 2008, 51,026 inhabitants of 161 towns, in addition to the capital, stopped receiving analogue broadcasts from national channels according to the Soria TDT pilot project; The test covered approximately a third of the provincial area and was not complete since the broadcasts of local networks and regional television groups continued on their analog channels. At the time of the "blackout" pilot in Soria, the Junta de Castilla y León had not yet granted any DTT concession for local or regional channels.

Phase I began on June 27, 2009, with the forecast of analogue shutdown for more than 4 million citizens, starting in Cantabria, in the areas of Castro-Urdiales, Laredo and Santoña, and continuing in the days June 30 and July 22 in various locations in Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, the Canary Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Ceuta, the Valencian Community, Extremadura, the Balearic Islands, La Rioja, Madrid, Melilla, Murcia and Navarra.

Some of these projects were delayed, due to quality and coverage problems, beyond the limit set on June 30, 2009. These occurred during October in Palencia (Villamuriel de Cerrato), Zamora (north and center), Segovia (Navacerrada) and the part of Soria not turned off in Phase 0 and ended on October 31, 2009 with the shutdowns of Vitoria (Álava), Almonaster la Real (Huelva), Baza (Granada) and Cuevas de Almanzora (Almería).

Phase II began ahead of schedule on December 31, 2009. On December 10, the first performance of this phase took place in Monreal (Zones of Navarra, La Rioja, Zaragoza and Vitoria), followed by Manresa on the 14th. (Barcelona) and two areas of the Valencian Community, and 15 San Roque (Cádiz). Then, at the beginning of the year, most of the projects established for Phase II, ending with this phase on January 29, 2010, in which the demarcation of Redondal (Castilla y León) will close.

Phase III also advanced some projects to December 2009, which have the same or more coverage of digital television than analogue, and adequate implementation. Thus, on March 30, 2010, the analogue blackout was carried out throughout Spain, except in several municipalities that had to wait until April 3 to say goodbye definitively to the analog era.

Reallocation of frequencies and the "digital dividend"

After the analogue blackout, the numerous frequencies used provincially and locally in analogue broadcasts became available, which allowed the implementation of the reassignment to activate the planned number of multiplexes and thus ensure that each television station had one or two complete ones for their emissions. In April 2010, the General Law of Audiovisual Communication was published in the BOE, which completes the distribution, but also introduces substantial changes to the premises on which the Spanish DTT model had been based.

The transposition of the European directive on audiovisual communication services is incorporated. The so-called "digital dividend" establishes as of April 1, 2015 the reservation of frequencies between 794 and 862 MHz, channels 61 to 69, for other communications services. This means transferring the majority of current DTT emissions, readjusting the entire network of transmitters and forcing users to modify the configuration of their antennas again. The single frequency model is abandoned for the entire national territory, relocating the multiplexes on the basis of the frequencies used in the old analogue broadcasts, establishing as a reference criterion the use of the frequency with the greatest range or significance in each province. New multiplexes were immediately enabled in 2010, allowing all private channels to manage their own and thus increase the channel offering. TVE's new multiplex allows it to generalize broadcasts in high definition.

Second frequency reallocation and the "second digital dividend"

In 2019, the Spanish government carried out the final approval of the new National Technical Plan for DTT and the Execution Plan for the Liberation of the second digital dividend (700 MHz Band), which affected a part of the frequencies of the DTT (Channels 49 to 60), whose objective was for mobile telecommunications operators to access said band for the launch of 5G services in Spain before June 30, 2020. On April 12, 2019, the European Commission gave green light to the Government's plan that contemplated aid of up to 150 million euros for the neighboring communities, which had to carry out the restoration of DTT, understanding that they comply with the community rules on State aid. Likewise, the switching on of the frequencies and the simulcast signal should begin between the months of June and September 2019, foreseeably.

On the other hand, the draft Royal Decree of the new National Technical Plan for DTT includes among its most notable regulatory measures the following:

• The maintenance of all channels available in multiplex networks (RGE-1, RGE-2, MPE-1, MPE-2, MPE-3, MPE-4, MPE-5, MAUT and MAUTP (in the case of the autonomous community of Catalonia), as well as the multiplex networks of insular and local domains.
• Each multiplex network will be able to accommodate up to 4 channels in high definition. Operators will be able to keep the signals in standard definition during a transition period until 1 January 2023. From that date, whatever its coverage (national, autonomous, insular or local), they should all be issued in high definition. This measure has been postponed until 14 February 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The regulation of the technical requirements of the receivers, which should incorporate, from 24 inches, high-definition digital tuner, DVB-T2 and support HBBTV interactive services, is envisaged. The larger ultra-high-definition receivers (more than 40 inches), as well as incorporating high-definition TDT tuner and supporting HBBTV interactive services, will have to incorporate DVB-T2 and high-efficiency video encoding HEVC H.265.
• Measures are regulated for the implementation of more efficient transmission and encoding systems with the use of the radio spectrum, such as DVB-T2 and HEVC H.265 video encoding, to boost the promotional or regular emission of ultra-high DTT services.

New National Technical Plan for DTT for 2019 and release of the second digital dividend (700 MHz Band)

On June 21, 2019. The Council of Ministers approves two royal decrees to facilitate the development of 5G networks in Spain. With the first royal decree, a new National Technical Plan for digital terrestrial television (DTT) is approved and the release of the second digital dividend is regulated.

The second royal decree regulates the direct granting of subsidies intended to compensate for the costs derived from the adaptation of collective reception systems for audiovisual communication services.

The second digital dividend is a key process to allow the deployment of 5G networks, through the release of the 694-790 MHz band (hereinafter, 700 MHz band) of the radio spectrum, which is currently partially occupied by the DTT. This is a European project regulated by Decision (EU) 2017/899 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of May 17, 2017, which aims to guarantee a coordinated approach to the use of this band in the European Union.

The release of the second digital dividend had to end before June 30, 2020, thus complying with the calendar established by the European Union and with the roadmap published by the Ministry of Economy and Business on June 29, 2018. The Government called a public tender to assign that band to operators so that it can be available to offer 5G services before June 30, 2020.

Bet on 5G

As of that date, the 700 MHz band is available for the provision of services associated with fifth generation mobile telephony, within the National 5G Plan. This maintains the commitment to place Spain among the leading countries in the development of this technology, which will boost the competitiveness of the business fabric and facilitate the emergence of disruptive innovations, in line with what is proposed in the Agenda for Change.

The new National Technical Plan for DTT approved by the Council of Ministers identifies the radio channels used by television and replaces them with new radio channels in a lower band (470-694 MHz).

The Technical Plan maintains the offer of digital terrestrial television channels unchanged. Each digital multiplex, regardless of its coverage area, will have the capacity to integrate up to four high definition television channels.

The royal decree that approves the new National Technical Plan also establishes the technical procedure to proceed with the aforementioned transfer of channels, as well as the conditions for its continuity, and includes the technical specifications of digital terrestrial television broadcasts in high definition and ultra high definition.

A deadline is established – January 1, 2023 – by which all television channels must evolve to high definition and the technological adaptation of digital terrestrial television receiving devices is contemplated. This measure has been postponed until February 14, 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After a period of nine months has elapsed since the entry into force of the royal decree, the obligation is established for all devices placed on the Spanish market to include the capacity to receive broadcasts with DVB-T2 signal transmission technology., in addition to high definition broadcasts. The largest ones must be compatible with ultra high definition broadcasts and incorporate broadband connection capacity and HbbTV interactive services.

Public aid

The change in DTT frequencies implied an adaptation of the reception facilities in most of the national territory, in the same way that happened in 2015 with the process of releasing the 800 MHz band (first digital dividend). Individual homes were excluded from this adaptation, where only televisions must be retuned.

The Council of Ministers approved a royal aid decree that regulates the direct granting of subsidies worth 150 million euros to communities of owners for the adaptation of television reception facilities.

The amounts of the subsidy ranged between €104.3 and €677.95, depending on the previously installed infrastructure (programmable switchboard or single-channel amplifier module switchboard). These aid could be requested from September 19, 2019 to September 30, 2020, electronically from the public company Red.es, by the communities of owners, through the property manager or the telecommunications installation company that will carry out the work of adapting the building's television reception installation to the second digital dividend.

The Government's objective was to minimize the impact of the process on citizens, as well as on the operators and the group of audiovisual communication service providers, who have been informed of it at all times. The deployment will be developed in full coordination with neighboring countries, not only with those belonging to the European Union, subject to the same process, but also with Morocco and Algeria.

Process calendar

The dates for the start of simulcast broadcasts (six-month period) are detailed below:

• July 2019:
  • Wednesday 24 July in Mallorca, Ibiza, Formentera and Cáceres.
  • Friday, July 26 in Huelva.

• September 2019:
  • Wednesday, 18 September in Albacete, Álava, Badajoz East, Huesca, Teruel, Zaragoza North, Zaragoza South, Vizcaya East, Vizcaya West, Córdoba North, Córdoba South and Guipúzcoa.
  • Monday, 30 September in Almería Norte, Almeria sur, Granada East and Granada West.

• Thursday, 14 November 2019:
  • Tenerife.
  • Strong.
  • Guadalajara.
  • Gran Canaria North and Gran Canaria South.
  • Madrid.
  • Tarragona north and Tarragona south.
  • North and south ridge.
  • Gerona.

• 20 January 2020: Delivering the latest simultaneous emissions in the final frequencies (period of six months) (date confirmed by the General Subdirectorate for Planning and Management of Radioelectric Spectrum of the Ministry of Economy and Enterprise):
  • Ciudad Real
  • Pontevedra

• 17 February 2020 (date confirmed by the General Subdirectorate for Planning and Management of Radioelectric Spectrum of the Ministry of Economy and Enterprise):
  • Alicante.
  • Avila.
  • Badajoz west.
  • North Burgos and South Burgos.
  • Cantabria.
  • Castellón.
  • Cadiz East and Cadiz West.
  • Cuenca.
  • Real City.
  • Jaén.
  • Lion this.
  • Melilla.
  • Murcia sur.
  • West Rioja.
  • Ourense.
  • Palencia.
  • Pontevedra.
  • Salamanca.
  • Seville.
  • Valencia.
  • Zamora.

• June 2020: Scope of coverage equal to or greater than existing as at 31 December 2018. Deferred to 31 October 2020.

• Due to the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the completion of the 700 MHz band release process (Second Digital Dividend) was postponed as at 31 October 2020.

• 30 September 2020: Offset of simultaneous emissions (old frequencies) in all Geographical Areas, which had begun process on 14 November 2019, 20 January 2020 and 17 February 2020 respectively.

• October 31, 2020: Turn off the latest old frequencies located in the 700 MHz band (channels 49 to 60). Completion of the process.

The second digital dividend (2020)

The second digital dividend, which ended on October 31, 2020, left channels 49 to 60, inclusive, unused for DTT to make room for new 5G services. With this digital dividend, the number of television channels broadcast nationally, regionally, insularly and locally was not reduced, so the audiovisual offer will remain with the same current plurality.

In addition, those national television channels with regional disconnection capacity maintained this characteristic. Likewise, the regional channels with provincial disconnection capacity were able to continue providing disconnection service as before.

The second digital dividend forced television operators to move their digital terrestrial broadcasts to frequencies that are outside the range of channels 49 to 60 if they were using them.

This is a European project regulated by Decision (EU) 2017/899 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of May 17, 2017, which aims to guarantee a coordinated approach to the use of this band in the European Union.

Platform

DTT allows an improvement in the quality of reception and expands the available offer both in number of channels and in system versatility: broadcast with multichannel sound, multiple audio signals, teletext, EPG (electronic program guide), radio channels, interactive services, panoramic image, etc.

Technology

In Spain the technology used for digital television broadcasting is the DVB-T standard. It operates in the UHF band, on MFN frequencies. Modulation is done using 64QAM and the bandwidth of each channel is 8 MHz. The carrier wave type is 8k.

Standard Definition (SD)

DTT in standard definition (SD) is broadcast by compressing the video with the MPEG-2 standard to a definition of 576i, corresponding to the PAL analog format. This is the same system used in DVD-Video, although with a somewhat lower image quality, due to the degree of compression applied (at a bit rate of about 3900 Kbps). The sound is generally encoded with MP2, at 192 Kbps. Spanish DTT technical data

High definition (HD)

DTT in high definition HDTV uses the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video compression standard, at a resolution of 720p or 1080i, for viewing on devices labeled as HD ready or Full HD. The use of interlaced scanning (1080i) instead of Blu-ray or HD DVD progressive (1080p) is due to the limitations of the bandwidth available in broadcasting. However, there is the case of the Fibracat TV channel, which uses progressive scanning in 1080p resolution at 50 Hz for its broadcasts on the regional DTT of Catalonia.

For audio (which includes support for multichannel sound) the system defined by the MPEG-4 Part 3 (HE-AAC) standard or proprietary codecs such as Dolby Digital (AC-3) or Dolby Digital Plus (EAC) can be used. -3).

Television of Catalonia (TV3 HD) and the autonomous Television of Aragon (Aragón 2 HD) were the pioneers in broadcasting (in tests) in Spain in high definition, with Television of Catalonia being the first to broadcast on April 23, 2007 and later the Regional Television of Aragon on April 25 of that same year.

DTT HD broadcasts can only be viewed if you have a suitable decoder; Standard decoders cannot tune/decode HD broadcasts. In 2010, televisions that incorporated it began to become popular. These allowed you to watch broadcasts in analogue, in standard definition digital terrestrial and in high definition digital terrestrial thanks to the fact that they incorporate several decoders.

National channels in high definition

Regional channels in high definition

1. ↑ Evidence, with an adjustment letter.

Ultra high definition

Ultra high definition DTT (UHDTV) uses the second generation digital terrestrial transmission standard DVB-T2 and efficient HEVC H.265 or VC-1 video coding, which use only half the bit rate on the video track compared to MPEG-2, MPEG-4 or H.264/AVC.

DTT broadcasts in ultra high definition 4K can only be seen if you have a television with a DVB-T2 tuner and an efficient HEVC H.265 video decoder. Standard decoders cannot tune/decode ultra high definition broadcasts. Since 2014, DVB-T2 televisions that incorporated it began to become popular. These allow you to watch DTT broadcasts, in standard definition SD and high definition HD, under the DVB-T and DVB-T2 standard. In addition to allowing you to watch DTT broadcasts in High Definition HD and ultra high definition 4K, under the DVB-T2 standard with efficient HEVC H.265 video support.

Since March 26, 2020, in Spain, by law all new televisions sold must be equipped with the second generation DVB-T2 signal transmission standard.

To allow and encourage a technological renewal of the television fleet. That allows, starting in 2024, DTT in Spain to make the leap to the DVB-T2 standard, coexisting broadcasts in High Definition HD and allowing the consolidation and extension of broadcasts in ultra high definition 4K.

National channels in Ultra High Definition (UHD)

• The active ultra-high definition 4K emissions are currently:

Regional channels in ultra high definition

• The active ultra-high definition 4K emissions are currently:

Digital multiples

A digital multiple is the signal composed to transmit a channel or radio frequency and that, by using digital technology, allows the incorporation of the signals corresponding to several television channels and the signals corresponding to various associated services and communication services. electronic communications.

The digital terrestrial television service with state coverage is provided through the capacity of seven digital multiples specified in the National Technical Plan for digital terrestrial television, which correspond to five digital multiples based on the RGE1, RGE2, MPE1, MPE2 and MPE3 that were already being exploited, and with two new digital multiplexes MPE4 and MPE5.

• The Spanish Radio and Television Corporation will continue with the exploitation of the digital multiple of state coverage RGE1 (Global State Coverage Network -1) and half of the capacity of the digital multiple of state coverage RGE2, for the provision of the public television audiovisual communication service.
• The licensees of the state-of-the-art television audiovisual communication service will exploit the television channels to enable their licenses through the capacity of the three multiple MPE1, MPE2, MPE3, MP4 and MP5, as well as half the capacity of the digital multiple RGE2.
• Each of the Autonomous Communities in its corresponding territorial area is reserved for the digital multiple of MAUT autonomic coverage specified in the National Technical Plan of Digital Terrestrial Television. In the case of Catalonia, it will maintain two multiple digital.

Channels

A television channel or digital channel is the set of television programs organized within a programming schedule that the public cannot alter.

During planning, the government established five different types of canals. The national channels, granted by the Government of Spain, the island channels, only for overseas communities, which are delimited to an island (two in the case of Ibiza-Formentera), and are granted by the Government of the Canary Islands and the Government of the Balearic Islands, the autonomous channels and the local channels, granted by the autonomous governments, and finally, the so-called third sector channels, granted by the Ministry of Industry, after their approval in the Senate.

National channels

The national channels and stations broadcast throughout the country through seven shared multiplexers (RGE1, RGE2, MPE1, MPE2, MPE3, MPE4 and MPE5), under a concession received by the Government of Spain through the Ministry of Industry. As of February 23, 2021, the number of national channels is 34 (23 conventional and 12 in high definition), while the number of national stations is 23, except for Catalonia where Ràdio 4 also broadcasts.

During the period between the start of DTT broadcasts on November 30, 2005, until the end of the transition period from analog to digital on April 3, 2010, six private audiovisual companies, in addition to the public entity of RTVE television, had a national broadcasting license. In 2000, five digital licenses were granted: Grupo Antena 3, Sogecable and Gestevisión Telecinco, which already had an analog license through the Private Television Law, and Veo Televisión and Net TV, for broadcast exclusively in digital. In 2005, the sixth license was granted to Gestora de Inversiones Audiovisuales La Sexta, on the occasion of the launch of the National TDT Technical Plan, also granting it provisional analogue frequencies. These six companies were reduced to four after the mergers between Gestevisión Telecinco and Sogecuatro (2009) and Grupo Antena 3 and Gestora de Inversiones Audiovisuales La Sexta (2011).

1. ↑ Available from 15/02/2024 in the RGE-2 multiplex
2. ↑ Only available in Catalonia.
3. ↑ It currently broadcasts TVE 4K and Canal Sur 4K programming.
4. ↑ Emision re-scalated to UHD from the signal of The 1 HD, with the emission of some native content produced in UHD-4K.
5. ↑ Emision UHD in SDR, with the issuance of Documentaries produced in UHD-4K, by the partners of UHD Spain.

Regional channels

Autonomous channels are regional stations that broadcast in a regional area, that is, in an Autonomous Community.

The main regional media in Spain are public and managed by its government. A large part of these arose from the Third Television Channel Law promoted by the Government of Felipe González. The first regional television to broadcast was the Basque ETB 1 in 1982. On the other hand, the new generation television stations were born at the same time as DTT, thanks to the increase in radio space. In total there are 15 public autonomous entities (13 autonomous communities together with the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla).

The public regional channels are associated in the Federation of Regional Radio and Television Organizations (FORTA) with the exception of the Extremadura Audiovisual Media Corporation, Radio Television of Ceuta and RTV Melilla.

Of the 17 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities in Spain, only Castilla y León, Cantabria, La Rioja and Navarra do not have public regional television.

In addition to the public channels, there is a significant number of private regional channels, which are increasing due to the implementation of DTT in Spain. All autonomous communities have granted private channels, with the exception of Aragon and the Basque Country. Cantabria has not yet resolved this contest.

In 2010, Vocento launched La 10 on DTT, a national network of private regional television stations 'FORTA style'. In September 2010, this regional network began broadcasting nationally under the brand 'La 10'.

Each autonomous community has received between 1 and 2 multiplexes for the broadcast of both public and private channels, with the exception of Catalonia, which had received 3 until 2014, with the subsequent application of the First Digital Dividend. These multiplexes have provincial frequencies, therefore, they allow disconnections in each province.

On October 26, 2014, as a consequence of the application of the First Digital Dividend (800 MHz Band), for the deployment and implementation of 4G in Spain. The second regional mux was closed in all the autonomous communities (except Catalonia) and all the channels that were broadcasting there were switched to the first regional mux, which from that day on was renamed MAUT. Only in Catalonia they currently have two autonomous mux.

In 2023, the regional television stations of: Extremadura and Cantabria still have to be broadcast in High Definition.

1. ↑ Only available in Seville, Malaga and Cordoba.
2. ↑ Temporary resignation.
3. ↑ In tests since 2012, emitting a fixed image with the sound of RPA.
4. ↑ Through the local TDT frequencies of VegaVision, Here TV, Cantabria TV and TCB television broadcasts the Cantabria 7 Television television channel today.
5. ↑ Only available in provincial capitals.
6. ↑ Available soon (before 2024).

Extinct national channels

Extinct regional channels

Island canals

Insular channels are regional television stations that broadcast in an insular area, that is, on an island.

These channels are exclusive to the autonomous communities of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands and have each of the islands in their territory as their demarcation, with the exception of the islands of Formentera and Ibiza, which make up a single demarcation.

Both Governments have decided to grant half a multiplex to public local channels, thus releasing local licenses only for private stations.

Canary Islands

Balearic Islands

Local channels

Local channels are regional stations that broadcast locally. This area has been determined by the Government of Spain in the National TDT Technical Plan, although the concessions are the responsibility of the autonomous communities.

Each autonomous government has decided how to grant these concessions. In the majority of autonomies, a minimum of one signal has been reserved for exploitation by the municipalities included in that demarcation, with the exception of the Balearic and Canary Islands because these have been located in the island licenses, and the Basque Country, where the municipalities had to participate in the contest, along with the private ones, and where finally, only the San Sebastián city council will have a license.

Andalusia

Aragon

Asturias

Balearic Islands

Canary Islands

Cantabria

Castilla-La Mancha

Castile and León

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i k l m n ñ o p Next.

Catalonia

Ceuta

Community of Madrid

Valencian Community

Extremadura

Galicia

La Rioja

Melilla

Murcia

Navarra

Province of Navarre

Demarcation	Television channels	Channels TV HD	Radio channels	Red	Canal	Frequency
Estella	ETB 3			TL01NA	24	498 MHz
Pamplona	Hamaika Telebista Iruindarra Telebista Xaloa Telebista ETB 3			TL02NA	39	610 MHz
Sangüesa	ETB 3			TL03NA	45	666 MHz
Tafalla	Area Media TV 30 TV ETB 3			TL04NA	31	554 MHz
Tudela	ETB 3			TL05NA	39	618 MHz

Basque Country

Third sector channels

The so-called third sector channels are the channels that the Senate recognized as historical proximity channels, which have a cultural, educational, ethnic or social interest in a specific community.

To access this qualification, the entity responsible for this channel cannot be the direct or indirect owner of any television concession of any coverage. In addition, advertising and teleshopping are prohibited, but sponsorships in programs are not.

With this qualification, the Government expected that around twenty channels, including the oldest TV Cardedeu and the Madrid-based Tele K and Canal 33, would receive a concession for broadcasting on DTT before the blackout that had already taken place.

Pending the final regulation of these channels, the Generalitat of Catalonia has granted permission to Vilassar TV to broadcast exclusively in the municipality of Vilassar de Mar, since it is one of the channels that meets the conditions imposed by the Senate, along with the already named TV Cardedeu and the local stations of Vilanova del Vallés (TV Vilanova) and Vilanova del Camí (TVVilanova).

Audience analysis

Audience analysis in Spain is currently managed by Sofres Audiencia de Medios, a subsidiary of the international Taylor Nelson Sofres, through the audiometer system.

This system was born in 1986 when Spanish Radio Television decided that the General Media Study system was outdated and should be modernized, since this was a quarterly study and by surveys, and RTVE aspired to use the standard European system. These data, which were initially going to be for internal consideration, the regional channels pressured for the data to be public. Thus, in March 1986, RTVE chose ECOTEL for this study.

Years later, in 1989, Media Control was born, owned by Sofres, which aspired to be a direct competitor of ECOTEL, just when the new terrestrial television channels were going to begin in Spain. Coexistence was unsustainable, given the disparity of data using the same systems, and in April 1993 Media Control absorbed ECOTEL and the current Sofres Audiencia de Medios was formed, which from that moment measures national television audiences, without competition.

Although, in 2000 Infortécnica created the Audience Portal, a much more detailed study for local media than that of Sofres, which does not detail local or municipal results with an acceptable degree of reliability.

The annual audiences (share) of the main national channels are detailed below:

a: Antena 3 began broadcasting on January 25, 1990.
b: Canal+ 1 began broadcasting on September 14, 1990.
c: Telecinco began broadcasting on March 3, 1990.
d: Cuatro replaced Canal+ 1 on November 7, 2005.
e: La Sexta began broadcasting on March 27, 2006, although its audiences were not measured until April 1, 2006.

The annual audiences of the main general and thematic DTT channels since 2005 are detailed below:

a: La 10 began broadcasting in 2010 in several autonomous regions as a rival to FORTA, but since September of the same year it began broadcasting nationally. The channel ceased broadcasting on January 1, 2012 to give way to Paramount Channel on March 30, 2012 after a Teletienda period.
b: Net TV ended its broadcasts on March 3, 2008, to make way for Intereconomía, it began as one of the large national generalist networks in 2008. The channel ceased its broadcasts on February 13, 2014 to give way to La Tienda en Casa on February 14, 2014.
c: Veo Televisión began as one of the large national generalist networks in 2010 after the analog blackout. Likewise, it temporarily ceased its broadcasts on July 1, 2011 until its return on September 12 of the same year. The channel ceased broadcasting on January 1, 2012 on Discovery Max.
d: 13 TV began as one of the large national generalist networks in 2010 after the reassignment of frequencies by the government.
e:Energy began as a national thematic channel in 2012 using the frequency of Canal+ 2 after its closure on DTT to broadcast exclusively on the Canal+ satellite television platform.
f: Discovery Max began as a national thematic network in 2012 through the frequency of Veo Televisión after its closure.
g: Paramount Channel began as a national thematic network in 2012 through the frequency of La 10 after its closure and, since June 10, 2018, it changed its brand to Paramount Network.< br/> h: Nueve began as a national thematic chain in 2013 through the frequency that La Tienda en Casa occupied in a Mediaset España multiplex.
i: Nitro, Xplora, laSexta3, LaSiete, Nueve, Intereconomía, MTV, La Tienda en Casa and AXN ceased their DTT broadcasts between February 7 and May 6, 2014, as a consequence a ruling from the Supreme Court of Justice that annulled its broadcasting concessions for having been granted without the mandatory public tender that governs the Audiovisual Law.
j: Mega began as a national thematic network in 2015 through the frequency occupied by Gol Televisión in an Atresmedia multiplex.
k: Xplora began broadcasting in 2012, replacing La Sexta 2.
l: FDF began broadcasting in 2008, replacing Telecinco Estrellas.
m: Telecinco 2 began broadcasting in 2008, replacing Telecinco Sport.
n: La Siete began broadcasting in 2009, replacing Telecinco 2.
ñ: GH 24 began broadcasting in 2010 after closing after 12 years on CNN+.
o: Divinity began broadcasting in 2011, replacing GH 24.
p: Canal+ 2 began broadcasting on August 23, 2010, replacing 40 Latino.
q: La Tienda en Casa replaced Canal Club on April 1, 2011. The channel continued its broadcasts until December 31, 2012, when it was replaced by Nueve.
r: Disney Channel began broadcasting in 2008, replacing Fly Music.
s: Sony TV ceased its free-to-air broadcasts to make way for AXN on pay DTT, on May 1, 2010.
t: Hogar 10 began broadcasting on July 31, 2007, replacing Telehit.
u: Gol Television began broadcasting on August 14, 2009, replacing Hogar 10.
v: Promo TV gave its space to Canal Club on June 1, 2009.