Chronology 1982-1990
Chronology 1982- 1990
1982
29 September. The Executive Council of the Catalan government approved the Bill whose purpose was to found the public Catalan Broadcasting Corporation (Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals, CCMA), then Corporació Catalana de Ràdio i Televisió, and regional radio and television broadcasting services. The passage of the Bill through parliament was marked by cross-party consensus. The final Founding Act was passed in Parliament’s Plenary Assembly on 18 May, 1983 and the Act was published in the Official Gazette (DOGC) on 14 June, 1983.
1983
The first stone of Televisió de Catalunya’s studios in Sant Joan Despí was laid and premises were acquired at Diagonal, 614 in Barcelona to house the studios of Catalunya Ràdio.
Pere Cuxart, appointed Director General of CCMA, and Alfons Quintà confirmed as director of the Third Channel, which had already started functioning.
The Catalan Government awards the contracts for the design and construction management for the Third Channel’s headquarters to the Cast company. Jaume Ferrús joins the project. TV3’s first facilities were set up in Numància Street in Barcelona. This was where the first steps were made to produce and direct programs.
20 June. Catalunya Ràdio starts broadcasting.
26 July. Broadcast of Catalunya Ràdio’s first news bulletin: the death of Charlie Rivel. Start of hourly news bulletins and news programs.
Start of hourly news bulletins and news programs.
Catalunya Ràdio’s first sports transmission, coinciding with the Joan Gamper Championship.
Constitution of the first CCMA Board of Management.
Tibidabo broadcast center starts transmitting the TV3 test card from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
10 September. TV3’s first trial broadcast. The first program, coordinated by Lluís M. Güell, was presented by Àngels Moll and Joan Pera. Jordi Pujol, President of the Catalan government, read a message stressing the importance of the new communication media as a tool for restoring the Catalan language to its rightful place in public life.
October. Catalunya Ràdio begins regular broadcasts.
Constitution of Televisió de Catalunya, SA (TVC), subsidiary of CCMA, whose responsibilities are detailed in the CCMA Statute.
TVC signs a contract with the Barcelona Football Club for the exclusive retransmission of the club’s matches, especially football and basketball games. A similar contract is signed with RCD Espanyol.
26 December. Congress approves the Law Regulating the Third Channel.
1984
16 January. TV3 starts regular broadcasts.
Catalunya Ràdio is the first station in Europe to report the death of Soviet leader Iuri Andropov.
Catalunya Ràdio reaches 80% of the territory and 90% of the population.
2 April. The radio station RAC 105 starts broadcasting.
1985
TV3 reaches Andorra, Northern Catalunya and Valencia.
1986
Catalunya Ràdio opens regional branch offices and TVC inaugurates new headquarters in Sant Joan Despí.
Founding of FORTA (Organization of Regional Radio and Television Broadcasters), with TV3, the Basque Euskal Telebista and Galician TGV-TV as its first members.
1987
May 10. Catalunya Música starts broadcasting.
Start of TV3 broadcasts in stereo-Dual broadcast system.
1988
Broadcasting starts for the Vall d’Aran with the program “Meddia Aranés”.
10 September. Broadcasting starts for the Vall d’Aran with the program “Meddia Aranés”.
Satellite transmissions from K-2 in the Himalaya.
1989
TV3 opens branch offices in Tarragona, Girona and Lleida and creates County News, local news programs from the TVC News Department. Catalunya Ràdio starts disconnections with its regional offices in Girona, Lleida and Tarragona.
First TVC broadcast of a film with the story related for the vision-impaired, and start of stereo broadcasts.
Catalunya Ràdio is audience leader in Catalonia for the first time.
The group of regional radio and television broadcasters (a total of eight networks) create FORTA (Federation of Radio and Television Organizations).
1990
Inauguration of TV3’s teletext service: Teleservice.
First broadcast of a feature film subtitled for the hearing-impaired.
First broadcast of Regional News in Aranese.
RDS data transmission system used for the first time by Catalunya Ràdio.
Chronology 1991-1995
1991
Catalunya Ràdio sends a large number of special correspondents to cover the Gulf War.
11 February. Founding of Club Super3.
1992
24 July. The Olympic Channel, a joint network of TVC and TVE, starts broadcasting on Canal 33’s frequency, providing coverage of the Barcelona Olympic Games.
11 September. Catalunya Informació, the 24-hour news radio station, starts broadcasting.
19 December. First edition of TV3 Telethon—La Marató de TV3—devoted to leukemia.
1993
TV3’s first broadcast in Dolby Surround.
Adoption of Windows by CCMA and its subsidiary companies to replace DOS and other operating systems.
1994
Catalunya Informació uses the digital audio system for the first time in Spain.
First broadcasts in Pal Plus, the system backed by the European Union.
Start of a computing system migration from a host-based environment to an open one.
1995
Jordi Vilajoana is appointed Director General of CCMA as successor to Joan Granados.
Founding of Principal d’Edicions, SA, CCMA’s music publishing company.
Transmission of football match number 1,000 presented in Catalan by Joaquim Maria Puyal.
Digital audio system adopted at Catalunya Ràdio.
First TVC and Catalunya Ràdio satellite transmission.
Chronology 1996-2000
1996
Start of Catalunya Ràdio website, www.catradio.cat.
Creation of TV3 Telethon Foundation (Fundació La Marató de TV3).
Inauguration of TVC Online, Televisió de Catalunya’s website.
First broadcasts by RAC 105 and Catalunya Música in DAB.
1997
Start of TVC Sat transmissions to Spain on Via Digital.
Start of TVC Internacional transmissions to Europe via ASTRA free-to-air satellite.
Catalunya Ràdio broadcasts its four channels on a digital platform for the first time and becomes member of the Managing Board of the Digital Radio Forum.
Catalunya Ràdio and TVC join forces in the transmission of the match between the national all-star teams of Catalonia and Bulgaria with images provided by TV3 and Joaquim Maria Puyal as announcer.
Constitution of TVC Multimedia and launch of Meteo and Teletiempo weather channels.
Internet installed at CCMA and subsidiary companies. All users are equipped with E-mail addresses and Web browsers to surf the net, in-house E-mail networks are connected, and a corporate web page offering a range of services is created.
1998
Catalunya Música adopts a digital audio system.
Start of TVC digital terrestrial and multiplex transmissions.
11 September. TVC Internacional starts satellite broadcasts to America.
RAC 105 leaves the Catalunya Ràdio broadcasting group.
First interactivity tests for digital television and launch of interactive services for Sogecable and Via Digital.
1999
Start of CCRTV General Services.
Start of TVC Multimedia.
2 February. Catalunya Cultura starts transmissions.
31 March. End of weather channel, Teletiempo.
Start of DTT trial broadcasts and first transmissions of interactive services: airport information.
2000
First transmissions of interactive services in MHP.
CCRTV Interactiva founded.
TVC Multimedia creates a program for automatic generation of multi-lingual texts.
Chronology 2001-2005
2001
January. CCRTV Interactiva starts functioning.
Antoni Bassas’ morning radio program, “El matí de Catalunya Ràdio”, is broadcast live to a full house at the National Theater of Catalonia (TNC) for the first time. The following year Toni Clapés would do the same with his program “Versió original”.
23 April. Re-structuring of Canal 33: start of K3 broadcasts.
7 May. Re-structuring of Canal 33 completed: Start of channel 33 broadcasts.
First CCMA video streaming broadcast: premiere of the drama series ”El cor de la ciutat” on Internet, the day before its premiere on TVC.
TVC Multimedia launches Automatic TV, a platform for the automatic publication of TV contents, at the Milia Fair in Cannes.
CCRTV General Services’ Corporate Management Board outsources some of its activities to an external company. Activa3® is the new company through which CCMA offers its experience in developing management systems for the audiovisual industry to other companies and TV broadcasters, mainly in Spain and Europe.
CCMA General Services, in collaboration with TVC’s engineering department, starts to design its own digital audiovisual production and archiving system for TVC (DigitionSuite).
2002
Big deployment of correspondents to cover the war in Afghanistan.
Premiere of the game Shin-Chan, the first multi-platform interactive came in Catalan based on TVC characters.
First broadcasts of DTT interactive services, resulting from the joint efforts of TVC, Activa 3, TVC Multimedia and CCRTV Interactiva.
Creation of TVC’s news portal, www.telenoticies.cat, and Catalunya Ràdio’s, www.catalunyainformacio.cat, with a portal for the latest news from the 41 Catalan counties.
TVC’s teletext service is redesigned. TVCText offers a dynamic program guide and the premiere of Chat, a new service aimed at young audiences that allows them to publish SMS messages from their cell phones in real time on the Teletext.
Launch of www.ritmes.net, CCMA’s music contents portal, giving special attention to Catalan music.
TVC Multimedia is the first in Spain to develop interactive DTT applications in MHP.
2003
Dalet Plus, a digital editing system connecting text, audio, agencies and Internet, is adopted at Catalunya Ràdio.
Launch of first sports portal in Catalan: www.elsesports.net.
Live Internet transmission of the arrival of Catalan mountaineer Sergi Mingote on Everest. Real-time images were seen around the world on CCMA’s portal www.elsesports.net.
News portals telenoticies.cat and catalunyainformacio.cat available for cell phones in SMS message or multimedia format.
Launch of Micromarkets pilot project to test and define future DTT interactive applications.
Launch of multi-platform (Internet, TV, mobile phones) game Espai8 on the youth portal www.3xl.net. In just a few months it became a media hit, with 23,000 active players and around 500 messages sent in daily to the forums created to this end.
TVC Multimedia’s Automatic TV adopted in France and Portugal.
In-depth re-structuring of TVC management systems for program production, acquisitions and rights control, and transmission and continuity.
Centralized storage of main systems into a single disc system connected to servers through SAN (Storage Area Network).
Agreements reached with the Film Archive Library of Catalonia and the Parliament of Catalonia to offer services to digitalize audiovisual contents.
11 September. 3/24 starts broadcasting, TVC’s 24-hour news channel.
2004
October 24. TV3’s programme “30 minuts” celebrates its 20th anniversary.
The European Foundation for Quality Management’s excellence model for a management of quality starts being implanted at the CCMA and its subsidiary companies.
Launch of Televisió de Catalunya’s new portal, www.tv3.cat.
Innovative new design of CCMA’s youth portal www.3xl.net, unlike anything else on the web. Its outstanding modular structure gives visitors more interactivity and the chance to manage contents.
TVC is the first network in the country to broadcast via third-generation cell phones in UMTS technology.
Premiere of “TV3alacarta”, that allows viewers to watch, over the Internet and at any time of the day, live broadcasts of all TVC channels and of many archived broadcasts, through broadband connection (ADSL and cable).
Launch of multi-platform (Internet, TV, cell phones) game “Ja tenim equip” on the Internet portal www.elsesports.net.
2005
February. The CCMA takes part in the first pilot test of DVB-H held in the Spanish state, within the framework of the 3GSM World Congress.
May 7. The Catalan and Balearic governments, together with their respective radio and television corporations, sign an agreement for the reception of IB3 in Catalonia and to maintain and improve the reception of TV3 and Canal 33 in the Balearic Islands.
June 2. The CCMA and TVC Multimèdia organise the first One-day Conference on Service TV. In it, the future of the public information services on television, and its possible applications within the DTT, are analysed.
July 1. The CCMA starts digitalising the historical archive of Catalunya Ràdio and TVC.
July 15. The CCMA launches the Servei Català del Doblatge (Catalan Dubbing Services), through which TV3 undertakes to dub foreign films to be premiered in commercial cinemas and make them over to distributors for free.
September 11. Activa Multimèdia Digital, the company resulting from the merger of Activa3 and TVC Multimèdia, is presented at the IBC Amsterdam fair, with the idea of becoming the centre of R+D+D of the CCMA and transfer its technological know-how to the sector.
October 6. Activa Multimèdia introduces Sam, the world’s first virtual and automatic weatherperson.
Launch of Canal 300, a new channel exclusively devoted to fiction (series and cinema) for DTT.
Full digitalisation is reached of the newsroom of TVC’s news services.
Catalunya Ràdio and Radio France Internationale agree to work together to create the first FM network of European information radios, a European project that brings together public and private radio stations from Poland, Portugal, Italy and Belgium.
November 3. Launch of TV3i, Televisió de Catalunya’s universe of interactive services for DTT.
Chronology 2006-2010
2006
January 20. The CCMA undertakes to conduct a more sustainable business practice by means of an agreement to promote “Corporate Social Responsibility” signed with trade unions UGT and CCOO, and with the Trade Union of Journalists of Catalonia.
February 3. The Generalitat (Catalan Autonomous Government) and the CCMA reach an agreement to make it possible for Catalans living abroad to see Televisió de Catalunya’s programmes on the Internet, through the TV3alacarta portal.
February 9. Ésadir, the CCMA ’s language assessment website, is launched. Its aim is to provide a permanent support in Catalan linguistic issues to other media, universities, translators or schools.
February 17. The CCMA adopts the “.cat” domain for its websites and portals.
March 23. The CCMA is the first audiovisual group to obtain the European Bronze Seal to quality in business management, a recognition awarded by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).
April 22. First broadcasts of iCat fm, Catalunya Ràdio’s first station designed to be heard on the radio and the Internet, with a la carte access to various channels and musical content.
June 7. The Pope greets TVC in Catalan to congratulate it for the 20 years on the air of the religious programme "Signes del temps".
June 29. The programme "Temps d’aventura" starts offering a new, free of charge service of video downloads on the Internet (podcast).
June 19. TVC presents the first interactive game for the DTT: “De 2 en 2”.
October 9. 5430, the CCMA ’s Service of Attention to the Viewer and the Listener, is launched. It is an new channel within the reach of citizens where any questions, complaints or suggestions about TVC, Catalunya Ràdio or the Fundació La Marató can be made.
November 27. TVC extends its DTT signal coverage to more than 90% of the population, with the launch of 21 new broadcasting centres.
November 31. TV3 broadcasts for the first time a Dolby Digital 5.1 film through the DTT.
2007
January 18. Catalunya Informació launches the broadcast of a news bulletin in Aranese.
February 5. Club Súper 3 reaches one million members (els súpers).
February 9. iCat fm, the radio and internet station, starts broadcasting to mobile phones at a test stage.
February 14. TV3 incorporates audiodescription for the blind at "La gran pel·lícula" in its DTT broadcasts.
April 23. Launch of Televisió de Catalunya’s high definition broadcasts, at an experimental stage, through DTT.
May 10. Celebration of the 20 years of Catalunya Música.
Celebration of the 10 years of the technological company Activa Multimèdia Digital, with an exhibition at Barcelona’s Palau Robert, “Get activated: Come into the Future Radio and Television”.
September 11. Celebration to mark the 15 years of Catalunya Informació.
October 1. Launch of Edu3.cat, a new educational portal that gathers the didactic materials produced by Televisió de Catalunya, Catalunya Ràdio and the Catalan Ministry of Education.
October 3. The Parliament of Catalonia passes the new law of the Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals, which phases out the old name of Corporació Catalana de Ràdio i Televisió (Catalan Broadcasting Corporation).
October 17. The first course of Locution Applied to Advertising (CLAP) is held, a joint initiative by the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the CCMA. The Méteo channel celebrates its 10 years of broadcastings.
Catalunya Informació can be heard from all stops of the Trambaix Barcelona tramway system.
iCat fm launches a version of the web that is accessible for the deaf or blind.
December 12. 3cat24.cat, TV3’s and Catalunya Ràdio’s new portal of continued information is launched.
December 20. iCat fm launches Mediterràdio, the first Internet channel devoted to Mediterranean culture and music.
2008
The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) acknowledges the quality of the CCMA’s business management and grants it the European Excellence 400+ level -- formerly known as the Silver Seal.
Televisió de Catalunya promotes the 16:9 format.
The headlines of the 3/24 news programme can be followed in ticker-tape format on all the channels of Televisió de Catalunya (TV3, 33, K3, 300, 3/24 and TVCi ) when activating TV3i’s interactive services on DTT.
Under the motto "Plantem el futur" (Let’s Plant the Future), Catalunya Ràdio and the Fundació Territori i Paisatge plant, with the collaboration of the listeners, 35,000 trees as a fight against climate change.
Agreement between Televisió de Catalunya and Televisió de l’Alguer for the reception of TV3 from the Sardinian city.
2 June. The CCMA and the Corporación Aragonesa de Radio y Televisión sign an agreement for the development and research of high-definition broadcasts through the DIGITEA platform.
The CCMA websites become available on the iPhone.
16 June. TVSalut is launched, the CCMA’s and CHC’s television for hospital users.
20 June. Catalunya Ràdio celebrates its 25th anniversary with special programmes and a central event held at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, where some 50 professionals from the group of channels perform a spectacle inspired in "The War of the Worlds".
iCat fm launches new portal that is made available on the iPhone.
Televisió de Catalunya extends accessibility for the deaf and blind with the participation in the European DTV 4 All project of reference.
10 September. Great success of "La nit vint-i-cinc. La nit blanca de TV3", an event with which the channel celebrated its 25 years of history by keeping cultural and entertainment programmes throughout Catalonia going throughout the night.
The CCMA creates the figure of the Ombudsman of the Audience.
Televisió de Catalunya adopts a new system of qualitative measuring of programmes developed by the company GFK.
Televisió de Catalunya launches its first HD mobile unit.
Televisió de Catalunya offers free access to its complete archive of programmes through the Internet.
Catalunya Ràdio’s programme "Eduqueu les criatures" gathers hundreds of children in front of the premises for the traditional Catalan Christmas tradition “cagar el tió”.
The TV3alacarta web feature offers high-definition content.
2009
13 January. TV3’s programme “Els Matins” reaches its 1,000th edition with a special broadcast from the Liceu (Barcelona Opera House).
The Catalan regional government (Generalitat de Catalunya) and the Balearic Islands regional government agree on the reciprocity of DTT broadcasts between TV3 and IB3.
The public entities of radio and television of the Balearic Islands and of Murcia sign the DIGITEA agreement of the CCMA and the Corporación Aragonesa de Radio y Televisión to develop High Definition.
www.clubdecuines.cat, the gastronomy portal of TVC and Catalunya Ràdio, is launched.
Catalunya Música becomes a member of the Euroradio musical exchange section of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU-UER).
Launch of www.catmusica.cat, the Internet version of Catalunya Música, the classical music channel.
28 May. TV3CAT takes over from TVC Internacional and becomes the TVC channel that broadcasts outside Catalonia.
Televisió de Catalunya and Activa Multimèdia are the first in Spain to shoot in the new 1080p50 high definition format as part of the HDTVNext research project.
18 October. The Super3, the children’s multiplatform channel of TVC for children up to 14 years of age, is born.
2010
21 January. The Catalan (Generalitat de Catalunya) and Balearic regional governments agree for channels 33, Super3/300 and 3/24 to be broadcast in the Balearic Islands through the DTT.
2 February. Televisió de Catalunya starts broadcasting all programmes on all channels in panoramic format 16:9.
TV3 incorporates subtitles to its online videos.
4 March. Launch of CANAL FGC. This is a new television channel that is broadcast from screens visible at all stations of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya railways. It offers information about railway service and TV3 content, both of them constantly updated.
TV3 pioneers regular 3D broadcasting.
22 May. TV3 produces the TV signal for the Champions League football final, in high definition and 3D. The game was played at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. 75 TV channels from all over the world broadcast the match to an estimated audience of 280 million spectators.
The TV3alacarta service reaches TV sets with an Internet connection, as well as video consoles and mobile devices, such as the iPad and the iPhone.
19 September. Launch of 3XL, the multiplatform channel for young people between 16 and 25 years of age.
13 October. The regional governments of Catalonia and Aragon have agreed for TV3, Canal 33, Canal 3/24 and Canal Súper 3 to be visible at the 'Franja de Ponent' territories that stand between the two regions. This area joins now the Balearic Islands, Andorra and 'Northern Catalonia' in the south of France, areas where all of the said channels of the CCMA can be watched.
5 November. The Catalan Ministry of Culture and the CCMA signed a collaboration agreement with the Conselh Generau d'Aran (Val d’Aran Autonomous Entity) to create an Internet television platform in Aranese language and other variants of Occitan.
The CCMA provides technical assessment and provides content dubbed into Aranese.
7 November. TV3 provided the international signal for the broadcast of the ceremony of the dedication of the Basilica of the Sagrada Família (The Holy Family) by the Roman Pontiff in Barcelona.
About one thousand television media from all over the world, with an estimated audience of 150 million viewers, obtained the signal produced with state-of-the-art technology. The finished interior of the new basilica was thus unveiled to the world for the first time.
Chronology 2011
2011
5 February. Launch of Esport3, the channel aimed at the public with an interest in sport and at those who live sport with passion.
14 March. Official launch of TV3HD, the channel that broadcasts TV3's programmes simultaneously in High Definition.
Former Director Generals
 |
 |
|---|---|
Period |
Director general |
| 1983 – 1984 | Pere Cuxart i Bartolí |
| 1984 | Josep Caminal i Badia |
| 1984 – 1995 | Joan Granados i Duran |
| 1995 – 1999 | Jordi Vilajoana i Rovira |
| 1999 | Lluís Oliva Vázquez de Novoa |
| 2000 – 2002 | Miquel Puig i Raposo |
| 2002 – 2004 | Vicenç Villatoro i Lamolla |
| 2004 – 2008 | Joan Majó i Cruzate |
| 2008 – 2010 | Rosa Cullell i Muniesa |
