Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 17, 2026

La 2 Cat

La 2 Cat is the current Catalan-language regional variation of Spanish free-to-air television channel La 2 in Catalonia. It started broadcasting on 13 October 2025, and became fully operational by late October of the same year. It is owned by Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) and is produced in its production center in Sant Cugat del Vallès. It currently occupies most of the broadcast of La 2 in Catalonia, replacing most, but not all, the national programming in Spanish, but the intention is that it will soon have its own frequency and that both channels will be independent.

Last revised
Jun 17, 2026
Read time
≈ 6 min
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1,410 w
Citations
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Source
Wikipedia ↗
La 2 Cat
CountrySpain
Broadcast areaCatalonia
Andorra
NetworkTelevisión Española (TVE)
HeadquartersRTVE Catalunya
Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona), Catalonia
Programming
LanguageCatalan
Picture format1080i HDTV
Ownership
OwnerRadiotelevisión Española (RTVE)
Sister channelsLa 1
La 2
Clan
24h
Teledeporte
History
Launched13 October 2025 (2025-10-13)
Availability
Terrestrial
Digital terrestrial televisionCatalonia: Depends on each province

La 2 Cat is the current Catalan-language regional variation of Spanish free-to-air television channel La 2 in Catalonia. It started broadcasting on 13 October 2025, and became fully operational by late October of the same year. It is owned by Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) and is produced in its production center in Sant Cugat del Vallès. It currently occupies most of the broadcast of La 2 in Catalonia, replacing most, but not all, the national programming in Spanish, but the intention is that it will soon have its own frequency and that both channels will be independent.1

La 2 Cat's first director is Oriol Nolis, who was director of RTVE Catalunya between 2021 and 2023,2 and the director of content is Laura Folguera, who was the director of La 2.3

History

El canalet

In May 1988, Lluís Prenafeta, Secretary-General of the Presidency of the Generalitat de Catalunya, announced with the electoral promise of CiU the creation of the second channel of Televisió de Catalunya, Canal 33 (initially named TV4).4 On the other hand, in June that same year, Jaume Sobrequés, in charge of the media relations of PSC, demanded Televisión Española (TVE) the creation of a channel entirely in Catalan, since the sports broadcasts on TVE2 made most of its Catalan-language regional variation programming (including L'informatiu) off the air or simply changed their timeslot,5 which would lead to the firing of Rafael Jorba, TVE news director at RTVE Catalunya, who was replaced by Enric Lloveras.6

In mid-August 1988, Pilar Miró, Director-General of RTVE, approved the project and fixed the launch date as between that year's National Day of Catalonia in September and October, with initial coverage of 60% of the territory7 and a budget of over 2 billion pesetas.8 Its airtime was projected to be between 19:00 and midnight9 and would air programs that were already on air on the Catalan opt-outs, with L'informatiu (with a fixed slot at 21:00), 135 escons, Debat 2, and Teledues (simulcast with TVE2's opt-out), as well as the premieres of Falcon Crest and Som una maravella by Els Joglars.8

The project was expected to start on 17 October,10 with the name of TVE2-Catalunya, which was usually nicknamed by locals as El canalet ("The Little Channel"),10 but the arrival of Agustí Farré, director of TVE Catalunya, to Radio Nacional de España (RNE),9 caused the nomination of a successor and the start of Canal 33's test broadcasts on 10 September (which was interfered by TVE)11 causing its postponement to 9 January 1989,12 and later to April,1012 given that it was necessary to distribute the frequencies between Canal 33 (already authorized), el canalet and the new private networks. With the firing of Miró in 1989, the project ended up in nothing and subsequently it was never launched.

Recovery of the project

Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE)'s administrative council unanimously approved the creation of La 2 Cat on 28 March 2025.13 Production is made at the RTVE production center in Sant Cugat del Vallès.14 In the days following the announcement of the channel's name, tensions arose between Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals (CCMA) and RTVE for the name, with a race to register names.15 For this reason, days after the presentation of the project to the public, the doors were open to find another name for the channel.1

La 2 Cat started broadcasting on 13 October 2025,14 and became fully operational by late October of the same year.16 It began as a regional variation of La 2, occupying most of the broadcast of the channel in Catalonia, replacing most, but not all, the national programming in Spanish, but with the intention that it will soon have its own frequency and that both channels will be independent.

Usage of Catalan

RTVE announced that La 2 Cat has as its priority goal the promotion of the Catalan language inside the Spanish public media system. However, initially La 2 Cat will not replace all of La 2's broadcast with Catalan-language programming, and at the time of its creation, no specific date has been set for it to become independent and achieve a 100% goal.171819

RTVE's administrative complex established a progressive implementation:

  • Before the end of 2025, at least 50% of the contents seen in La 2 would be by La 2 Cat in Catalan.
  • Before June 2026, this percentage will increase to a minimum of 60%.

The remaining 40–50% of La 2 Spanish-language programming, including documentaries, cultural, and divulgative programming, could be offered with Catalan subtitles, but it was not predicted that all of them will be dubbed.

Although RTVE sources have expressed the will that the channel will become independent at a mid-term, there is no formal compromise or calendar to achieve the 100% goal. Such question is evaluated by the Catalan Audiovisual Council (CAC), who also assured continuity, budget and the exclusive use of Catalan in the channel.

Programming

La 2 Cat revealed its initial weekday programming in July 2025:20

  • 8:00: Cafè d'idees, with Gemma Nierga. News and entertainment magazine.21
  • 11:00: El segon cafè, with Cristina Villanueva. Current affairs and entertainment magazine.
  • 13:00: De cara a barraca, with Marc Martín. Magazine and sports discussion.
  • 14:00: L'informatiu 1. Newscast with Aina Galduf.
  • 15:05: Sports news.22
  • 16:15: Grans documentals. Documentary slot
  • 17:00: L'altaveu with Danae Boronat. News and entertaniment magazine.
  • 19:45: El vespre, with Quim Barnola. News bulletin from TVE's 24 Horas channel.
  • 20:00: L'informatiu 2. Newscast with Quim Barnola.
  • 20:35: Sports news.22
  • 22:00: Prime time programming
See also

See also

References

References

  1. "El canal en català de RTVE començarà també en castellà i encara no té nom ni programació" (in Catalan). Vilaweb. Retrieved 2025-04-07.
  2. "Es dirà 2CAT i començarà a emetre per la Diada: els detalls del nou canal de RTVE en català" (in Catalan). El món de la tele. 2025-03-31. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
  3. Coll, Bernat (2025-03-31). "El nuevo canal en catalán de TVE se llamará 2Cat y empezará a emitir aprovechando la Diada" (in Spanish). El País. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
  4. "TV4 pot començar a emetre al gener". Avui. 6 May 1988. p. 8. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  5. "El PSC demana que TVE posi en marxa un canal català des de Sant Cugat". Diari de Girona. 17 June 1988. p. 39. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  6. "El bisbalenc Enric Lloveras serà el cap d'informatius de Sant Cugat". El Punt. 9 July 1988. p. 41. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  7. "El nou canal de TVE a Catalunya s'inaugurarà a l'octubre". El Punt. 13 August 1988. p. 49. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  8. "TV2 Catalunya tindrà un pressupost de cap a dos mil milions de pessetes". Diari de Girona. 23 August 1988. p. 31. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  9. "La pròxima temporada àudio-visual s'obre plena de moltes incògnites". Avui. 2 September 1988. p. 37. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  10. "Sant Cugat o el desconcert permanent". Diari de Barcelona. 18 November 1988. p. 13. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  11. "Barrionuevo interfereix Canal 33". Avui. 11 September 1988. p. 10. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  12. "TVE-Catalunya ajorna 3 mesos la posada en marxa del nou canal". Avui. 17 November 1988. p. 46. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
  13. "El nou canal íntegrament en català de RTVE s'anomenarà 2Cat" (in Spanish). Diari de Tarragona. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
  14. Miró, Quim (2025-09-09). "El 2Cat ja té data definitiva d'estrena d'emissions" (in Catalan). Retrieved 2025-09-10.
  15. "Pugna entre RTVE i CCMA per registrar el nom del nou canal en català" (in Catalan). Segre. 2025-04-03. Retrieved 2025-04-03.
  16. "El canal en catalán de TVE iniciará sus pruebas en torno al 11 de septiembre y se llamará 2CAT" (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 2025-03-31. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
  17. El presidente de RTVE aspira a que la programación de La 2 sea un 60% en catalán en junio de 2026, El País, 29 June 2025.
  18. Corporate announcement on the launch of 2Cat, RTVE, 31 March 2025.
  19. Preliminary report on the linguistic project of 2Cat, Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya, April 2025.
  20. "RTVE ultima la parrilla de su nuevo canal en catalán, que solo emitirá en castellano 'Cifras y letras', 'Malas lenguas' y 'Saber y ganar'" (in Spanish). verTele. 2025-07-08. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  21. Oller, Xavi (2025-02-27). "RTVE Catalunya dóna la sorpresa ampliant l'aposta per 'Cafè d'idees' de Gemma Nierga" (in Catalan). Retrieved 2025-07-10.
  22. "La 2 Cataluña de RTVE solo emitirá en castellano 'Malas Lenguas', 'Saber y ganar' y 'Cifras y letras'" (in Spanish). 20minutos. 2025-07-08. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
External links