Catalan broadcaster launches 24h streaming of famed sitcom and food contest

Catalan public broadcaster 3Cat has launched its first two 24-hour streaming channels, featuring the beloved sitcom Plats Bruts and the popular food competition Joc de Cartes.

These two new, single-topic channels are the first of their kind on the 3Cat.cat streaming platform. They will offer continuous episodes of Plats Bruts and Joc de Cartes throughout the day.

Currently, the Plats Bruts and Joc de Cartes channels are in beta format, with more functionalities to be added in the near future. According to a statement, this marks the "first steps towards a progressive launch of theme-focused channels on 3Cat."

Plats Bruts first aired on April 19, 1999, with its 73rd and final episode broadcast on April 15, 2002. Over six seasons, viewers followed the lives of Josep Lopes and David Güell in a series of self-contained episodes. 

Each episode ran between 25 and 30 minutes, and the show was hugely popular when it premiered, attracting around one million viewers. It remains one of the most beloved TV shows among Catalans, with reruns continuing to draw a strong audience and memes and quotes from the series still widely used today.

The second themed channel features Joc de Cartes, a competition where different restaurants compete in self-contained episodes, with challenges such as determining the best restaurant in specific areas or highlighting different styles of cuisine.

Both channels are already available on the 3Cat streaming platform.