Two thirds of Catalans regularly access media in Catalan

Barcelona (ACN).- 4.8 million of Catalan citizens regularly read, watch or listen to media in Catalan, which represents two thirds of the population. In addition, media published or broadcast in Catalonia tops all television, radio and newspaper audience rankings. This is the data released by Catalonia’s Barometer for Communication and Culture, corresponding to September and October. Looking at the television market, the Catalan public television broadcaster continues to top the audience share. Its general information and entertainment channel, TV3, leads with 17.3% of the audience share, followed by the private television station Telecinco (with 12% of the share). Regarding the radio market, the Catalan public radio station ‘Catalunya Ràdio’ leads the ranking with 605,000 listeners, followed by the private radio station ‘RAC1’ with 583,000 listeners. ‘RAC1’ broadcasts in Catalan and is owned by the Grupo Godó, whose flagship is the newspaper ‘La Vanguardia’. In fact, this paper is the most read daily in Catalonia, with 885,000 readers. Traditionally published only in Spanish, last May it launched a Catalan edition, which already has 48% of its total readership. In fact, the launching of ‘La Vanguardia’ in Catalan and the newspaper ‘Ara’ explain the spectacular jump in readership figures of newspapers in Catalan, which grew by 29% this year and almost reached 1 million people.

‘La Vanguardia’ leads the newspaper market

Catalan citizens mostly consume media published or broadcast in Catalonia, not in Madrid. This is particularly evident regarding the newspaper market. The Spanish edition of ‘La Vanguardia’ tops the table with 462,000 readers. This represents a market penetration of 7.2%. The Catalan edition of the same newspaper is second in the table with 423,000 (a market penetration of 6.6%). The contents and designs of the two editions are exactly the same. Their only difference is the publication language. Traditionally ‘La Vanguardia’ has been published in Spanish, although it represents the views of the Catalan business community and is considered moderately nationalist and conservative. Last May it launched a Catalan edition, which stressed its commitment to Catalan nationalism and aimed to consolidate its market position, competing with the recently created ‘Ara’ and getting better figures than ‘El Periódico’. In fact, ‘El Periódico’ was the first newspaper in Catalonia to have one edition for each official language, sharing exactly the same content and design. ‘El Periódico’ is the most read by those considering themselves as left wing, mostly within the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. Its Spanish edition occupied third spot of the rankings with 353,000 readers (a 5.5% market penetration), and is followed by its Catalan edition with 327,000 readers (5.1%). The first newspaper not published in Catalonia is ‘El País’, which is fifth in the rankings with 225,000 readers (3.5%). It is followed by two other newspapers published in Catalan, ‘El Punt Avui’ with 167,000 readers (2.6%) and ‘Ara’ with 91,000 readers (1.4%). ‘Ara’ was created one year ago and aimed to become the main newspaper for Catalan nationalists with liberal views, somewhere between ‘La Vanguardia’, ‘El Periódico’ and ‘El Punt Avui’.

The Catalan public television and radio broadcaster continues to lead in both markets

The Catalan public television and radio broadcaster (CCRTV) continues to lead the television and radio markets. It was in the news last week because its budget is set to be drastically reduced [see related news]. The general information and entertainment television channel TV3 continues being the most popular among Catalans, with 17.3% of the share. The television station Telecinco (12%) is second. It is broadcast from Madrid and in Spanish. In third spot is the main channel of the Spanish public television broadcaster, La 1, with a 10.9% audience share. Private TV station 8TV, part of Grupo Godó, is increasing its share, but it is still far from the top ranking places.

Regarding radio stations, ‘Catalunya Ràdio’ is the most listened to in Catalonia. It is the main radio broadcaster in CCRTV. Its general information and entertainment station, ‘Catalunya Ràdio’, had 605,000 listeners. The private station ‘RAC1’, with 583,000, follows it. In fact, ‘Catalunya Ràdio’ and ‘RAC1’ have been exchanging the top positions in the rankings over the last few years, both competing for a similar public and getting similar numbers. The third station in the ranking is ‘Cadena Ser’ with 437,000 listeners. It is mainly broadcast from Madrid, although it also absorbed former station, ‘Radio Barcelona’, and has many programmes produced in Catalonia. It is owned by Grupo Prisa, which also publishes ‘El País’ newspaper.

Media audience generally increases, but more among Catalan media

The audience in each type of media has increased, particularly online editions. Internet media has increased its audience by 13.5% compared to last year’s figures. However, the largest audience increase has been among Catalan media. Newspapers printed in Catalan increased by 29%, and they have a total readership of 976,000 people. Listeners to Catalan radio stations have grown by 16% in the last year, and the people watching television channels in Catalan has increased by 14.5%, and magazines by 14%.

The most read monthly magazine in Catalan is ‘Sàpiens’, focusing on history. It takes fifth spot in the rankings, after ‘Muy Interesante’ (science), ‘National Geographic’ (nature), and ‘Mi bebé y yo’ (maternity), all in Spanish. In addition, the leading weekly magazines are also in Spanish and focus on gossip; they are ‘Pronto’, ‘Hola’ and ‘Lecturas’.