Radio Television Canaria (RTVC)

Radio Televisión Canaria (RTVC) is a public broadcaster that covers the Canary Island in the Atlantic Ocean. It runs a television and a radio channel.


Media assets

Television: TV Canaria (HD)

Radio: Canarias Radio

State Media Matrix Typology: Independent State-Funded and State-Managed (ISFM)


Ownership and governance

RTVC was established by Law No. 13 of 2014 as a public entity under the regional government of the Canary Islands.

The highest governing structure at RTVC is the Governing Council whose five members are appointed by the Parliament of the Canarias.

Source of funding and budget

RTVC is financed primarily through state subsidies. In 2022, it received a subsidy from the Canary Islands government of over €58.1m, which was more or less the entire budget of the broadcaster for that year, according to a company annual report.

Editorial independence

Criticism about the editorial coverage of RTVC appears now and then, but there is no indication or evidence of systematic editorial control by the government at RTVC.

The law that has created RTVC states that RTVC’s editorial independence must be protected. The same law also created the legal framework for the News Councils, bodies of RTVC journalists in charge of protecting the broadcaster’s editorial independence.

The News Councils are a mechanism created to protect the editorial independence of the RTVC. Their work is regulated by an internal set of rules that is approved by the Governing Council. Another mechanism ensuring oversight of the programming of RTVC is the Audience Office, which receives and handles complaints and suggestions from the audience related mostly to RTVC’s programs.

September 2023