Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation (CCMA) is the public broadcasting company that serves the Catalonia region. It consists of the Televisió de Catalunya channels and the Catalunya Ràdio chain of stations. CCMA also owns a minority stake in the Catalan News Agency (ACN).
Media assets
Television: TV3 (HD), 33/Super3, 3/24, Esport3, TV3CAT
Radio: Catalunya Ràdio, Catalunya Música, Catalunya Informació, iCat fm
News agency: Catalan News Agency (ACN)
State Media Matrix Typology: Independent State-Funded and State-Managed (ISFM)
Ownership and governance
CCMA was established through Law No. 11 in 2007 as a public enterprise subordinated to the Generalitat de Catalunya.
The main governing structures at CCMA are the Governing Council and the President of the corporation. The Governing Council consists of seven members appointed by the Parliament of Catalonia following a report on their suitability issued by the Audiovisual Council of Catalonia (CAC), the region’s broadcast regulator. Parliament also elects the President of the Governing Council from among its seven members.
There is also a Parliamentary Control Committee fully devoted to CCMA, which exerts control over the CCMA and its subsidiaries.
Source of funding and budget
CCMA is funded in majority by the Catalonia government (Generalitat de Catalunya). Some of the subsidiaries of the CCMA also generate funding through commercial activities. In 2022, CCMA received a state subsidy from the Catalonian government of over €248m, which represented more than three quarters of the station’s budget. The second largest source of funding in CCMA is advertising. The funding for CCMA is approved periodically based on a program contract between CCMA and the Generalitat. In 2022, CCMA generated some €47.5m from ad sales, a decline of 2% compared to the previous year.
Editorial independence
In spite of a series of attacks from authorities and politicians, there is no evidence that CCMA’s editorial coverage is controlled by the Catalunian government. Various analyses carried out by academics in recent years also indicated a decent level of editorial independence at CCMA.
CCMA has a framework statute that lists editorial independence among other values and principles guiding the broadcaster’s work.
CCMA has mechanisms in place to assess and oversee the broadcaster’s editorial independence. One of them is the Audience Advocate, which oversees the rights of viewers, listeners and users of Televisió de Catalunya, the group of stations of Catalunya Ràdio and the websites and portals run by the CCMA. The advocate of CCMA today is Laura Baladas Ortiz. The advocate receives inquiries and suggestions as well as complaints from the public about the veracity, rigor, plurality and balance of CCMA’s content, which have to be handled and addressed with the station’s management.
CCMA also has a Content and Programming Advisory Board, which assists the CCMA Governing Council and the President in evaluating the broadcaster’s programming strategies and services. It consists of 16 members, all elected by the region’s Parliament.
September 2023