Ens Public de Radiotelevisio de les Illes Baleares (EPRTVIB)

Ens Públic de Radiotelevisió de les Illes Balears (EPRTVIB) is the Balearic Islands’ public broadcaster, operating as IB3. Its predecessor was created by law in 1985 and constituted in March 2004. IB3 Ràdio first broadcast on 1 March 2005; IB3 Televisió began test broadcasts on 2 May 2005 and regular broadcasts that September. Law 15/2010 established the entity’s present framework. Josep Maria Codony Oliver has been Director General since 16 April 2025.

Media assets

Television: IB3 Televisió

Radio: IB3 Ràdio and IB3 Música, a digital music channel launched on DAB+ in March 2026

Digital: totIB3 for live and on-demand programmes, and news at ib3.org

Ownership and governance

EPRTVIB belongs to the Balearic regional public sector. Its Consell de Direcció comprises the Director General and nine other members, elected by the Balearic Parliament. Election requires a three-fifths majority on the first ballot; an absolute majority suffices on a second ballot held at least one month later. Law 15/2010 requires Board members to act independently and bars instructions from the government or other institutions in the exercise of their duties.

Albert Salas, elected in November 2023 with support beyond the governing parties, resigned in February 2025. Parliament elected Codony on a second ballot on 8 April 2025 with 32 votes from the Popular Party (PP) and Vox. He took office on 16 April. Codony had previously led IB3 in 2014–2015. His appointment drew criticism from opposition representatives and staff concerned about the broadcaster’s independence.

The governing law provides for a 15-member Content and Programming Advisory Council and parliamentary scrutiny of the Director General. It assigns external financial oversight to the Sindicatura de Comptes. The independent Balearic audiovisual council envisaged in Law 2/2010 has not been brought into operation. Supervisory and sanctioning functions under the regional audiovisual law sit within the executive framework; legislation enacted in 2026 assigned functions formerly attributed to the relevant department to the Balearic Agency for Digitalisation, Cybersecurity and Telecommunications within its remit.

Source of funding and budget

EPRTVIB relies predominantly on transfers from the Balearic regional government, alongside advertising and other income. Its published 2025 accounts and the official 2026 extended-budget schedule give the following figures.

The 2025 accounts record EUR 42,224,986 in regional current transfers recognised in the income statement and EUR 1,181,208 in advertising sales in the budget outturn. The 2025 regional budget was extended into 2026. The 2026 schedule includes EUR 38,154,300 in current transfers, equal to 88.3 per cent of planned income, and EUR 800,000 in capital transfers.

The published 2025 financial audit carries a qualified opinion concerning the accounting for salary arrears and the 2025 pay increase. The auditors also drew attention to a EUR 66.4 million long-term VAT provision and negative equity of EUR 61.3 million at year-end. They stated that EPRTVIB depends on regional government contributions to continue operating.

In November 2025 the regional government authorised the start of a EUR 21 million multiyear expenditure procedure, divided equally between 2026 and 2027, for commissioned audiovisual production and related costs. The announcement does not establish that this sum is additional to EPRTVIB’s annual appropriations.

Editorial independence

Law 15/2010 requires independent, objective, impartial, truthful and plural information and protects the professional independence of news staff. The statutory Advisory Council has a role in assessing programming and content policy. IB3 has no journalists’ News Council; staff and the journalists’ union renewed calls for one in 2026.

State Media Monitor’s content analysis in April 2024 found no systematic favouring of the PP or the regional government. Its analysis of coverage between March and May 2025 found a clear shift towards more favourable treatment of the PP. SMM’s evaluation panel consequently moved EPRTVIB to State-Controlled (SC) in 2025. The public account does not include enough sampling and coding detail to quantify the scale of the shift.

Further disputes arose in 2026. In May, the works committee alleged newsroom pressure concerning coverage of an antifascist protest, bullfighting and protests against bullfighting. In July it said news management had altered a reporter’s story about a human-chain demonstration at Es Trenc, playing down the intervention of the mayor of Campos. The Balearic journalists’ union expressed concern about repeated alleged interference.

At a parliamentary hearing on 24 September 2026, Codony acknowledged that the Es Trenc report had been changed. He defended the editors’ intervention, saying the original version was partisan and presented only one side. The journalists’ union rejected his explanation, accused him of pressuring staff and called for his resignation.

AI and digital policy

No publicly accessible EPRTVIB editorial policy on generative AI was identified in the corporate and transparency materials reviewed for this update.

Classification rationale

EPRTVIB remains classified State-Controlled (SC).

It is a regional public broadcaster whose Director General and Board are elected by Parliament, and regional transfers provide most of its funding. The second-ballot rule permitted Codony’s election with PP and Vox votes after he failed to secure the reinforced majority. Those arrangements create avenues for political influence but do not themselves prove direction of individual stories.

The editorial assessment rests chiefly on the change identified between SMM’s 2024 and March–May 2025 content analyses. The 2026 staff complaints, Codony’s acknowledgment of the Es Trenc edit and the union’s response reinforce concerns about newsroom autonomy.

September 2026