Spanish Steps - Fact file - TV & Radio

Watching television, ver la tele, is as popular in Spain as anywhere else, and in keeping with the rest of the world, Spanish people are now faced with a larger choice of what to watch.

All the national networks, or cadenas nacionales, provide local programming. There are several networks, both public and private, and they co-exist with public stations that have regional coverage, such as Televisió de Catalunya in Cataluña and Euskal Telebista in the Basque Country. There are also many smaller local TV stations, both public and private, which broadcast a range of low budget programmes.

La publicidad, advertising, is the main source of funding for all media outlets including state-run TV, and is only absent from the public radio networks.

The development of digital services has been driven by the battle to capture football broadcast rights, as many matches are now broadcast on a pay-per-view basis.

In the late 1990s, tempting special deals offered by the two newly created providers Vía Digital and CanalSatélite Digital meant that satellite caught on as it never had done before.

Links

Radio Televisión Española - public broadcaster

Antena 3 TV - national private network

Telecinco - national private network

Vía Digital - digital satellite TV provider

CanalSatélite Digital - digital satellite TV provider

Televisió de Catalunya - public regional broadcaster

Euskal Telebista - public regional broadcaster

These links are included for educational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement by the BBC of the products or services featured.