Abstract:

After more than fifteen years with only a single television channel in Spain, the first autonomous television appeared in 1982. In that year ETB was founded in the Basque region, transmitting in Basque (Euskera): followed in 1983 by TV3 in Catalonia, transmitting in Catalan: in 1985 by TVG of Galicia, trasmitting in Galic (Gallego). In 1989 TVM, Canal Sur and Canal 9 of the autonomous regions of Madrid, Andalucia and Valencia respectively, joined the scene, with the latter broadcasting in Valenciano. Telemurcia is scheduled to commence operation in 1991. This, added to the appearance in 1990 of three private televisions has created a boom in the Spanish television scene.Television viewers are no longer impassive; they now thave to select and decide from a wide range of programs offered so the program content has become the most important factor in the selection of a channel. In 1989 the organisms in charge of the autonomous televisions joined forces to form the "Federacion de Organismos de Radio y Televisiones Autonomicas" -FORTA (Federation of Autonomous Radio and Television Organizations).This association has constituted one of the most important events in the history of television in Spain. The autonomous televisions have,thus, been able to offer competitive programms, improving the quality and content of transmissions, and in fact, functioning as a single channel in five different tongues and reaching approximately 34 million Spaniards. 1990 has been the year of the audiovisual resonance in Spain, with the consolidation of the autonomous televisions, which reach an important position in the national TV market.. The analysis and reflection on the key points of this consolidation, is a determining factor in the comprehension of the Spanish television scene, and future distribution of audiences.