Barcelona, 19-02-2012
On September 11 1996, when did they start TV3 satellite broadcasts, it was a day that is still remembered by the vast majority of Catalan communities abroad. Catalan was put on the same level as the other most spoken languages in the world. It was international standardization and an additional reason to continue insisting on the necessary officialization of the Catalan language in European institutions.
From a practical point of view, meant giving standardized access to the reality of what was happening in the country of origin to more than 450.000 Catalans living all over the world. For many Catalan families living abroad, became a fantastic ally for the continuity of the language in the second and third generations and for all those who, from the university level or from cultural promotion, wanted to promote both the language and the external image of Catalonia. It was a clear way of presenting the reality of the Catalan language as an instrument of culture and communication.
During these years, TV3CAT broadcasts have been gradually gaining space in the television consumption of the Catalan communities abroad and the presence in the offer of several cable TV operators, particularly in the Con South of America, has been increasing.
The economic returns of this presence of the Catalan language in satellite broadcasts are difficult to measure, as the economic returns are difficult to measure in the case of TVE-Internacional, from French TV5, of the Portuguese International RTP or many others. They mean, simply, the conviction that they are all powerful cultures and languages with a clear vocation for openness.
Now the unfortunate decision to delete, from May 1 2012, TV3CAT's broadcasts are a step back from 20 years in the external projection of the language and image of Catalonia. After the deletion the 2010 of the broadcasts of the international Valencian RTV, it means the total disappearance of the presence of the Catalan language in the international television space.
The new technologies, Internet TV or others, are the alternatives proposed by the Catalan Corporation for Audiovisual Media (CCMA), who ignore the socializing or family character that being able to watch TV3CAT like any other channel in the daily television offer can have for many Catalan communities abroad. Watching TV3CAT on the internet will be restricted to a certain sector of the foreign population accustomed to watching television from a computer or other devices. Reduces watching TV in Catalan to watching YouTube.
The FIEC expects the President, of the Governing Council and the Director General of the CCMA that do not carry out this decision, as he expects from all the groups in the Parliament of Catalonia who also do not accept this unfortunate idea. Next week he will launch a campaign for the maintenance of satellite broadcasts of TV3.