iCat will transform from January to incorporate the image in depth

BarcelonaNew shake-up at iCat, the cultural station of the Generalitat. As ARA has exclusively learned, starting in the second half of January, it will cease to be strictly a radio station to become a channel that incorporates video. The change will be progressive and will involve readapting some of the existing programs so they can also circulate better on social media or be watched on the 3Cat platform, and also incorporating new formats. In fact, this Monday a public call will be published so that production companies have the option to present their projects. The intention is for the final schedule to be completed by the end of 2027.

One of the formats being worked on is a program with Alba Riera, until recently the host ofLa turra, the successful debate and interview program of the youth channel EVA, although it still has to pass the filter of this call, and is in principle being aimed at the night slot. Her case exemplifies the goal of this remodeling. The management of the Catalan Corporation of Audiovisual Media considers that the youth segment between 16 and 23 years old is well covered with EVA, that the 3Cat platform captures the audience from 40 onwards well, and that TV3 remains the natural space for the older viewer. But the audience between 24 and 39 years old remained orphaned –approximately; the borders are always porous– and the idea is that the new iCat focuses specifically on this sector.

The new stage also entails an agreement to work hand-in-hand with Accent Obert, the entity that has taken over from the former Fundació.cat, manager of the .cat domain and which promotes the Catalan language and culture on the internet. Another important agent –although it is not an organic part of the project– is the House of Digital Creation in Catalan, a public entity dependent on the Barcelona City Council that aims to be a nursery for new voices in the digital sphere. The managers of iCat hope to be able to draw in part from the talent that emerges from this facility.

A period of reflection is now opening for these programs. The drivers of the change ensure that they want to preserve radio language as the basis for the different formats, but they believe that all programs must be able to have reach on social media, which is where a good part of their target audience is.

In fact, the Corporation presented a few weeks ago a strategy to flood YouTube with the house's content, which marks a break with what had been the usual practice of reserving in-house production for the windows it exploits directly and which contribute to its audience data. The new approach –which includes the promotion of up to 18 thematic channels dedicated to subjects such as humor, fiction, or sports– is based on going to look for the viewer wherever they may be and, above all, increasing the presence of Catalan in digital spaces where it is clearly minority, if not directly residual. This is a shared objective with the partner of Accent Obert.

A mutant station

iCat is the latest iteration of the cultural channel of the Catalan Broadcasting Corporation on the radio. Born first as Catalunya Cultura on February 2, 1999, it was on the air until the beginning of 2006, when it adopted the iCat FM brand and musical programming took on a great deal of prominence, in an environment where private thematic stations did not comply with the 25% of songs in Catalan required by law.

Budget cuts, however, caused a shock for iCat, which disappeared from the airwaves –and consequently lost "FM" from its name– to become an exclusively internet-based station starting in 2012. Five years later, however, the Corporation rectified and returned it to frequency modulation. In this new stage, radio formula slots alternated with programs aimed primarily at a young audience. The current schedule includes formats such as Els experts, Pausa, Loft, Nota de veu, Independents, Pista de fusta, Les gates, Serie Selektor, Delicatessen or El celobert.

The latest General Media Study (EGM), published in the summer, granted iCat 30,000 daily listeners, which represents a significant increase compared to the 20,000 of a year earlier. The rest of the group's stations are Catalunya Ràdio, 3CatInfo and Catalunya Música.