The CCMA achieves a historic claim and joins the EBU

BarcelonaThe European Broadcasting Union has approved this Thursday that the Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation (CCMA) become part of this international body. This satisfies a historic demand from the organization, which had always encountered Spanish resistance to facilitating its entry into a body reserved in principle for state-owned media. To overcome this condition, the EBU has created a specific category, that of auxiliary member, which will allow the CCMA to have access to most of the services derived from membership in this association of public media, which brings together about 70 active members from 56 different countries. However, this auxiliary membership does not facilitate sending a representative to the Eurovision Song Contest, which it organizes annually and which remains reserved for states.

Among the advantages of being part of the EBU are the possibility of accessing the news exchange market developed by other corporations (and sharing those made with the 3Cat brand with other members), various cooperation spaces, and the possibility of jointly negotiating broadcasting rights or access to technical and logistical services, in addition to facilities for professional training and support in areas such as artificial intelligence, digitalization, or new formats.

Rosa Romà, president of the CCMA, valued the news as follows: "Incorporating ourselves into the EBU-UER is a great milestone, because it will allow us to speak on equal terms with the major European corporations. Our legitimacy and our identity at a European level are strengthened. Furthermore, it positions the Catalan language in a European audiovisual environment like never before."

The aspirations to join the EBU date back to the early 80s, with the creation of TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio. The Spanish veto resulted in technical problems accessing international images that most televisions shared. In fact, TV3 ended up being the only capitalist world partner of a communist bloc alliance, where it was accepted. Subsequently, it was able to collaborate in some EBU working group or with an agreement with Catalunya Música, but not as a member. And this, despite the fact that the law for the third channel that was being drafted for TV3 included the possibility of having recognition within international entities. However, the fact that the television began to broadcast illegally, without the State's explicit permission, led to that provision being removed from the draft. Currently, in an era where the abundance of access to images has nothing to do with that of four decades ago – and they are no longer sent via a network of state-controlled repeaters, but via the internet – the importance of membership is more symbolic than practical, but, nevertheless, it means seeing the Corpo's original aspiration satisfied, in the sense of not being considered a mere regional television focused on local affairs.

The penultimate time the Corpo tried to become part of the EBU was in 2019, but at that time the organization slammed the door in the face of Catalan public broadcasting, saying that "CCMA is a Spanish regional broadcaster that does not meet the criteria for national scope and importance set by the statutes". It was a statement that clashed with the evidence that Flanders, Bavaria, or Wales, for example, were represented in the EBU, as their televisions were part of the state entity. And that, therefore, what counted was legal personality, rather than the scope of broadcast.