Why RAC1 is so important

This week, RAC1 celebrated its 25th anniversary and success. It celebrates at a sweet moment, having surpassed the psychological barrier of one million listeners in the latest wave of the EGM (General General Election). It is the leading radio station in Catalonia, the fourth in the entire country, with a diverse and intergenerational audience. The sheer volume of this success is all the more remarkable because, in these 25 years, we have experienced the explosion of the internet and digital media, and the news and entertainment offerings have multiplied. And not only have they multiplied, they have also globalized, which has been a problem—another—for Catalan-language media. But RAC1 has maintained its privileged position thanks to the talent of its professionals, the accuracy of its programmers, and a virtue that is easier to proclaim than to exercise: identification with a very broad stratum of listeners. The station's great merit is having found the right tone, something that isn't listed in any manual, something that money can't buy. A fresh and playful tone, compatible with my journalistic vocation and the ambition to be present in those moments when turning on the radio is a necessary ritual. I was fortunate enough to be part of it with a program –Absolute minority–which made me enjoy myself like never before. And I feel very satisfied.

But the importance of RAC1 lies not only in its undeniable success, nor in the normalization of Catalan in the media ecosystem. If we were to talk only about that, we would also have to refer to the enormous impact that the emergence of TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio had, years ago. Regarding public radio, we must emphasize, by the way, that it has not allowed itself to be swallowed up by the competition, but rather stands up to it, achieving notable figures, such that Catalan-language radio as a whole boasts an unprecedented and uncontested hegemony. However, what is worth highlighting is that RAC1 is the project of a private media group—the Godó Group—which is not particularly militant when it comes to language issues but which saw that a Catalan-language radio station produced with quality and a mainstream focus could be a success and a good business. This is truly an indicator of the language's good health and sends a message of optimism to the most pessimistic: Catalan-language media are ready to take on the ruthless battle for notoriety and audiences. Catalan not only doesn't hinder them, but actually gives them a boost of proximity and authenticity.

It's no coincidence that this success has occurred in the radio sector. This is attributable to two factors. First, Catalan is better received in the oral sphere (more Catalans speak Catalan than read it), which forces print media, like this newspaper, to make a greater effort; second, since Catalan has a smaller market, its prospects are brighter in media that require less investment and less industry. It's no coincidence, therefore, that we have more options in radio than in television, or that we compete better in theater than in film. However, phenomena like RAC1, among others, inform us that the audience and talent exist and that Catalan communicators have every right to earn a living in our language, and that the Catalan public also has the right to enjoy cultural and leisure products in Catalan. Faced with the pharaonic audiovisual offering in Spanish or English, the public authorities—whose raison d'être is to combat inequalities—must make it possible. And in part, they do. But they are right when private companies show us that Catalan can make us more competitive, not less so. For all these reasons, RAC1's 25th anniversary deserves a round of applause and shared congratulations.