Spanish free-to-air television channel
"TVE2" redirects here. For the Finnish locomotive class, see
VR Class Tve2
.
Television channel
La 2
(
Spanish pronunciation:
[la
?ðos]
,
The Two
) is a Spanish
free-to-air
television channel owned and operated by
Television Espanola
(TVE), the television division of state-owned
public broadcaster
Radiotelevision Espanola
(RTVE). It is the corporation's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting
cultural
and
public service
programming, including documentaries, concerts, theatre and independent,
Ibero-American
and classic cinema.
It was launched on 15 November 1966 as the second
regular television
service in Spain right after TVE's
first channel
launched on 28 October 1956. As TVE held a
monopoly
on television broadcasting in the country, they were the only television channels until the first regional public television station was launched on 16 February 1983, when
Euskal Telebista
started broadcasting in the
Basque Country
.
Commercial television
was launched on 25 January 1990, when
Antena 3
started broadcasting nationwide.
As it started broadcasting on
UHF
frequencies the channel was initially simply referred to as "UHF". It received other names, such as "Cadena II", "Segunda Cadena", "Segundo Programa" or "TVE2" until it adopted its current name "La 2" (
La dos
) during the 1990s. Its headquarters and main production center is
Prado del Rey
in
Pozuelo de Alarcon
with some programs produced in TVE's production center in
San Cugat del Valles
. Although almost all its programming is in Spanish and is the same for all of Spain, TVE has territorial centers in every
autonomous community
and produces and broadcasts some local programming in
regional variations
in each of them in the corresponding
co-official language
.
History
[
edit
]
Creation of 'The second channel'
[
edit
]
In the 1960s, the
Spanish minister of Information and Tourism
,
Manuel Fraga Iribarne
, decided that Television Espanola should start broadcasting a second television channel on the UHF band, following other European broadcasters that did the same.
[1]
On 1 January 1965, TVE's second television service was launched in
Madrid
as a test broadcast,
[2]
with programming limited to 4 hours at night that consisted of musical slots and re-airings of TV shows from Primera Cadena, mostly
Telediario
newscasts and
Estudio 1
.
[2]
Regular broadcasts were started on 15 November 1966.
[3]
[4]
TVE started producing original programming for the channel, mainly produced at the broadcaster's headquarters in Barcelona. UHF's first director was Salvador Pons Munoz. In its first years, the channel could only be received on Madrid,
Zaragoza
and
Barcelona
,
[2]
cities in which the UHF technology was implemented; it only aired at night and not all TV sets could tune in to. Most TVs couldn't receive UHF broadcasts, so a UHF converter was needed.
As TVE's strategy evolved into turning the
first channel
into a generalist channel, niche programming was moved to UHF. Under the Salvador Pons administration, the second channel received artists from the country's
Official Film School
(
Spanish
:
Escuela Oficial de Cine
), such as
Claudio Guerin
,
Pedro Olea
or
Antonio Mercero
, people who would use the channel as a test zone to air alternative programming, such as documentaries or fiction shows.
[5]
There was a high share of cultural programmes, like
classical music
blocks or
theatre
slots.
[1]
1970s
[
edit
]
During the '70s, the channel's programming was restricted to air at night (from 20:00 to 00:00), with an extension in the weekends.
[1]
Coverage reached the main cities of
Spain
, but although TVE pointed out that only "three years" would pass before UHF could be tuned in all Spain,
[2]
the second channel could not get it until 1982.
[1]
[6]
For this reason it was not strange that successful programs on UHF passed to
the first channel
.
The UHF station continued to develop a minority programming, with a strong cultural emphasis, which did not compete directly with TVE-1.
[1]
In addition to documentaries, theater broadcasts and dramas, the second channel also was at time broadcasting sports events and educational programming. At that time, the second channel was colloquially dubbed "el canalillo."
[7]
During the
Spanish transition
, the programming of the second channel received a small boost. In January 1976 debuted the program of debate
La Clave
(1976-1985), which addressed current issues from different points of view, something very complicated during the
Francoism
, preceded by a film related to the subject.
[8]
Another important program was
A fondo (In depth)
(1976-1981), a talk show presented by
Joaquin Soler Serrano
which discussed with personalities from the artistic, literary and scientific fields of the time.
[9]
On the other hand, the new artistic and musical trends were reflected in
Encuentros con las artes y las letras (Encounters with the arts and the lyrics)
(1976-1981) and
Popgrama
(1979-1981).
[10]
Another important aspect was the consolidation of the station's regional broadcasting centres, most importantly in
Catalonia
and the
Canary Islands
. TVE Cataluna started producing and broadcasting regional programming in opt-outs through the
Circuit Catala
(Catalan circuit), while continuing to produce content for nationwide broadcasts.
[11]
On the eve of the
1982 World Cup
held in Spain, the Canary Islands regional broadcasting centre erected a new production office that, in addition to broadcasting the Second channel, allowed to develop dedicated programming for the archipelago.
[6]
1980s
[
edit
]
In 1983, the second channel was renamed "TVE-2" with a new corporate image. The schedule was not consolidated until the end of the decade.
[12]
In the mandates of
Jose Maria Calvino
[
es
]
and
Pilar Miro
, TVE-2 continued to be a cultural channel that accommodated spaces not appropriate for
the first channel
. In the midst of the
Movida Madrilena
phenomenon, it premiered
La Edad de Oro (The Golden Age)
(1983), directed and presented by
Paloma Chamorro
[
es
]
, that with time it turned into a
cult classic
.
[13]
The 1980s also marked the premiere of emblematic programs such as the cultural magazine
Metropoli
(1985),
[13]
the game show
El tiempo es oro (Time is money)
(1987) presented by
Constantino Romero
[14]
and
Con las manos en la masa
(Hands on the bat)
(1984), directed and presented by
Elena Santonja
, considered the first
cooking show
in Spanish television history.
[15]
On the other hand, TVE-2 retained the broadcast of special events live, some of which exceeded in the audience
the first channel
: the European football competitions (
UEFA Champions League
,
UEFA Cup
and
Cup Winners' Cup
), the
Spanish First Division
in communities without
autonomic television
, the qualifying matches of the
Spain national football team
, and the
Eurovision Song Contest
from 1984 to 1992.
[16]
In 1984, it premiered
Estadio 2
, specializing in sports broadcasts, information, and a live results service during the weekends.
[17]
Creation of ≪La 2≫
[
edit
]
The channel strategy of TVE changed with the emergence of private television in 1989, with the first airing of
Antena 3
and
Tele 5
[18]
As of 1991, TVE-2 was turned into ≪La 2≫ and assumed a new alternative programming, whose spirit was included in the slogan ≪
La 2, para una inmensa minoria
≫ (
La 2, for a huge minority
).
[19]
The following director of TVE,
Ramon Colom
, would redefine the concept towards a smaller target audience aged 30 years old.
[19]
In the 90s there was a significant increase in own programming, which would give La 2 its own personality. All documentaries, including
Documentos TV
, presented by
Pedro Erquicia
, were moved to that signal. In addition, TVE promoted an alternative newsletter to
Telediario
with the creation of
La 2 Noticias
, specialized in the news of human, social, and ecological interest in exchange for reducing the weight of the policy in the blocks. The new format was premiered on 7 November 1994 and thanks to it two journalists rose to fame:
Lorenzo Mila
(presenter) and
Fran Llorente
(news director).
[20]
In addition, La 2 issued US series with no place on La Primera:
The Simpsons
(until 1993),
[18]
Northern Exposure
,
Married... with Children
and
Hangin' with Mr. Cooper
. As for sports broadcasts, football was transferred to the first channel while the second was left with the rights of the
Liga ACB
of
basketball
, the
Liga Asobal
of
handball
and the
LNFS
. Although the channel's audience fell by private competition, these changes served to improve its reputation and turn it into an alternative to conventional programming.
[19]
The strategy remained unchanged until 2004, with new programs that have been part of the backbone of La 2. In 1996 began the space of scientific disclosure
Redes
, directed by
Eduard Punset
, and in 1997 premiered
Saber y ganar
, presented by
Jordi Hurtado
, who became the longest-running game show in Spanish television.
[21]
One year later was launched
Version espanola (Spanish version)
, Spanish film program presented by
Cayetana Guillen Cuervo
and that offered films without advertising breaks.
[22]
Other important spaces were
La noche tematica (The thematic night)
(documentary block of the pan-European channel
Arte
), the literary space
Negro sobre blanco (Black on white)
, the informative
Escuela del deporte (School of sport)
and the containers of infantile programming, among them
Con mucha marcha (With a lot of march)
,
TPH Club
,
Hyakutake
and
Los Lunnis
, the latter one of his greatest commercial successes.
[23]
Present day
[
edit
]
In 2004, changes were made in the strategy of La 2: information services are remodeled because
Fran Llorente
, presenter of
La 2 Noticias
, is chosen news director of TVE, while Lorenzo Mila became the host of
Telediario
of
La 1
.
[24]
The new direction redirects the offer to the young public, with the advance of
primetime
at 9:30 p.m.,
[25]
the gradual disappearance of regional programming (except for a few blocks in
Catalonia
and
Canary Islands
) and the entry of series
American
as
Six Feet Under
,
Two and a Half Men
,
The OC
or
Gilmore Girls
.
On 1 June 2010, the Board of Directors of
RTVE
made La 2 into a strictly cultural channel,
[26]
positioning it as the reference for creativity and talent. From that same month, La 2 stopped broadcasting its sports programming (which moved to
La 1
and
Teledeporte
) and infantile (which continued exclusively on
Clan
). Instead, it introduced cultural programming from the channel
Cultural·es
.
[26]
In addition, an address was created for the channel, and its management was moved from Torrespana to the center of TVE Cataluna in
San Cugat del Valles
,
Barcelona
.
[27]
Since 2014, primetime is covered by Spanish cinema cycles from Monday to Friday, and European films on weekends. The audience of La 2 has dropped to 2.6% audience share, similar to the children's channel
Clan
.
[28]
La 2 HD
[
edit
]
On 7 September 2017, during the presentation of the new season of the channel,
Television Espanola
announced the launch of the
high definition
signal of La 2,
[29]
which started issuing 31 October 2017 in
Madrid
, 7 November 2017 in the rest of
Spain
(except
Catalonia
and
Canary Islands
), 14 November 2017 in
Catalonia
and 21 November 2017 in
Canary Islands
.
[30]
With standard-definition feed discontinued on 11 February 2024, it has only been available in HD ever since.
[31]
Logos and identities
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Ministry of Education of Spain (ed.).
"La Segunda cadena; una emisora para la inmensa minoria"
[The Second channel; a station for the immense minority] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
26 September
2010
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Radiotelevision Espanola (11 October 1964).
"UHF, el segundo programa de TVE"
[UHF, the second TVE program] (in Spanish). La Vanguardia
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
Radiotelevision Espanola (21 September 1966).
"Sin cambios fundamentales en la programacion de TVE"
[No fundamental changes in the TVE programming] (in Spanish). La Vanguardia
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
"La nueva programacion de TVE para el segundo canal"
[The new TVE programming for the second channel] (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 15 November 1966
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
"Salvador Pons, fundador de La 2 de Television Espanola"
[Salvador Pons, founder of La 2 of Television Espanola] (in Spanish). El Pais. 18 August 2009
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
a
b
RTVE (ed.).
"Historia de RTVE Canarias"
[History of RTVE Canarias] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
26 September
2010
.
- ^
"50 anos de television en Espana"
[50 years of television in Spain]
(PDF)
(in Spanish). Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 11 November 2013
. Retrieved
26 September
2010
.
- ^
Radiotelevision Espanola (ed.).
"
'La Clave', el programa mas intelectual de TVE, arranco en 1976"
['La Clave', TVE's most intellectual program, started in 1976] (in Spanish). Archived from
the original
on 16 December 2010
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
El Mundo, ed. (7 September 2010).
"Fallece Joaquin Soler Serrano, un historico de la radio y la TV en Espana"
[Joaquin Soler Serrano dies, a history of radio and TV in Spain] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
Palace, Manuel (2012).
La television durante la Transicion espanola
[
Television during the Spanish Transition
] (in Spanish). Catedra.
ISBN
978-84-376-3068-7
. Archived from
the original
on 5 December 2014.
- ^
Sergi Schaaff. Pompeu Fabra University (ed.).
"50 anos de television tambien en Catalunya"
[50 years of television also in Catalonia] (in Spanish). Archived from
the original
on 5 June 2011
. Retrieved
20 November
2010
.
- ^
Instituto Cervantes
(ed.).
"Capitulo 6: las emisiones televisivas"
[Chapter 6: television broadcasts]
(PDF)
(in Spanish). Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 8 September 2011
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
a
b
Radiotelevision Espanola, ed. (11 June 2006).
"El UHF, La Segunda Cadena, La 2"
[The UHF, The Second channel, La 2] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
Vaya Tele, ed. (26 October 2008).
"El tiempo es oro, Nostalgia TV"
[Time is money, Nostalgia TV] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
rtve.es, ed. (15 May 2010).
"Con las manos en la masa"
[With hands in the mass] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
30 June
2014
.
- ^
Eurovision-spain, ed. (15 January 2009).
"Jose Ramon Pardo: "Hay demasiado progre que ataca el festival, aunque luego lo ve en su casa"
"
[Jose Ramon Pardo: "There is too much progress in attacking the festival, although it is later seen at home"] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
El Pais, ed. (21 February 2004).
"
'Estadio 2' cumple 20 anos en TVE"
['Estadio 2' turns 20 on TVE] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
4 January
2012
.
- ^
a
b
El Pais, ed. (5 January 1991).
"Ramon Colom refuerza la segunda cadena en la nueva programacion de Television Espanola"
[Ramon Colom reinforces the second channel in the new Spanish Television programming] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
4 January
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
El Pais, ed. (8 September 1993).
"La 2 cambia de estrategia y se convierte en una cadena para menores de 30 anos"
[The 2 changes strategy and becomes a channel for minors of 30 years] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
4 January
2012
.
- ^
Fran Llorente (4 November 2009). RTVE (ed.).
"La 2 Noticias cumple 15 anos (la historia autentica)"
[La 2 Noticias turns 15 (the authentic story)] (in Spanish). Archived from
the original
on 30 December 2011
. Retrieved
4 January
2012
.
- ^
El Mundo, ed. (21 April 2010).
"
'Saber y ganar' cumple 3.000 citas con la cultura sin aburrir a la audiencia"
['Saber y ganar' fulfills 3,000 appointments with the culture without boring the hearing] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
Vertele, ed. (22 March 2001).
"Cine nacional sin cortes publicitarios en "Version espanola"
"
[National cinema without advertising breaks in "Spanish version"] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
Vaya Tele, ed. (23 May 2006).
"El secreto del exito de Los Lunnis"
[The secret of the success of The Lunnis] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
Editorial (14 September 2004). El Mundo (ed.).
"Los Telediarios de TVE lideran la audiencia de informativos en el primer dia de su nueva etapa"
[TVE newscasts lead the news audience on the first day of its new stage].
Agencia EFE
(in Spanish). Madrid
. Retrieved
30 June
2014
.
- ^
Vertele, ed. (7 June 2007).
"La 2 retrasa su prime time a las diez de la noche con la llegada del verano"
[La 2 delays its prime time at ten o'clock at night with the arrival of summer] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
4 January
2012
.
- ^
a
b
Vayatele, ed. (1 June 2010).
"La 2 se remodela, adios a Cultural?es"
[La 2 remodeled, bye to Cultural?es] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
4 January
2012
.
- ^
El Periodico de Cataluna, ed. (17 September 2010).
"El centro de TVE en Sant Cugat asumira la direccion de La 2"
[the center of TVE in Sant Cugat take the direction of La 2] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
5 January
2012
.
- ^
Mundoplus.tv, ed. (May 2010).
"Clan TVE alcanza a La 2 en audiencias"
[Clan TVE La 2 reaches hearings] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
4 January
2012
.
- ^
Communication room rtve.es (ed.).
"La 2, ahora en HD, refuerza su apuesta por la cultura con nuevos formatos de entretenimiento para todos los publicos"
[La 2, now in HD, reinforces its commitment to culture with new entertainment formats for all audiences] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
7 September
2017
.
- ^
Communication room rtve.es (ed.).
"RTVE inicia las emisiones en Alta Definicion (HD) en sus canales La 2 y Clan el proximo 31 de octubre"
[RTVE starts broadcasts in High Definition (HD) on its channels La 2 and Clan next 31 October] (in Spanish)
. Retrieved
30 October
2017
.
- ^
"La 1 UHD has already started its DTT broadcasts, it will be necessary to retune Teledeporte"
.
mundoplus.tv
(in Spanish). 11 February 2024.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
La 2 (TVE)
.
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