Catalan public broadcaster loses 9 million in the first half of the year
The Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals (CCMA), the body that manages Catalonia’s public media such as TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio, has lost 9.09 million euros in the first half of the year. This figure is four times the level of losses recorded in the same period last year, when it posted a loss of 2.2 million euros.
The public broadcaster has swollen its losses in a period marked by stagnating turnover and rising costs. Between January and June, the CCMA earned 24.8 million euros, slightly more than in the same period last year, when it earned 24.1 million, while at the same time it had to face higher costs as a result of inflation. The largest of these was supplies, which rose by 2.5 million euros to 29.7 million euros.
Personnel costs also increased significantly. In this variable, the TV3 broadcaster allocated 97.7 million euros, which is almost 7 million more than in the first half of 2022.
The parent company of TV3 and Catalunya Radio spent 7 million more on its workforce to almost 100 million.
The CCMA has increased its losses in a first half of the year in which the Generalitat has increased its subsidy by 3.1 million euros to benefit from 127 million euros from the Catalan public coffers. In addition, it has debts of 128,000 euros (14,000 euros more).
The red numbers of this period are also driven by the increase in external services, the item that covers the contracting of production companies, located at 33.6 million euros (2.7 million more).
New phase
Consolidating a solvent model of Catalan public broadcasting is one of the objectives set by the CCMA’s top management, headed for the past year by Rosa Romà, in a phase marked by the launch of its streaming platform, a project for which it plans to invest 30 million euros; the launch of a new channel aimed at Generation Z; and the christening of 3CAT, the new corporate brand that merges TV3 and Catalunya Radio.
