À Punt () is a

Valencian Valencian can refer to: * Something related to the Valencian Community ( Valencian Country) in Spain * Something related to the city of Valencia * Something related to the province of Valencia in Spain * Something related to the old Kingdom of ...

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

public broadcast Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

television channel owned and operated by the Valencian Media Corporation. It is the corporation's

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

and currently only television channel, and broadcasts mainstream programming mainly in the

Valencian language Valencian () or the Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community to refer to the Romance language also known as Catalan language, Catalan, 'hour'. However (although regarded as non ...

. It is part of

FORTA The Federation of Regional Organizations of Radio and Television (, FORTA) is the association of the public broadcasting networks from 12 autonomous communities of Spain. It was created on 5 April 1989. Members Non-members *Extremadura's CE ...

. The channel began regular broadcasts on 25 April 2018, as a successor of the defunct Nou, Nou 24 and Nou Dos, and is broadcast through the same

multiplex Multiplex may refer to: Science and technology * Multiplex communication, combining many signals into one transmission circuit or channel ** Multiplex (television), a group of digital television or radio channels that are combined for broadcast * ...

Availability

À Punt is available exclusively in the Valencian Community. Originally, it was intended to also be available in other Catalan-speaking territories, namely

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

and

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

, as is the case with

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...

and IB3 respectively, and to recover the defunct broadcasting of these channels in the area, but the Spanish government rejected the multiplex needed to establish it.

Terrestrial

Valencia (province) Valencia ( , ), officially València (), is a province of Spain, in the central part of the autonomous Valencian Community. Of the province's 2.7 million people (2024), almost one-third live in the capital, Valencia, which is also the capita ...

: Channel 29 *

Castellón (province) Castellón () may refer to: Places * Castellón de la Plana, the capital city of the province of Castellón, in Valencian Community, Spain * Province of Castellón, a province in Valencian Community, Spain * Castelló, formerly ''Castelló de la ...

: Channel 38 *

Alicante (province) Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: / ) is a Provinces of Spain, province located in eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province, containing the second and third biggest cities ...

: Channel 25

IPTV

Movistar Plus+ Movistar Plus+ (formerly Movistar+) is the trade name of the subscription platform for digital television owned by , which operates in Spain. The service is distributed via optical fiber and ADSL as well as with satellites such as Astra. The pl ...

: Channel 9

History

Background

On 29 November 2013, the former Valencian television channels, Nou, Nou 24 and Nou Dos, operated by Radiotelevisió Valenciana, abruptly ceased broadcasting as Alberto Fabra, president of the

Generalitat Valenciana The Generalitat Valenciana is the generic name covering the different self-government institutions under which the Spanish autonomous community of Valencia is politically organized. It consists of seven institutions including the ''Corts Valen ...

from 2011 to 2015, announced their closure. The shutdown followed a debt of €1.3 billion and continuous scandals of censorship and manipulation, such as information on the

Gürtel case The Gürtel case was a major political corruption scandal in Spain that implicated hundreds of officers of the People's Party (Spain), People's Party (PP), Spain's major Conservatism, conservative party, some of whom were subsequently forced to ...

or the metro accident in Valencia in 2006. After a ruling from the , the workers were laid off and the company was liquidated. In the summer of 2015, the new Valencian government of

Ximo Puig Joaquín Francisco Puig Ferrer (born 4 January 1959), known as Ximo Puig (), is a Spanish politician who served as President of the Valencian Government from 2015 to 2023. He was also the leader of the Socialist Party of the Valencian Country ...

started procedures to relaunch Valencian television, waiting for the

Corts Valencianes The Corts Valencianes (), commonly known as ''Les Corts'' (), are the main legislative body of the Generalitat Valenciana and therefore of the Valencian Community. The main location of the Corts is in the Palace of the Borgias in Valencia, Spain ...

to approve a definitive model. A provisional channel began broadcasting, with hardly any workers, prerecorded content, films, or series Nou had already acquired. Carta Ajust ApuntMedia

Creation

On 14 July 2016, the Corts approved with 64 votes in favour ( PSPV, Compromís, Podemos and Ciutadans) and 26 abstentions ( PP) a law proposal for the creation of the Valencian Media Corporation. On 30 August 2017, the new Valencian television started broadcasting a test card presenting the new name as ''À Punt Media''. By December, the test card began broadcasting audio from the new '.

Launch

On December 18, 2017, the first broadcasts began on the À Punt website, displaying the existing Valencian dubs of ''

Doraemon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. First serialized in 1969, the manga's chapters were collected in 45 volumes published by Shogakukan from 1974 to 1996. The story revolves around an earless robotic ...

'', ''

Hamtaro ''Hamtaro'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga and storybook series created and illustrated by Ritsuko Kawai about a hamster. The manga was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Shōgaku Ninensei'' (''Second Grade'') magazine in April ...

'' and ''

Case Closed ''Case Closed'', also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' since January 1994; its chapters are collected in 10 ...

.'' Regular broadcasts began on 10 June 2018, with full 24-hour programming. The channel's launch was realised at 14:30 CEST, with the first edition of ''À Punt Notícies'', a 45-minute news report presented by Adelaida Ferre and Vanessa Gregori.

Audiences

À Punt's audience was not measured until October 2018, four months after the start of broadcasts. Although the first week of the month it reached 2.4%, from the second week onwards, it dropped to 1.4%, far from the set target of 4%. Towards the end of the first year, the average audience was 2%, with ''Doraemon'' leading the audience with a 6% share. In the summer of 2019, the station increased its audience with a share of 2.4%. For the autumn and winter season, the television schedule changed with more information timespaces and a new season for comedy programme ''Assumptes Interns''. By late 2022, À Punt reached an average audience higher than state-wide Spanish channels

La Sexta La Sexta (; ; stylised as laSexta) is a privately owned Spanish free-to-air television channel that was founded on 18 March 2001 as Beca TV and began broadcasting on 1 April 2001. By 21 July 2003, the channel ran into debt and was shut down, bu ...

and La 2. In March 2023, À Punt reached its highest monthly audience, with a 4.4% share.

Notes

References

External links

{{Spanish television stations Catalan-language television stations Television channels and stations established in 2017 Mass media in the Valencian Community Television stations in Spain FORTA