La 2 (, ''The Two'') is a Spanish

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 subscripti ...

television channel owned and operated by

Televisión Española Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in ...

(TVE), the television division of state-owned

public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE). It is the corporation's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.T ...

and

public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

programming, including documentaries, concerts, theatre and independent,

Ibero-America Ibero-America ( es, Iberoamérica, pt, Ibero-América) or Iberian America is a region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish or Portuguese are predominant languages (usually former territories of Portugal or Spain). ...

n 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 A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

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 Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship. It was the United States′ first model of radio (a ...

was launched on 25 January 1990, when Antena 3 started broadcasting nationwide. As it started broadcasting on

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

frequencies the channel was initially simply referred to as "UHF". It received other names, such as "Cadena II", "Segunda Cadena", "Segundo Programa" or "TVE-2" until it adopted its current name "La 2" (''La dos'') during the 1990s. Its headquarters and main production center is

Prado del Rey Prado del Rey is a city located in the province of Cádiz, Spain. According to the 2005 census, the city has a population of 5,968 inhabitants. History Human remains have been found dating back to the Paleolithic but the first mention in anci ...

in Pozuelo de Alarcón with some programmes produced in TVE's production center in San Cugat del Vallés. Although almost all its programming is in Spanish and is the same for all of Spain, TVE has territorial centers in every

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

and produces and broadcasts some local programming in regional variations in each of them in the corresponding co-official language.

History

Creation of 'The second channel' (UHF)

In the 1960s, the Spanish minister of Information and Tourism,

Manuel Fraga Iribarne Manuel Fraga Iribarne (; 23 November 1922 – 15 January 2012) was a Spanish professor and politician in Francoist Spain, who was also the founder of the People's Party. Fraga was Minister of Information and Tourism between 1962 and 1969, Ambas ...

, decided that Televisión Española should start broadcasting a second television channel on UHF frequencies, following other European broadcasters that did the same. On 1 January 1965, TVE's second television service was launched in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

as a test broadcast, with programming limited to 4 hours at night that consisted on musical slots and re-airings of TV shows from Primera Cadena, mostly '' Telediario'' newscasts and ''

Estudio 1 ''Estudio 1'' was a long-running Spanish TV drama series by Televisión Española since 1965 presenting many classic plays for the home audience. It was equivalent to '' :fr:Au théâtre ce soir'' (1966-1985) on TF1 and ''Play of the Month'' (1 ...

''. Regular broadcasts were started on 15 November 1966. TVE started producing original programming for the channel, mainly produced at the broadcaster's headquarters in Barcelona. UHF's first director was Salvador Pons Muñoz. In its first years, the channel could only be received on Madrid,

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Province of Zaragoza, Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Ara ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, 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 an UHF decoder 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 ( es, Escuela Oficial de Cine), such as Claudio Guerin,

Pedro Olea Pedro Olea (30 June 1938, Bilbao) is a Spanish screenwriter, film producer and film director. His 1984 film ''Akelarre'' was entered into the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. Selected directorial filmography * ''Días de viejo color'' (1 ...

or Antonio Mercero, people who would use the channel as a test zone to air alternative programming, such as documentaries or fiction shows. There was a high share of cultural programmes, like

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

blocks or

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

slots.

1970s

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. Coverage reached the main cities of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, but although TVE pointed out that only "three years" would pass before UHF could be tuned in all Spain, the second channel could not get it until 1982. For this reason it was not strange that successful programs in the 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. 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." During the

Spanish transition Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries ** Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

, 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 Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

, preceded by a film related to the subject. Another important program was ''A fondo (In depth)'' (1976-1981), a talk show presented by

Joaquín Soler Serrano Joaquín Soler Serrano (19 August 1919, Murcia - 7 September 2010, Barcelona 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). Another important aspect was the consolidation of the station's regional broadcasting centres, most importantly in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

and the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...

. TVE Cataluña started producing and broadcasting regional programming in opt-outs through the ''Circuit Català'' (Catalan circuit), while continuing to produce content for nationwide broadcasts. In 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.

1980s

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. In the mandates of and

Pilar Miró Pilar Mercedes Miró Romero (20 April 1940 in Madrid – 19 October 1997 in Madrid) was a Spanish screenwriter and film director. She was the General Director of RTVE from 1986 to 1989. In the 1990s, she directed the television broadcasts of the ...

, TVE-2 continued to be a cultural channel that accommodated spaces not appropriate for the first channel. In the midst of the Movida Madrileña phenomenon, it premiered ''La Edad de Oro (The Golden Age)'' (1983), directed and presented by , that with time it turned into a

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

. The 1980s also marked the premiere of emblematic programs such as the cultural magazine ''Metropoli'' (1985), the game show ''El tiempo es oro (Time is money)'' (1987) presented by Constantino Romero and ''

Con las manos en la masa ''Con las manos en la masa'' is a Spanish cooking show by Televisión Española, directed and presented by Elena Santonja, aired between 1984 and 1991 on TVE-2. It is the first ever Spanish cooking show in the history of television. History Alt ...

(Hands on the bat)'' (1984), directed and presented by

Elena Santonja María Elena Santonja Esquivias (29 May 1932 – 17 October 2016) was a Spanish TV presenter and occasional actress. Biography She was the host of some shows in the early days of TVE such as '' Entre nosotras'' (1958), but she reached fame as ...

, considered the first cooking show in Spanish television history. On the other hand, TVE-2 retained the broadcast of special events live, some of which exceeded in audience the first channel: the European football competitions (

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

and

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

), the

Spanish First Division The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

in communities without autonomic television, the qualifying matches of the

Spain national football team The Spain national football team ( es, Selección Española de Fútbol) has represented Spain in international men's football competitions since 1920. It is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football ...

, and the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

from 1984 to 1992. In 1984, it premiered ''Estadio 2'', specializing in sports broadcasts, information and a live results service during the weekends.

Creation of «La 2»

The channel strategy of TVE changed with the emergence of private television in 1989. 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 minoría''» (''La 2, for a huge minority''). The following director of TVE, Ramón Colom, would redefine the concept towards a smaller target audience aged 30 years old. 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 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 Milá (presenter) and Fran Llorente (news director). In addition, La 2 issued US series with no place on The First: ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

'' (until 1993), ''

Northern Exposure ''Northern Exposure'' is an American Northern comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents of a fictional small town in Alaska that ran on CBS from July 12, 1990, to July 26, 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. It received 57 ...

'', '' 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 The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, the Liga Asobal of

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

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. 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. One year later was launched ''Versión española (Spanish version)'', Spanish film program presented by

Cayetana Guillén Cuervo Cayetana Guillén Cuervo (born 13 June 1969) is a Spanish actress, journalist and TV presenter. Early life and background Born on 13 June 1969 in Madrid, both of her parents, Fernando Guillén and Gemma Cuervo as well as her brother, Fernan ...

and that offered films without advertising breaks. Other important spaces were ''La noche temática (The thematic night)'' (documentary block of the pan-European channel

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plu ...

), 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 ''Los Lunnis'' is a Spanish children's television show produced by TVE and broadcast by La 2 from 15 September 2003 and Clan since 2010 after the change on La 2's programming. It was also broadcast on the weekends in La 1 until 2011. Its charact ...

'', the latter one of his greatest commercial successes.

Current situation

In 2004 there are changes 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 Milá becomes the host of the Telediario of La 1. The new direction redirects the offer to the young public, with the advance of

primetime Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

at 9:30 p.m., the gradual disappearance of regional programming (except for a few blocks in

and

) and the entry of series

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

as '' Six Feet Under'', ''

Two and a half men ''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, t ...

'', '' The OC'' or ''

Gilmore girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel ( Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flag ...

''. On 1 June 2010, the Board of Directors of

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service kno ...

made La 2 into a strictly cultural channel, 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 Teledeporte (TDP) is a Spanish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Televisión Española (TVE), the television division of state-owned public broadcaster Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE). It is the corporation's sports telev ...

) and infantile (which continued exclusively on

Clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, mea ...

). Instead, it introduced cultural programming from the channel Cultural·es. In addition, an address was created for the channel and its management was moved from Torrespaña, to the center of TVE Cataluña in San Cugat del Vallés,

. 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

La 2 HD

On 7 September 2017, during the presentation of the new season of the channel,

announced the launch of the high definition signal of La 2, which started issuing 31 October 2017 in

, 7 November 2017 in the rest of

(except

and

), 14 November 2017 in

and 21 November 2017 in

Logos and identities

File:TVE 2 1986.svg, 1966 to 1976, 1983 to January 1991 File:Logo TVE 2 1976-1983.svg, 1976 to 1983 File:TVE 2 1991.svg, January to September 1991 File:Logo La 2 1991-2003.svg, 1991 to 2002 File:Tve2-logo2.png, 2002 to 2008 File:TVE2 logo (2000-2003).png, 2000 to 2002 Tve2 2003.png, 2003 File:Logo TVE-2.svg, December 2008 to present

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2 (Spanish TV channel) RTVE 2 Television channels and stations established in 1966 Spanish-language television stations 1966 establishments in Spain