Andorra
Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...
n
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 ...
television channel owned and operated by
public broadcaster
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 ...
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 ...
television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream and generalist programming, including ''l'Informatiu'' news bulletins,
prime time
Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
drama, cinema and entertainment, and major
breaking news
Breaking news, also called late-breaking news, a special report, special coverage, or a news flash, is a current issue that warrants the interruption of a scheduled broadcast in order to report its details. News broadcasters also use the term ...
, sports and special events. It was launched on 4 December 1995.
History
The first broadcasts of an experimental service began on 1 January 1991 under the name Televisió d'Andorra (TVA) through the frequency of Canal 33. Several sporadic broadcasts were held between 1991 and 1995.
Test transmissions began the evening of Monday 4 December 1995, still using the frequency of Canal 33, airing a special broadcast spearheaded by important political figures of the time: head of government Marc Forné, general trustee Josep Dallerès, and the president of Organisme de Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra (ORTA, now RTVA), Enric Tolsa. Over time, it gradually presented its team of journalists and technicians, who started to give headway to the new television channel. The following day, Tuesday 5 December 1995, at 2:45pm, the regular broadcasts started precisely at the moment Ramon Font opened the first newscast of an Andorran television channel, ''Informatiu Migdia'' (Midday News); the first news item was the highlight of the day: the premiere of Andorra's public television would mark that day as a milestone in Andorra's history. The technical team was provided by Andorran company Antena 7, who had already made a few broadcasts in the late 80s.
The first drama series created by the channel was broadcast on Monday 1 November 1999. It was called ''Cim de passions'' (Height of Passions) and was about a family of hoteliers. The script of the series was written by Marta Cruells, Ester Nadal was in charge of directing the actors and the production was carried out by Raimon Cartró. The plot was adapted to the Andorran reality and focused on the struggles and relationships in a family of hoteliers. It was co-produced by ORTA and Inlingua. Another noteworthy series was ''Art de Garatge'' (Garage Art) in 2012, created by Daniel Arellano Mesina and a group of young people who proposed the project to Andorra Televisió. The series also had the collaboration of an actor from Spanish series ''
Física o Química
''Física o Química'' (English: "Physics or Chemistry") is a Spanish drama television series produced by Ida y Vuelta Producciones for Antena 3 (Spain), Antena 3 that was originally broadcast from 4 February 2008 to 13 June 2011.Club Piolet'' with its own magazine and its own membership club.
One of the greatest leaps made by Andorra Televisión in its development was its participation in the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
, since it entailed a whole logistical process that until that moment was not operational, or in any case, it gave the viewer a quality that had not been presented until then. Thus, on May 12, 2004, Catalan was played for the first time in the most important music competition in Europe. ATV participated in five more editions of the festival.
Marta Roure
Marta Roure i Besolí (born 16 January 1981) is an Andorran singer and actress. She represented Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with her song " Jugarem a estimar-nos", earning the eighteenth place in the semifinal. It was the first ...
, Marian Van de Wal, Jenny, the Anonymous, Gisela and Susanne Georgi defended the country in front of more than 400 million viewers in one of the most important television shows in the world. The first participation was possible thanks to the collaboration of
Televisió de Catalunya
Televisió de Catalunya (, known by the acronym TVC) is the public broadcasting network of Catalonia, one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain.
It is part of the Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals, a public corporation c ...
, which with the program ''12 Punts'' made available to the Catalan and Andorran public who would represent Andorra in the 2004 contest held in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. For budget and public deficit reasons, RTVA no longer participates in the festival since 2010.
On the other hand, the live broadcasts of the
Games of the Small States of Europe
The Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) is a biennial multi-sport event, launched by the Republic of San Marino, organized by and featuring the National Olympic Committees of nine European small state, small states since 1985. The Games a ...
also stand out. The last time Andorra hosted the competitions, Andorra Televisió made a sufficiently large deployment that also coincided with the Eurovision participations, thus confirming the step forward towards a higher logistical level. The web news portal informatius.ad was also a big change but was left aside to be replaced later by AndorraDifusió.ad in 2014. With this new web platform, the house's news for the first time incorporated direct that precisely they had the starting point with the visit of the Cycling Tour of Spain to Andorra.
In April 2014, Xavier Mujal, new director of Andorra Televisió, made public the intention to continue working in the potential of its news service. In declarations to Cadena Ser Principat d'Andorra he argumented that the news services of Andorra Televisió were the most seen in the country, which obliged more to potentiate this field.
From 1 July 2016, Andorra Televisió ceased broadcasting to the municipalities of the Catalan Pyrenees, limiting its coverage area to the Principality of Andorra. In fact, this television broadcast in Catalan territory in accordance with an agreement signed in 2010 but which expired in 2016. The television management decided not to renew it and save around 120,000 euros a year.
Frequencies
Digital Frequencies
* Channel 42 UHF:
Andorra
Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...
* Channel 61 UHF:
Alt Urgell
Alt Urgell () is a ''comarca'' (county) in the Alt Pirineu region, in Catalonia, Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de ...
Logos and identities
Televisió d'Andorra (1991-1992).png, 1991 to 1992
Andorra Televisió (1995-2000).png, 1995 to 1996
Logo Andorra Televisió (2000-2005).png, 1996 to 2005
Andorra tv2.png, 2005 to 2013
Logo Andorra Televisió.png, Since 2013