Creation of 'The second channel' In the 1960s, the
Spanish minister of Information and Tourism,
Manuel Fraga Iribarne, decided that Televisión Española should start broadcasting a second television channel on the UHF band, following other European broadcasters that did the same. On 1 January 1965, TVE's second television service was launched in
Madrid as a test broadcast, 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. 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 in Madrid,
Zaragoza and
Barcelona, There was a high share of cultural programmes, like
classical music blocks or
theatre slots. 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. 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. Another important program was
A fondo (In depth) (1976-1981), a talk show presented by
Joaquín Soler Serrano which discussed with personalities from the artistic, literary and scientific fields of the time. 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 and the
Canary Islands. 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. 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. In the mandates of and
Pilar Miró, 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. The 1980s also marked the premiere of emblematic programs such as the cultural magazine
Metropoli (1985), 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. 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. 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 and sudden popularity of private television in 1989, with the first airing of
Antena 3 and
Tele 5 As of 1991, TVE-2 was renamed as
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 addition, La 2 issued US series with no place on La Primera:
The Simpsons (until 1993), One year later was launched
Versión española (Spanish version), Spanish film program presented by
Cayetana Guillén Cuervo 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), 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.
Present day 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 Milá became the host of
Telediario of
La 1. The new direction redirects the offer to the young public, with the advance of
primetime at 9:30 p.m., 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, 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. 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.
La 2 HD On 7 September 2017, during the presentation of the new season of the channel,
Televisión Española announced the launch of the
high definition signal of La 2, 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. With standard-definition feed discontinued on 11 February 2024, it has only been available in HD ever since.
Upcoming Catalan regional version and new opt-outs On 29 January 2025, a joint Junts-PSOE agreement paved way for La 2 to broadcast entirely in Catalan from 2027 in Catalonia. On 28 March 2025, the RTVE Administrative Council unanimously approved the creation of the new channel, named
2CAT, with Laura Folguera appointed as director. The move comes as part of RTVE's growing commitment towards regional languages to reflect "a plural Spain and multilingualism", with sister channel
Clan seeing a 25% increase in Catalan-language content in local opt-outs. On 1 April, the RTVE board announced that it would increase opt-outs for the channel, which as of the time of the decision, were limited to Madrid, Catalonia and the Canary Islands. For this end, talks with
Cellnex regarding the feasibility of the project were held, aiming to increase it to the remaining autonomous communities. La 2, on a national scale, initiated a plan to potentiate its possibilities in order to give a "new impulse", claiming that its programming was largely disconnected from each other, as if it were "a big box full of little boxes". The network already premiered
Malas lenguas in March, but plans a wider revamp in September, with the beginning of the new television season. ==Logo history==