National broadcaster from Catalonia 3Cat has become an Ancillary Member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) following a vote at this week’s 96th EBU General Assembly held in Prague.
3Cat joins the EBU as Ancillary Member
Catalan broadcaster 3Cat has joined the EBU as an Ancillary Member following a vote held at the bi-annual EBU General Assembly. 3Cat is the public service broadcaster of the Catalonia region, broadcasting in Catalan to over 8 million people.
The admission of 3Cat to the EBU follows a revision to the EBU’s Statutes, also approved by the General Assembly. This creates a new Ancillary Membership category within the EBU. The framework recognises broadcasting organisations that “serve a large autonomous linguistic community and whose participation brings value to the EBU”.
Noel Curran, Director of the EBU said:
3Cat are a modern, forward-looking broadcaster with strong expertise to share – in Catalan-language content, in digital transformation, in the kind of regional public service journalism that is critical to the audience it serves. Ancillary Membership means we can work together more fully, and the whole community benefits from that.
In a press release from the EBU, the organisation confirmed that 3Cat’s membership formalises a long-standing relationship. As an Approved Participant through Catalunya Música, 3Cat has engaged with the EBU across a range of services and communities. It will continue to do so as an Ancillary Member, providing news, audio and music in the Catalan dialect.
The EBU’s membership now contains 115 organisations, spanning globally across 57 countries.
Catalonia’s history within Eurovision
While Catalonia and Catalan broadcasters have never participated in Eurovision independently, a number of Eurovision and wider EBU events have still had Catalan interest.
Catalonia’s TV3 channel operated in conjunction with Andorra’s RTVA on the national selection show for Andorra’s 2004 Eurovision debut. Viewers in Catalonia were given a say in the national selection for Andorra in 2004, with the jury and public ultimately choosing Marta Roure with “Jugarem a estimar-nos” performed in Catalan to represent Andorra at the Contest in Istanbul. The nation failed to qualify from the semi-final on their debut. Marta Roure was awarding only 12 points in total, all of which coming from Spain, and the song finished 18th in the semi-final.
In 2009, Andorra sent another song partially performed in the Catalan dialect with Susanne Georgi performing “La teva decisió (Get A Life)” at the contest in Moscow. Andorra once again failed to qualify from the semi-finals, placing 15th out of 18 in the first semi-final in Moscow, receiving points from Portugal, Malta and Türkiye.
Several performers from Catalonia have represented Spain in the Contest over the years, most notably Chanel with “SloMo” in 2022. Whilst the artist is Cuban born, she moved to Catalonia with her family aged 3. She ultimately finished 3rd at the Contest in Turin, receiving 228 points from televoters and 231 from juries.
Another notable performer from Catalonia is Salomé with her song “Vivo cantando” which won the contest in 1969 for Spain, alongside The Netherlands, UK and France in the infamous 4-way tie. She also released a Catalan version of the song after the contest.
What do you think of 3Cat becoming an Ancillary Member of the EBU? Would you like to see an independent Catalan entry to the Contest? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, Bluesky, and ZOOP for more information about Eurovision 2027!
News Source: EBU / 3Cat
Image Credit: 3Cat
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