Reformulating proximity television model in the context of the economic crisis in Catalonia (2008-2014)

Copyright © 2016 (Josep Àngel Guimerà). Between 2008 and 2014, the Catalan administration has deployed a communication policy that has dramatically transformed the model of local television designed in Catalonia in 2004-2005. This supposed a turnabout from public policies carried out since 2005, when Catalonia opted for its own model of local television in order to manage the transition to DTT. This article describes in detail the process of legal change of that model. It also provides an interpretation of both the sense of that change and its implications. Shortcomings of the model defined in 2004-05, the economic crisis but also political interests of the Catalan Government from 2012 appear to be the main reasons. From a qualitative methodological applied on a relevant case, the research presented here helps to generate knowledge about a little treated object: the impact of the crisis on the Spanish local television and the reactions of the administration facing the delicate situation of an always weak sector.