Catalonia has tried to gain full membership of the EBU, as the region looked at routes to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Participant member of the European Broadcasting Union
Catalunya Música is a radio station that is part of Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals. The station is one of a handful of ‘Approved participant members’ of the European Broadcasting Union.
According to the EBU, this membership is given to:
“Organisations from an ITU country with an activity in the field of broadcasting which for any reason do not qualify for membership or associate membership but whose participation in certain EBU activities is considered useful for the Union may be admitted as approved participants in those fields.”
Attempt for full EBU Membership
Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals is a public radio and television broadcaster owned by the regional government of Catalonia. One if its radio stations is an approved participant, however, the organisation as a whole is not a member of the European Broadcasting Union, however in 2018, the Catalan Parliament pushed for the organisation to attempt to gain full membership of the European Broadcasting Union. The Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals is formed of the following broadcasters;
- Televisió de Catalunya – Formed of seven channels including TV3
- Catalunya Ràdio – Formed of four radio networks
The Catalan broadcaster argued that it was eligible to be a member on the basis of rules of the EBU state that;
3.15. A group of broadcasting organisations from the same country which provide either a joint national programme service or, in countries with two or more linguistic areas, a separate programme service for each such area, may be admitted as a single Member if it is a de jure or de facto association of such organisations, and provided that, individually or collectively, they comply with the membership conditions laid down in Articles 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6 above.
It was reported at the time that CCM was looking at what EBU events it could start broadcasting to help boost its membership chances. Among the programs being discussed is the Eurovision Song Contest, and whether it could provide Catalan language coverage of the competition.
In March 2019, it was reported in Catalan media that TV3 had a three-point plan in its aim to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. The broadcaster confirmed that it would hold a national selection show to determine the Catalan representative.
By April 2019, it was confirmed that a membership application had been received by the European Broadcasting Union. The EBU stated at the time that a decision would be made by the summer of 2019.
On July 8 2019, it was confirmed that the CCMA’s EBU membership application had been rejected. Claire Rainford, a spokesperson for the EBU explained that:
“The EBU does not have, nor has it ever had, any regional station of a member state of the International Telecommunication Union or the Council of Europe as an independent member. EBU statutes do not offer this possibility.”
CCMA had been hoping to be a member of the EBU based on the recent debut of Scotland and Wales at Eurovision events. The EBU added:
“The United Kingdom is a unitary state made up of four constituent nations, not regions or autonomous communities as In addition, the United Kingdom envisages that the territories participate separately in sporting events.”
Following this point Catalonia’s plans for full membership of the European Broadcasting Union have been put on hold and have not been discussed further.
Catalonia and the Eurovision Song Contest
While Catalonia is not able to participate in Eurovision events, it has still be involved in a selection for the Eurovision Song Contest.
TV3 co-operated with the Andorran national broadcaster in 2004 on its selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. RTVA worked with TV3, the Catalan regional broadcaster to produce the Andorran selection process for Eurovision Song Contest.
In 2019, it was reported that RTVA would be open to working with TV3 again should Andorra return to the Eurovision Song Contest. In February 2025, it was reported that TV3 was looking to collaborate with RTVA to bring Andorra back to the Eurovision Song Contest with a Catalan representative.
Other Eurovision Family & EBU Events
Let the People’s Sing
In 2019, Catalonia hosted its first EBU event, Let the People’s Sing. Catalunya Ràdio through Catalunya Música’s approved participant membership, was the host broadcaster for the contest which was held in Barcelona on October 13 at the Palau de la Música Catalana.
Let the People’s Sing was first held in 1961 by the BBC as an annual choral contest for choirs in the United Kingdom, since 1966 it has been a choral competition for choirs across Europe. Since the late 1970s, the European Broadcasting Union has organised the event with choirs allowed to compete from across the globe.
- 2015 – Cor Infantil Amics de la Unio – Winner of the Children and Youth Category & Overall Winner
- 2017 – Catalunya Música also aired 2017 final
- 2019 – Cor de Noies de l’Orfeó Catalá – Finalist Children and Youth Category
During the history of the Eurovision Song Contest and Eurovision family of events over fifty countries have competed, but there are more countries eligible or interested in participating. Find out more here.