Educational Television in Spain: the offer of Atresmedia, Mediaset and RTVE

Abstract

This paper provides an overview on the origins and the evolution of educational television in Spain and, then, studies the current offer of the three main Spanish audiovisual groups, in order to assess the current situation. To achieve this purpose, we first carried out a literature review and, later, we applied a content analysis, being a specific methodology, to the television programming of Atresmedia, Mediaset and RTVE during the week between the 19th and the 25th of April, 2021. We have utilized an analysis sheet that allowed us to identify the main characteristics of the educational programs that are broadcasted in each channel (duration, broadcast schedule, frequency, genre, type of production and model of educational television, according to the categorization of Pérez Tornero, 2007). Based on the conducted research, it can be concluded that educational television in Spain is dominated by external production content and that the percentage of formats produced within the European Union (51,3%) and outside the EU (48,7%) are very similar. Another feature that has been identified is that television contents are expanded towards the digital arena, in the websites of the media groups within our sample. This dynamic confirms that there is an expansion of educational television towards new media, which can also be exploited for educational purposes. However, educational television in Atresmedia and Mediaset occupies a marginal space in Spanish television programming compared to RTVE.