At what point is À Punt: balance to the new Valencian radio and television
Born a little over five years ago, the founding myth of À Punt —the new Valencian public broadcaster— started from Canal Nou with the desire to make a clean sweep of its legacy. The old entity had been closed by the Alberto Fabra Administration after a journey that had ended with the stamp of those who speculate on a residential building in a neighborhood about to be gentrified: degrading it so that, when the residents are kicked out, it seems inevitable.
This origin partly explains À Punt's approach: its mission was not to be Canal Nou. But… what did he want to be? Five years later there seems to be no response beyond the allegation to the public media. It was born, explains the television analyst Borja Terán, in a time that perhaps did not correspond to him, more typical of the old Canal Nou era than of his own: “One of the problems is that he did it imitating a regional television of the 90s, when we were no longer there. The structure of the programming was very reminiscent of those times: the first children's program referred to Babalà, when children no longer watch television like that. It should have been born with a media spirit, understanding that today there are two ways to make television: one way for the live company and another for the production of content that identifies us”.
If he came to repeal the bad practices of Canal Nou, his great must is that he has not been able to generate his own habits. “It has not managed to penetrate civil society nor has it managed to make people believe that it was a necessary public service”, says analyst Mariola Cubells. “His most serious shortcoming is not having a clear objective about where he wants to go. He has tried to be excessively equidistant, excessively neutral.”. There is a certain consensus that the general director, Alfred Costa, has tried to carry out a professional management that, on many occasions, has run into the wall of the excessive zeal of the governing council. The independence of the information services is also recognized, with better numbers than the programs.
Its audience, in 2022, placed it as the thirteenth autonomous community in the country in percentage share. Just 3.1%, close to 0.2% below 2021. A substantial difference compared to TV3 (14.1), TVG (10.5) or Aragón TV (10.5). During 2023, it obtains a few tenths of a rebound linked especially to news coverage and festive broadcasts. Perhaps for this reason, one of its best months was last March, when the coincidence of Las Fallas and La Magdalena raised the audience to 4.4%.. The coverage of the regional and municipal elections last May also allowed it to reach 6.6% on that day.
On the other hand, hardly any format has been consolidated over time and recognizable figures such as Carolina Ferre and Eugeni Alemany were inexplicably ousted from the centrality of the chain. Nor was Bona Vesprada consolidated, presented by Máximo Huerta, now back with the interview format La vida al Màxim. Paradoxically, compared to his original desire, one of the most sustained contents has been L'Alqueria Blanca, the series that survived Canal Nou. One of the latest additions is that of Ximo Rovira, a regular face in the past at the head of Tómbola, his signing (he will present the evening magazine) aims to reconnect with an audience that fell by the wayside.
Regarding the positioning of its contents, Borja Terán considers that “television is a meeting and one must not be prejudiced with the presenters who were in the collective imagination (…). À Punt has to be on the street, but beyond the talkative live shows, beyond the condescending costumbrismo. Television is launching to show society with its nuances and not with its clichés. Beyond a naive vision, because society is full of chiaroscuro”. His own name, adds Terán, has not helped him either: “He never finished understanding himself. It is not associated with a television, it is a play on words that does not help to investigate the channel.
It must be a television “more of a traveling companion for Valencians”, says Terán. “I think he has very good communicators, but he has to make less decisions based on prejudice and more by looking at television talent”.
The arrival of the PP and Vox to the Government of the Generalitat have fueled the possibility of a sudden change in its programming. “If in favorable times for public television, such as those that supposedly have existed, it has not been possible to establish itself, with Vox at the head of Valencian culture, I fear the worst,” says Cubells.. “They do not respect our language or our hallmarks and we can return to the worst of the worst times of Canal Nou. With an aggravating circumstance: now Valencian society has turned its back on it, it does not even take it into account to criticize it”.