2Cat set a July audience record, posting La 2’s strongest monthly result in Catalonia since the 2008 Beijing Olympics as its Catalan-language coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 drew viewers. The channel reached a 4.5% average share and 4,086,000 unique viewers, information from RTVE, up 28.6% from June.
FIFA World Cup matches drove much of the audience. Football broadcasts on 2Cat averaged a 10.7% share, making it Catalonia’s second-most-watched channel during the tournament and the leading Catalan-language broadcaster. In the same time slots, 2Cat doubled TV3’s audience. The July 19 final lifted the channel to an 8.6% daily average share, its highest ever, and a peak of more than 500,000 viewers. Its share reached 16.3% at the minute of highest audience. EN Blau also reported that the Portugal-Spain match drew a large audience, reflecting how live broadcasts can concentrate viewers.
2Cat also posted strong results for its own Catalan-language programming. Nearly 60% of its broadcast hours in July were in Catalan, and those programs achieved a 5.1% share. Among the most-watched shows were Pla Seqüència, hosted by Jordi Basté, with a 5.8% share; Cuina brutal at 4.8%; L’any que vas néixer and Rescat, both at 4.4%; and Punts de vista at 2.9%, according to RTVE’s July audience figures.
Digital viewing also increased. RTVE Catalunya’s content on RTVE Play attracted more than 280,000 visitors in July, up 234% from the same month in 2025, according to RTVE. Separately, Catalan media outlet AREAVISUAL-CAT reported a 113% rise in 2Cat’s consumption through RTVE Play, alongside an expansion of the service’s programming.
The expansion includes plans for eight hours of live programming each day, alongside recorded content. AREAVISUAL-CAT has described 2Cat as moving toward a more autonomous channel structure, about a year after its launch. This would broaden RTVE’s Catalan-language offer in a market where TV3 has traditionally been a leading broadcaster. July’s figures show how live sports and regular programming can expand a channel’s reach.
RTVE’s broader audience has also grown. Spain’s National Commission on Markets and Competition reported that 55.7% of Spaniards regularly watched at least one RTVE channel in the second quarter of 2026, up from 52.1% in the previous survey. The figures put 2Cat’s rise within a wider period of increased reach for the public broadcaster. Its World Cup performance also shows the particular impact major live events can have on viewing patterns.
