The CAC report addresses the impact of AI in audiovisuals

The latest edition of Audiovisual Market of Catalonia has been the framework in which the CAC (Audiovisual Council of Catalonia) has presented its 2024 report, in which AI plays a central role by directly impacting areas such as copyright, misinformation or education.

The report on audiovisual in Catalonia 2024, presented by Laura Pinyol, responsible for the CAC research area, analyzes the disruptive role of artificial intelligence (AI) generative in aspects such as copyright, misinformation, audiovisual education, gender and journalism. It also presents, like every year, an x-ray of the sector, and places emphasis on how the consumption is increasing in the new audiovisual systems, like the video on demand platforms and social networks.

Regarding copyright, the report highlights the open debate between the companies promoting artificial intelligence and the sectors that defend copyright regulation. The study indicates that on February 25, the Trump Administration launched the AI Action Plan, a project that aims to consolidate the leadership of the United States of America in this technology. In this framework, the company OpenAI, owner of ChatGPT, defends freedom of access to content and protects itself “from autocracies, laws and bureaucracy.”

In relation to the topic of disinformation, the vice president has explained that we are witnessing a destructive cycle that begins with fake news, multiplies with viralization and produces polarization, which represents an erosion of democracy. Furthermore, Pinyol has indicated that the education It is an essential area that calls for public intervention in the face of the challenge of artificial intelligence to avoid risks and dysfunctions. The vice president of the Consell has alluded to the need to address education, whether it is about defending people from AI or taking advantage of new tools.”

X-ray of the Catalan audiovisual sector

He Report on audiovisual in Catalonia 2024 shows that the Catalan audiovisual sector had a turnover of 8,636 million euros in 2023, a figure that represents an increase of 14.1% compared to the previous year and represents 3% of Catalonia's GDP. The sector had a total of 4,161 companies in 2024, which represented, with data from 2023, 41,866 jobs. Companies grew by 4% and employment increased by 12.6% compared to previous years.

In a segmented way, the main driving force of the audiovisual sector in Catalonia was the audiovisual entertainment (4,434 million euros), followed by advertising and communication (3,087 million euros) and the media (1,115 million euros). Globally, the turnover of the audiovisual sector was 2.8 trillion dollars (2023 data), 5% more than the previous year and higher than the 3.2% growth of the world economy, which shows the vitality of the sector.

Catalonia's own audiovisual system, which brings together the audiovisual services established in the Principality, is made up of 494 audiovisual communication services. These almost half a thousand audiovisual services are distributed by typology in 66 television channels (the sum of 50 DTT television channels and 16 internet television channels) and 428 radio stations (the sum of 410 FM stations and 18 internet radios).

Changes in viewer consumption

Regarding audiovisual consumption in Catalonia, in 2024 it consolidated the trends of recent years: sustained decline in linear television, stability of radio and growth of digital platforms, social networks and interactive content. In this scenario, the television remains the central device, thanks to hybrid television with the Internet.

He daily consumption of traditional television in Catalonia It stood at 2 hours and 36 minutes per person, 7 minutes less than in 2023 and more than an hour below the 2020 figure. At the level of Spain, for the first time, consumption fell below three hours a day (2 h 51 min), with an average age of the viewer of 58. In Catalonia, TV3 was the most watched channel for the fifteenth consecutive year, with a 13.7% screen share. TO state level, Antena 3 TV obtained a 12.6% share, followed by La 1 (10.5%) and Telecinco (9.8%). The Mediaset channel recorded the worst result in its history.

As for the radio, he consumption remained stable around 93 minutes per day per person. Penetration was 55% and almost 4 million people listened to radio in Catalonia, of which 70% did so in Catalan. FM continued to be the main broadcasting system, despite the drop of four percentage points. On the contrary, online listening grew (+1.4%), streaming (+0.9%) and podcasts (+0.8%).

Los traditional media, linear television channels, radio and press stations, they lost influence one more year in favor of consumption through the internet during 2024. In the case of television consumption, on-demand online audiovisual services, with OTT and paid IPTV platforms, capitalized on this trend.