Televisión Canaria Achieves Historic Viewership During Pope’s Visit to the Canary Islands
Televisión Canaria led the second day of Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the Canary Islands, which took place in Tenerife and concluded the Holy Father’s journey through the Archipelago. The station achieved a remarkable 24.9% audience share, marking its highest figures of the season and one of the largest in the network’s history. This audience level had not been seen since 28 September 2021, during the volcanic eruption on La Palma.
The broadcast produced by Televisión Canaria reached hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide. RTVC’s general administrator, César Toledo, expressed gratitude for “the overwhelming support of the island’s audience for a historical coverage that has once again positioned public television at the top of the podium, consolidating a steady growth trend since the start of the season.”
### Outstanding Coverage
Toledo congratulated “the outstanding professionals of the Canary public service news, radio, and television, who have demonstrated exceptional planning capability and enormous talent in executing the most complex coverage in the history of television in the islands.”
The extraordinary viewership also made Televisión Canaria the leading regional channel in FORTA, outperforming all national channels in the Canary Islands, including Antena 3, La 1, Telecinco, La Sexta, and Cuatro. A total of 496,000 viewers tuned in to TVC’s programming on Friday.
#### News Services
The news services and special programmes of Televisión Canaria dominated their respective time slots, thanks to a schedule dedicated to the Holy Father’s visit. The ‘Telenoticias 1’, presented by Fátima Plata and Fernando Timón, emerged as the channel’s most-watched programme, achieving a 30.2% share with an average viewership of 131,000 and a total of 233,000 viewers.
The live special coverage led by Eva Trujillo, featuring over eight hours dedicated to the papal visit, also excelled in its slot with a remarkable 38.6% share, averaging 122,000 viewers, totalling 362,000 spectators.
### Morning Leadership
The channel maintained its leadership from early morning with ‘Buenos Días Canarias’, presented by Pilar Rumeu and Isaac Tacoronte, which topped its time slot with a 26.5% share, averaging 27,000 viewers and reaching 96,000 total viewers. The afternoon news special, hosted by Marta Modino, similarly led with a 17.5% share, averaging 71,000 viewers and totalling 162,000.
The ‘Telenoticias 2′, presented by Antonio Cárdenes, concluded the day with a 15.6% share, averaging 70,000 viewers and accumulating 147,000.
### Engaging Young Audiences
Televisión Canaria also recorded significant engagement among young viewers, achieving a 35.6% share among those aged 13 to 24 and a 28.3% share among those aged 25 to 44, setting unprecedented figures for the public channel in such coverage.
César Toledo highlighted the growing interest from the youth demographic, noting that “the figures for those aged 13 to 24 surpassed all previous records, revitalising the average age of our audience profile.”
“We are truly proud and satisfied not only for the success and beauty of our coverage but also for our role in conveying the Holy Father’s message, which showcased the solidarity of the Canary people in response to the migration phenomenon and urged us all to avoid polarisation and divisive narratives,” concluded César Toledo.
### Two Historic Days
Over the duration of the two days of the Pope’s visit, Televisión Canaria achieved an average share of 22.2% and gathered 684,000 total viewers, solidifying its position as the definitive news reference for Canarians during the papal visit.
The special coverage mobilised the entire newsroom and technical team in the largest audiovisual operation ever conducted by the public media of the Canary Islands. More than 30 hours of live broadcasting allowed viewers to follow every significant event of the pontiff’s visit across key locations in Gran Canaria and Tenerife, featuring special news segments, continuous connections, and programming dedicated solely to this historic event.
### La Radio Canaria’s Contribution
La Radio Canaria also delivered a historic coverage of Pope Leo XIV’s visit, providing 16 hours of live programming across the two days and maintaining a presence at all strategic points of the Holy Father’s journey in both Gran Canaria and Tenerife. The public broadcaster reported a 70% increase in its usual streaming consumption, thanks to the audience engagement.
The director of La Radio Canaria, Mayer Trujillo, emphasised that “these have been two days of intense work, in addition to the many days of preparation, but everything went smoothly thanks to our fantastic team of professionals.” Trujillo added, “It has been a wonderful way to celebrate our 18th anniversary.”
### Special Coverage Success
Televisión Canaria’s special coverage of Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Spain from 6 to 12 June amounted to a total of 55 hours and 19 minutes of programming linked to the event, reaching an accumulated audience of 666,000 viewers, which accounts for 30.2% of the Canary Islands’ population over the age of four.
This historic endeavour reaffirmed the capacity of the Canary public media to lead coverage of significant events that shape the islands’ history. With this special programming, Televisión Canaria and La Radio Canaria became the undisputed information reference for hundreds of thousands of citizens during Pope Leo XIV’s visit, while also broadcasting the signal produced by TVC to television networks around the world, demonstrating that the Canary public media is well-prepared to confront, with competence, ambition, and diligence, the greatest institutional audiovisual challenge of its history.
