La Sexta (; ; stylised as laSexta) is a privately owned Spanish free-to-air television channel that was founded on 18 March 2001 as Beca TV and began broadcasting on 1 April 2001. By 21 July 2003, the channel ran into debt and was shut down, but two years later in 2005, it was replaced by a new channel called La Sexta that began test transmissions on 25 November 2005, and a year later, it started broadcasting officially on 27 March 2006. The channel's programming is generalist, however, there is an emphasis on humour and entertainment. The channel broadcasts a large amount of American and sports programming, and in recent years it has covered political events such as elections, including extensive debate through three key programmes: Al rojo vivo ( Red-hot), El objetivo ( The Lens) and Salvados ( Saved). The political alignment of its news and debate programmes is left-leaning.
In 2012 the channel was acquired by Grupo Antena 3, later named Atresmedia.
Some original programming of LaSexta includes: BuenAgente, El Intermedio, El jefe infiltrado, Pesadilla en la cocina, Qué vida más triste, The Refugees, Salvados, Sé lo que hicisteis..., SMS (Sin Miedo a Soñar) and Zapeando.
Other programming also includes: Emma's Theatre, My Name Is Earl, The Office, Law & Order, World of Polli, The Sopranos, NCIS, The King of Queens, Monsuno, Entourage, Pierre the Painter, How I Met Your Mother, Family Guy, Futurama, Bones, 30 Rock, Arthur, The Mentalist, Eleventh Hour, The Red Green Show, Prison Break and The Walking Dead.
On 23 December, broadcasts started in Madrid and Barcelona, expanding later to all of Spain.
Starting on 23 January 2006, they began broadcasting a promotional video. 20 February marked the start of content emissions testing. Actual broadcasts started with documentaries (Champions, Natura) and programmes dedicated to tuning, like "Tuning Mania". From 22 February, La Sexta began broadcasting twelve hours of programming every day.
On 2 March, a football match between Croatia and Argentina was the occasion of the first live broadcast. Five days before the actual date, José Miguel Contreras announced the official starting date, 27 March, on the Círculo de Bellas Artes.
On February 14, 2024, Atresmedia switched to HD-only broadcasting, ending the coexistence of standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) versions. The high-definition feed originally launched on August 22, 2010.
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