Television in Portugal


Television in Portugal was introduced in 1956 by Radiotelevisão Portuguesa, which held the nationwide television monopoly until late 1992. Regular broadcasting was introduced on March 7, 1957. Colour transmissions were introduced on March 10, 1980.
Digital terrestrial television was introduced at a very late stage when compared to other countries in Europe and with limited channels, and according to the European Audiovisual Observatory it occupies the last place in 34 European countries with the weakest offer on digital terrestrial television. In such a way that most Portuguese are subscribers of cable or IPTV platforms, in percentages higher than in the rest of Europe and these platforms are well developed with many channels. During the transition from analog to DTT, subscription-based television services experiences a 10% increase and reached 72.5% of homes in 2012. Regional and local television is also limited. Portuguese television is regulated by the Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social. In 2018, TVI was the ratings leader with 19.9% share while SIC, RTP1 and RTP2 had 16.5%, 12.2% and 1.4%, respectively.

History

On March 7, 1957 public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal began broadcasting RTP1, the first television channel in the country. A second RTP channel, RTP2, started broadcasting on December 25, 1968. Private commercial channels were launched in the early 1990s, with SIC on October 6, 1992 and TVI on February 20, 1993.

Terrestrial

Analog broadcasts in Portugal were discontinued on April 26, 2012. There are eight free-to-air channels on Portuguese terrestrial TV: 6 are owned by the public service broadcaster RTP, two are from private broadcasters and one is owned by the Assembly of the Republic and broadcasts parliamentary sessions.
See Digital terrestrial television in Portugal

List of free-to-air terrestrial channels

Nationwide channels

As of worldwide sport events, the common broadcasters usually start a temporary HD channel for subscription digital television users.
has launched in 2006 a service called SmarTV, provided on Amino and Motorola STBs, with VoD provided by Kasenna MediaBase video servers. PT Comunicações has also launched one called MEO, providing that the spin-off of subsidiary PT Multimédia was concluded. Vodafone also launched an IPTV service called Vodafone Casa TV.

Cable

All cable providers in Portugal introduced digital television.

Satellite

Digital satellite services have existed since 1998. Currently, the providers are NOS and MEO operating in Hispasat.

Mobile TV

All operators had mobile TV under UMTS platforms. It was abandoned in favor of web-TV applications for mobile devices.

Most-viewed channels

Monthly viewing shares in April 2020:

Most watched shows

RankShowEpisodeRatingShareDateChannel
1UEFA Euro 2004Portugal vs The Netherlands 40.987.2%30 June 2004RTP1
2UEFA Euro 2012Portugal vs Spain 39.576.0%27 June 2012SIC
3UEFA Euro 2004Portugal vs England 39.085.1%24 June 2004RTP1
4UEFA Euro 2016Portugal vs Wales 38.475.4%6 July 2016RTP1
5UEFA Euro 2016Portugal vs France 38.278.1%10 July 2016RTP1
6UEFA Euro 2012Portugal vs The Netherlands 38.173.4%17 June 2012TVI
72014 FIFA World CupUnited States vs Portugal 37.875.4%22 June 2014RTP1
8UEFA Euro 2004Portugal vs Greece 37.789.7%4 July 2004RTP1
9UEFA Euro 2016Poland vs Portugal 37.469.9%30 June 2016RTP1
102006 FIFA World CupPortugal vs France 37.282.3%5 July 2006SIC
11A Próxima VítimaLast Episode 37.180.2%19 January 1996SIC
12UEFA Euro 2012Czech Republic vs Portugal 36.171.7%21 June 2012RTP1
13UEFA Euro 2004Russia vs Portugal 35.581.4%16 June 2004SIC
14UEFA Euro 2016Portugal vs Iceland 35.168.6%14 June 2016RTP1
15UEFA Euro 2004Spain vs Portugal 34.983.2%20 June 2004TVI
162006 FIFA World CupPortugal vs The Netherlands 34.980.7%25 June 2006SIC
17UEFA Euro 2008Portugal vs Germany 34.575.6%19 June 2008TVI
182015 Portuguese legislative electionDebate: António Costa vs. Pedro Passos Coelho34.166%10 September 2015RTP1, SIC, TVI
192014 FIFA World Cup qualificationSweden vs Portugal 34.162.2%19 November 2013RTP1
20UEFA Europa LeagueSL Benfica vs Chelsea FC 33.862.3%16 May 2013SIC
21UEFA Euro 2000France vs Portugal 33.276.7%28 June 2000RTP1
222006 FIFA World CupAngola vs Portugal 32.880.9%11 June 2006SIC
23UEFA Euro 2012Germany vs Portugal 32.468.3%9 June 2012RTP1
24UEFA Champions LeagueMonaco vs Porto 31.770.5%26 May 2004RTP1
25UEFA Euro 2016Croatia vs Portugal 31.370%26 June 2016RTP1
26UEFA Europa LeagueSevilla FC vs SL Benfica 31.161.4%14 May 2014SIC
27UEFA Champions LeagueReal Madrid vs Atlético Madrid 30.864.3%24 May 2014TVI
28Terra NostraLast Episode 30.864%11 January 2000SIC
292006 FIFA World CupPortugal vs Iran30.483.1%17 June 2006SIC
30UEFA Europa LeagueJuventus FC vs SL Benfica 30.458.9%1 May 2014SIC
31Big Brother PortugalLive eviction show30.272.5%26 December 2000TVI
32UEFA CupSporting CP vs CSKA Moscow 30.168.4%18 May 2005RTP1
33Taça de PortugalSL Benfica vs Sporting CP 29.962.6%26 January 2005RTP1
34Torre de BabelLast Episode 29.877.1%02 April 1999SIC
35UEFA Euro 2008Switzerland vs Portugal29.871.8%15 June 2008TVI
36UEFA CupCeltic FC vs FC Porto29.767.5%21 May 2003SIC
372006 FIFA World CupGermany vs Portugal 29.678.4%8 July 2006SIC
382006 FIFA World CupEngland vs Portugal 29.288.1%1 July 2006SIC
39UEFA Champions LeagueBarcelona vs Benfica29.365.6%5 April 2006RTP1
402010 FIFA World CupSpain vs Portugal 29.175.9%29 June 2010RTP1
47Médico de Família Portuguese TV series 27.961.4%16 March 1999 SIC

Age ratings