Around 98% of Portuguese families have subscription TV
DECEMBER 8, 2023 12.05 EUROPE/LONDON BY JULIAN CLOVER

The overwhelming majority of families in Portugal have a subscription TV service, according to the regulator Anacom.

By the end of the 3rd quarter of 2023, the number of subscribers to subscription was 4.6 million, 107,000 more than in the same quarter of the previous year. The growth rate in the number of subscribers has begun to slow with the lowest annual growth (+2.4%) since the end of 2013.

The overwhelming majority of families had a subscription service, this was largely due to the growth of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), which reached 2.9 million subscribers and registered 212,000 more subscribers compared to the same quarter of the previous year (+7.9%). The growth came not only from new customers, but also from the migration to FTTH customers who were previously supported on other networks.

The number of FTTH subscribers recorded the lowest annual growth (+7.9%) since the emergence of this technology (2007). At the end of the 3rd quarter of 2023, FTTH represented 63.2% of total subscribers, followed by cable TV (27.3%), satellite TV – DTH (7.3%) and ADSL (2.3%).

At the end of the 3rd quarter of 2023, the number of residential subscribers reached 4 million, 78,000 more (+2%) than in the same quarter of the previous year, and represented 88.7% of total subscribers.

In the non-residential sector, the number of subscribers totalled 514 thousand, representing 11.3% of total subscribers, and registered a growth of 6.1% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

With regard to providers, MEO was the provider with the highest share of subscribers to the (41.4%), followed by Grupo NOS (36.5%), Vodafone (19. 1%) and NOWO (2.8%). MEO and Vodafone were the providers that, in net terms, attracted more subscribers compared to the same quarter of the previous year, with their shares increasing by 0.5 p.p. and 0.4 p.p., respectively. On the other hand, the shares of Grupo NOS (-0.6 p.p.) and NOWO (-0.2 p.p.) decreased.

In the residential segment, MEO held the highest share (39.9%), followed by Grupo NOS (37.7%), Vodafone (19.3%) and NOWO (3.1%). The shares of MEO and Vodafone increased (+0.5 p.p. and +0.4 p.p., respectively), while the shares of Grupo NOS and NOWO recorded decreases (-0.6 p.p. and -0.2 p.p., respectively).