As at the end of June 2013, there were about 3.14 million1 subscribers to the subscription television service in Portugal, 14 thousand more subscribers than in the previous quarter and 63 thousand more than reported in the same period of 2012.
The growth in the service in 2nd Quarter 2013 (2Q13) was driven by offers supported over the public telephone network (xDSL) and optical fibre (FTTH/B), which increased, respectively, by 21 thousand and 20 thousand new subscribers. In contrast, the number of subscribers to the cable TV service and to Direct-to-Home (DTH) technology declined over the period, by 0.9 and 2.1 percent, corresponding, respectively, to 13 and 14 thousand fewer subscribers to each of these services.
By technology type, the cable TV distribution service accounted for 45.6 percent of total subscribers, xDSL 20.5 percent, DTH 20.1 percent and optical fibre (FTTH/B) 13.8 percent.
In 2Q13, three out of four subscription television subscribers in Portugal received the service as part of a bundle of services (1.7 percent more than in the previous quarter). About 15.4 percent were double-play customers and 59.7 percent were triple/quadruple/quintuple-play customers. .
Grupo ZON/TV Cabo continued to retain the highest share of subscription television subscribers, with 49 percent1. PT Comunicações (PTC) and Cabovisão follow with 40.4 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively.
From January to June 2013, total revenues generated by the subscription TV service (stand-alone and bundles that include this service) totalled 640.4 million euros, which corresponds to a 3.6 percent increase over the same period of 2012.
Average monthly revenues derived from bundles which include the TV subscription service fell by 0.8 euros/month or by 2.2 percent compared to the same period of 2012. Meanwhile, average revenue related to the separable TV service increased by 2.7 euros (8.9 percent).
At the end of 2Q13, about half of all households with subscription TV had over 80 channels and about 18.8 percent had access to premium channels, 5.4 percentage points less than in 2Q12.
1 The services provided under the protocols signed between the government of the Republic, the regional governments, ANACOM, ZON TV Cabo Açoreana and ZON TV Cabo Madeirense are not considered for purposes of reporting subscriber numbers and shares. These protocols sought to provide the citizens of these archipelagos with free access to the national mainstream channels as well as enable gradual migration from analogue to digital technology. The services provided under these protocols covered around 39.6 thousand dwellings in 2Q13, comprising 21.8 thousand in the Azores and 17.8 thousand in Madeira. For this reason, the historical data series reported previously have been corrected and there may be small differences in relation to previously published values.
Consult the statistical report:
- Subscription television service - 2nd quarter 2013 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1173783
