Portugal added another 72,000 subscription TV households in the third quarter of 2009, bringing the total to 2.4 million, according to the regulator Anacom. In the year to Q3 2009, 232,000 additional subscribers were added to Portugal’s pay-TV platforms, with the regulator attributing the growth to the rise of IPTV services, though the penetration of satellite TV services also rose.
Three IPTV operators are included in the figures; Sonaecom, Portugal Telecom and ZON that between them account for 356,000 subscribers, principally in Lisbon and the North. A fourth service from Vodafone began mid-quarter.
Cable TV reached 4.3 million households across the country’s major operators at the end of September 2009, representing an increase of 22,000 on the quarter and 93,000 more year-on-year. The increases could be attributed to expansion of the ZON network in Lisbon and the North. ZON also boasted the largest number of subscription TV subscribers, though at 66.6% this is 1.8pp less than in the previous quarter.
The medium is prominent in Madeira, Lisbon, the North and the Algarve. DTH epresented some 26%, its heartlands being the Alentejo and the centre of the country.
The total number of DTH satellite households stood at 624,000, an increase of 26,000 on the quarter and 63,000 on the third quarter of 2008.
