The growth in pay-TV subscribers in Portugal, apparent since 2006 has been reversed, according to new data from the regulator Anacom.
At the end of Q1 2025, there were 4.7 million subscribers to a pay-TV distribution service, although 53,000 more than in the same quarter of the previous year, the figure is 2,000 less than in the previous quarter.
The decline comes from residential subscribers, who still represent 88.5% of the installed base.
At the end of Q1 2025, there were 4.1 million residential subscribers 39,000 more than in the same quarter of the previous year, and 4,000 less than in the previous quarter. In the non-residential segment, the number of subscribers totalled 535,000, representing 11.5% of total subscribers, and registered a growth of 2.7% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Fibre optic (FTTH/B) accounted for 67.4% of total subscribers, followed by cable TV (25%), satellite TV – DTH (6.3%) and ADSL (1.3%). Fibre (FTTH/B) was the only technology with an increase in the number of TV subscribers, reaching 3.1 million subscribers in this quarter and registering 166 thousand more subscribers compared to the same quarter of the previous year (+5.6%). This growth resulted not only from the capture of new customers, but also from the transfer to FTTH/B of customers that were previously supported on other networks. However, this is the lowest annual growth since the emergence of this technology (in 2007).
At the end of the 1st quarter of 2025, MEO was the provider with the highest share of subscribers to a TV distribution service (41.9%), followed by the NOS Group (35.9%), Vodafone (19.4%) and the DIGI / NOWO Group (2.7%). MEO and Vodafone were the providers that, in net terms, attracted the most subscribers compared to the same quarter of the previous year, with their shares increasing by 0.3 p.p. and 0.2 p.p., respectively. On the other hand, the share of the NOS Group decreased (-0.4 p.p.).
In the residential segment, MEO and the NOS Group held the highest shares (40.2% and 37.1%, respectively) while in the non-residential segment MEO held more than half of the subscribers (54.9%).
