1st half 2023 pay TV subscriptions in Portugal up 2.6% YoY

Anacom: The number of subscription TV subscribers increased by 2.6% compared to the same period of 2022.

At the end of the 1st half of 2023, there were 4.5 million subscribers to the subscription TV signal distribution service (TVS) in Portugal, 117 thousand more than in the same half of 2022. The growth rate in the number of subscribers to this service slowed, recording the lowest level of annual growth (+2.6%) since 2014.

The overwhelming majority of households had STV (97.3%). The service’s growth was due to offers supported by optical fibre (FTTH/B), with 2.8 million subscribers. Optical fibre saw an additional 227 thousand subscribers compared to the same period of 2022 (+8.7%). This growth resulted not only from the acquisition of new customers, but also from customers who were previously supported on other networks switching to FTTH/B.

Annual growth in the number of STV subscribers supported by optical fibre slowed to 8.7%, the lowest rate since the emergence of this technology (2007). Since 2018, FTTH/B has been the principal means of access to this service. At the end of the 1st half of 2023, FTTH/B represented 62.4% of total subscribers, followed by cable TV (27.5%), satellite TV – DTH (7.5%) and ADSL (2.5%).

The number of residential subscribers to the STV distribution service reached 4.0 million, 88 thousand more (+2.2%) than in the same semester of 2022, representing 88.8% of all subscribers.

There were also 506 thousand non-residential subscribers (11.2% of the total), increasing by 5.9% compared to the same period of 2022.

The provider with the highest share of subscribers to the STV distribution service was MEO (41.3%), followed by Grupo NOS (36.7%), Vodafone (19.0%) and NOWO (2.8%). MEO and Vodafone were the providers that, in net terms, acquired the most subscribers compared to the same period of 2022, with their shares increasing by 0.5 percentage points and 0.4 percentage points, respectively. On the other hand, decreases were reported in the shares of Grupo NOS (-0.7 percentage points) and NOWO (-0.3 percentage points).

In the residential segment, MEO held the highest share (39.8%), followed by Grupo NOS (37.8%), Vodafone (19.2%) and NOWO (3.1%). MEO and Vodafone saw their shares of subscribers increase (+0.5 percentage points in both cases), while Grupo NOS and NOWO saw their shares shrink (-0.7 percentage points and -0.3 percentage points, respectively).