Portugal adds 28,000 pay TV subscribers in 1Q 2016

Tuesday, June 21st, 2016 

LISBON — According to Portugal’s Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM), there were 3.545 million subscribers to subscription TV in the country at the end of the first quarter of 2016, 28,000 more than in the previous quarter, and an extra 150,000 (+4.4 percent) compared to the same point in 2015.

At the end of March, cable TV represented 38.0 percent of total subscribers, with DTH comprising 17.1 percent, and xDSL/IP making up 20.8 percent. Optical fibre (FTTH/B) continued to add share accounting for 24.1 percent of all subscribers.

Subscription television service subscribers by technology (Units: 1000 subscribers; %)

                                                             Quarterly      Annual
                           15Q1   15Q2   15Q3   15Q4   16Q1  variation   variation
                          -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  ---------  ----------
Cable (Cabo)              1,360  1,354  1,353  1,347  1,345         -2  -15  -1.1%
DTH                         604    607    609    610    607         -3    3   0.5%
FTTH/B                      671    715    761    812    854         42  184  27.4%
xDSL/IP                     760    755    751    748    738         -9  -21  -2.8%
                          -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  ---------  ----------
Total                     3,395  3,431  3,473  3,517  3,545         28  150   4.4%

Source: ANACOM

Shares of subscription TV subscribers (Units: %)

                           15Q1    15Q2    15Q3    15Q4    16Q1
                         ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
Grupo NOS                 43.8%   43.7%   43.7%   43.8%   44.0%
Grupo Altice*                 -   47.1%   41.1%   40.7%   40.2%
 MEO                          -   41.5%   41.1%   40.7%   40.2%
 Cabovisão                 6.0%    5.7%       -       -       -
PT Comunicações/MEO       41.9%       -       -       -       -
Cabovisão                     -       -    5.4%    5.1%    4.9%
Vodafone                   8.2%    9.0%    9.6%   10.2%   10.7%
Other providers            0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.1%

* Altice was required to sell Cabovisão by the competition authorities in order to receive approval for its takeover of MEO.

More: Statistical Report [pt]

Pay TV subscribers in Portugal up 5% in 2015

Subscription TV service reports growth above the average of the last five years

According to Portugal’s Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM), at the end of 2015, the penetration rate of the subscription TV service was reported at 86.6 subscribers per 100 private households, increasing 4.1 percentage points compared to 2014. There were 3.52 million customers of the service, increasing by 167 thousand from the previous year, representing a growth rate of 5%, outpacing the average of the last five years (4.6%).

The service’s growth was mainly due to offers supported over FTTH/B (increasing by 185,100 subscribers). At the end of the year, FTTH/B represented, 23.1% of total subscribers (4.4 percentage points more than in the previous year), and became the second most important form of access, following cable.

The TV service based on cable technology decreased by 1.4% but remains the most important form of access (38.3%). Use of xDSL declined by 1.2% (representing the first decline reported for this technology since this information was first compiled), falling to third place among the networks supporting the service (21.3%). DTH (satellite transmission) follows with 17.4% of the total, increasing by 1.7%, the first annual increase since 2011.

The increase in bundled offers in 2015 resulted in an increase in the penetration of subscription television offers. At the end of the year, about 87.8% of subscribers received the service as part of a bundle of services.

In this period, about 78.1% of subscribers to the service had access to over 80 channels. The number of homes with subscription TV with access to premium channels remained in line with the previous year (18.6%) while reporting an increase of 3.2 points compared to 3rd quarter 2015.

The share of subscribers who used the different features of the subscription TV service increased by 5 percentage points in 2015, with about 67 percent of subscribers using at least one of the available features. Automatic recordings were used by 53% of customers, the most commonly used service.

During 2015, some of the most important Over-the-top services were launched in Portugal, including Netflix in October. This service has been included in some bundled offers. Before that, in September, NOS launched Nplay.

In 2015, total revenues derived from the subscription TV service (stand-alone and bundles that include this service) totalled 1.662 billion euros.

Grupo NOS continued to be the service’s leading operator with a 43.8% share of subscribers. MEO had a share of 40.7%, Vodafone 10.2% and Cabovisão 5.1%. Vodafone was the only provider to increase its share of subscribers (an increase of 2.7 percentage points) and is the service provider which gained the most subscribers in 2015 in net terms.

Portugal adds 36,000 pay TV subscribers in 2Q 2015

According to Portugal’s Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM), there were 3.43 million subscribers to subscription TV in the country at the end of the second quarter of 2015, 36,000 (+1.1 percent) more than in the [revised] previous quarter, and an extra 182,000 (+5.6 percent) compared to the same point in 2014.

At the end of June, cable TV represented 39.5 percent of total subscribers, with DTH comprising 17.7 percent, and xDSL/IP making up 22 percent. Optical fibre (FTTH/B) accounted for 20.8 percent of all subscribers.

The total number of cable television service subscribers – around 1.354 million – was 6 thousand down on the [revised] previous quarter (-0.5 percent). The number of DTH subscribers stood at 607 thousand, 3 thousand more (+0.5 percent) than in the previous quarter, and 15 thousand up over the year (+2.6%). xDSL was down 5 thousand (-0.7 percent) in the quarter, though still gained 34 thousand over the year (+4.7 percent).

The fastest growth was in subscribers to subscription TV via optical fibre (FTTH/B) which increased by 6.6 percent in the quarter and 30.1 percent annually, reaching a total of 715 thousand.

Subscription television service subscribers by technology (Units: 1000 subscribers; %)

                                                             Quarterly     Annual
                           14Q2   14Q3   14Q4   15Q1   15Q2  variation  variation
                          -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  ---------  ---------
Cable                     1,386  1,376  1,367  1,360  1,354      -0.5%      -2.3%        
DTH                         592    594    601    604    607       0.5%       2.6%
FTTH/B                      550    587    627    671    715       6.6%      30.1%
xDSL                        720    738    756    759    754      -0.7%       4.7%
                          -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  ---------  ---------
Total                     3,248  3,294  3,350  3,394  3,430       1.1%       5.6%

With the Acquisition of MEO on the 2nd of June 2015, Altice became the largest pay TV provider in Portugal with a share of 47.1%. The NOS Group are in second place with a share of 43.7 percent and Vodafone follows in third place on 9.0 percent. Vodafone continues to gain share at the expense of the other providers.

Shares of subscription TV subscribers (Units: %)

                           14Q2    14Q3    14Q4    15Q1    15Q2
                         ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
Grupo NOS                 45.3%   44.5%   44.0%   43.8%   43.7%
Grupo Altice                                              47.1%
 PT Comunicações/MEO      41.9%   42.1%   42.2%   41.9%   41.4%
 Cabovisão                 6.7%    6.5%    6.2%    6.0%    5.7%
Vodafone                   5.9%    6.7%    7.5%    8.2%    9.0%
Other providers            0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%

Vodafone eyes Portugal’s Cabovisão

Vodafone has emerged as one of several parties interested in buying the Portuguese cable operator Cabovisão.

Quoting two people familiar with talks between the parties,Bloomberg reports that the company, which Altice has promised to divest as part of its acquisition of telecom assets in Portugal, is worth around €300 million.

It adds that talks about the possible sale of Cabovisão could go on for several months.

Vodafone is already active in Portugal, expanding its network to offer bundles of fixed and mobile services, including broadband and TV.

Significantly, its CEO Vittorio Colao said last year that the company was interested in acquiring cable assets in Portugal.

Under the terms of its €7.4 billion deal to buy the Portuguese assets of Portugal Telecom last year, Altice was required by the regulators to sell both Cabovisão and ONI.

Just this week, the European Commission gave the go-ahead to Altice/Portugal Telecom deal.

Cabovisão was acquired by Altice from Canada’s Cogeco Cable for €45 million in March 2012.

Portugal adds 179,300 pay TV subscribers in 2014

According to Portugal’s Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM), there were 3.35 million subscribers to subscription TV in the country at the end of 2014, 55,800 (+1.7 percent) more than in the previous quarter, and an extra 179,300 (+5.7 percent) compared with the end of 2013.

At the end of December, cable TV represented 40.8 percent of total subscribers, while DTH comprised 17.9 percent, and xDSL comprised 22.6 percent. Optical fibre (FTTH/B) accounted for 18.7 percent of all subscribers.

The total number of cable television service subscribers – around 1.367 million – was 9.3 thousand down on the previous quarter (-0.7 percent). The number of DTH subscribers stood at 601 thousand, 7 thousand more (+1.2 percent) than in the previous quarter, and 11.5 thousand fewer than at the end of 2013 (-1.9%). The number of subscribers to subscription TV via optical fibre (FTTH/B) increased by 2.5 percent in the quarter, 10.3 percent annually, reaching a total of 627 thousand.

Subscription television service subscribers by technology (Units: 1000 subscribers; %)

                                                                                          Quarterly        Annual
                                 13Q1   13Q2   13Q3   13Q4   14Q1   14Q2   14Q3   14Q4    variation     variation
                                -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----------  ------------
Cable                           1,446  1,433  1,417  1,401  1,396  1,386  1,376  1,367  -9.3  -0.7%  -33.9  -2.4%
DTH                               646    633    630    612    598    592    594    601   7.0   1.2%  -11.5  -1.9%
FTTH                              414    434    452    473    511    550    587    627  39.6   2.5%  154.1  10.3%
Other technologies (xDSL, FWA)    623    644    657    686    705    720    738    756  18.5   6.7%   70.5  32.6%
                                -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----------  ------------
Total                           3,129  3,143  3,156  3,171  3,210  3,248  3,294  3,350  55.8   1.7%  179.3   5.7%

The ZON Optimus Group continues to have the largest, though consistently declining, share of subscription TV subscribers (44.0 percent). PT Comunicações (PTC) and Cabovisão follow with shares of 42.2 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively. Vodafone continues to gain share though from a low base.

Shares of subscription TV subscribers (Units: %)

                               13Q1    13Q2    13Q3    13Q4    14Q1    14Q2    14Q3    14Q4
                             ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
Grupo ZON/TV Cabo            49.74%   49.0%       -       -       -       -       -       -
Optimus (ex-Sonaecom)         1.18%    1.2%       -       -       -       -       -       -
Grupo ZON Optimus[1]/NOS[2]       -       -   49.2%   47.8%   46.4%   45.3%   44.5%   44.0%
  Optimus/NOS Comunicações        -    1.2%    0.8%       -       -   42.3%   41.5%   41.0%
  ZON Madeira/NOS Madeira     2.00%    2.0%    2.0%    2.0%       -    2.0%    2.0%    1.9%
  ZON Açores/NOS Açores       1.44%    1.4%    1.4%    1.1%       -    1.1%    1.1%    1.0%
  ZON TV Cabo Portugal       46.30%   45.6%   44.7%   43.8%       -       -       -       -
PT Comunicações              39.88%   40.4%   40.9%   41.5%   41.6%   41.9%   42.1%   42.2%
Cabovisão                     7.59%    7.4%    7.2%    7.1%    6.9%    6.7%    6.5%    6.2%
Vodafone                      1.45%    1.8%    2.5%    3.5%    5.0%    5.9%    6.7%    7.5%
Other providers               0.19%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%

1. ZON acquired Optimus on August 27, 2013
2. On May 16, 2014, Optimus changed its name to NOS Comunicações.
Source: ICP-ANACOM

Portugal adds 13,000 pay TV subscribers in 3Q 2013

According to Portugal’s Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM), there were 3.156 million subscribers to subscription TV in the country at the end of the 3rd Quarter of 2013, thirteen thousand (+0.4 percent) more than in the previous quarter, and an extra 49 thousand (+1.6 percent) compared with the end of the third quarter of 2012.

At the end of September, cable TV represented 44.9 percent of total subscribers, while DTH comprised 20.0 percent, and xDSL comprised 20.8 percent. Optical fibre (FTTH/B) accounted for 14.3 percent of all subscribers.

The total number of cable television service subscribers – around 1.417 million – was 16 thousand down on the previous quarter (-1.1 percent). The number of DTH subscribers stood at 630 thousand, 3 thousand fewer (-0.5 percent) than in the previous quarter, and 41 thousand fewer than at 3Q2012 (-6.0%). The number of subscribers to subscription TV via optical fibre (FTTH/B) increased by 4.3 percent in the quarter, 22.2% annually, reaching a total of 452 thousand.

Subscription television service subscribers by technology (Units: 1000 subscribers; %)

                                                                                    Quarterly        Annual
                                 12Q1   12Q2   12Q3   12Q4   13Q1   13Q2   13Q3     variation     variation
                                -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  ------------  ------------
Cable                           1,466  1,470  1,459  1,456  1,446  1,433  1,417  -16 ( -1.1%)  -42 ( -2.9%)
DTH                               672    668    671    660    646    633    630   -3 ( -0.5%)  -41 ( -6.0%)
FTTH                              307    341    370    394    414    434    452   19 ( +4.3%)   82 (+22.2%)
Other technologies (xDSL, FWA)    587    599    607    612    623    644    657   14 ( +2.1%)   50 ( +8.2%)
Total                           3,032  3,079  3,108  3,122  3,129  3,143  3,156   13 ( +0.4%)   49 ( +1.6%)

Source: ICP-ANACOM

The ZON/TV Cabo Group continues to have the largest, though declining, share of subscription TV subscribers (49.3 percent). PT Comunicações (PTC) and Cabovisão follow with shares of 41.0 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively, with PTC steadily increasing its share.

Shares of subscription TV subscribers (Units: %)

                             12Q1    12Q2    12Q3    12Q4    13Q1    13Q2    13Q3
                           ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
Grupo ZON Optimus*              -       -       -       -       -       -   49.3%
Grupo ZON/TV Cabo          52.20%  51.42%  50.59%  50.22%  49.74%   49.0%       -
  ZON TV Cabo Portugal     48.59%  47.88%  47.10%  46.77%  46.30%   45.6%   44.8%
  ZON TV Cabo Açoreana      1.59%   1.54%   1.50%   1.46%   1.44%    1.4%    1.4%
  ZON TV Cabo Madeirense    2.02%   2.01%   1.99%   1.99%   2.00%    2.0%    2.0%
  Optimus                       -       -       -       -       -       -    1.2%
Optimus (ex-Sonaecom)       1.21%   1.20%   1.19%   1.17%   1.18%    1.2%       -
PT Comunicações            36.63%  37.56%  38.55%  39.19%  39.88%   40.4%   41.0%
Cabovisão                   8.52%   8.34%   8.13%   7.84%   7.59%    7.4%    7.2%
Vodafone                    1.30%   1.33%   1.36%   1.38%   1.45%    1.8%    2.3%
Other providers             0.16%   0.17%   0.19%   0.22%   0.19%    0.2%    0.2%

* ZON acquired Optimus on August 27, 2013
Source: ICP-ANACOM

More: 2103 3Q statistics