Advanced Television

Portugal’s Sport TV losses more than double

November 30, 2016

From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Portuguese premium sports network Sport TV closed the first nine months of 2016 with a net loss of €15.5 million, compared to a negative €6.9 million one year earlier.

The pay-TV network, equally owned by NOS, Vodafone and Controlinveste, has seen losses rise for almost five consecutive years.

No reasons were given for the increase in losses at Sport TV.

However, in August, Sport TV launched a free-to-air sports news channel, Sport TV+, requiring an investment of €1.5 million.

Also, earlier this year, Sport TV was fined €2.7 million by the Competition Authority for the alleged abuse of its dominant position in the market of subscription channels with premium sport content, relating to a case dating back to 2010.

From next month, Sport TV will increase the price of the subscription to its packages as a result of rising costs for acquiring sports rights.

On the positive side, revenues reversed the downward trend, growing by 16.5 per cent to €102 million.

Meanwhile, Portugal Telecom (Meo) is in negotiations to become a shareholder of Sport TV and the process is in due diligence. If the deal should go through, the existing three partners would see their shares drop to 25 per cent.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Business, Pay TV, Results