Portugal: Media Capital launching new TV channel
July 2, 2024
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Portuguese broadcasting group Media Capital is launching a new general entertainment channel this September. It will replace TVI Ficção, a thematic cable TV channel that airs soap operas, sitcoms and series.
TVI Ficção ended 2024 with a 1.3 per cent audience share, ranking as the 9th most-watched cable channel (tied with SIC Mulher) in Portugal. A request for a licence has already been submitted to the Regulatory Entity for Social Communication.
The new channel will be distributed by the country’s main pay-TV operators, namely Meo (Altice Portugal), Vodafone Portugal and Nos. It will be headed by Hugo Andrade, currently TVI’s deputy general director, who previously was programme director at RTP1 and RTP Memória.
Media Capital’s portfolio includes national commercial broadcaster TVI, thematic channels TVI Reality and CNN Portugal, as well as international services TVI Internacional and TVI África.
This move comes just a few months after rival media group, Media Livre, launched new news channel Now.