Television in Portugal

Digital terrestrial television (DTT) was introduced at a very late stage when compared to other countries in Europe and with limited channels.

During the transition from analog to DTT, subscription-based television services experienced a 10% increase and reached 72.5% of homes in 2012.

[2] In 1953, a group on behalf of Emissora Nacional de Radiodifusão (later RDP) was set up examining the feasibility of a television service in Portugal.

By the mid-1980s, satellite television with foreign channels started to become an alternative to the existing monopoly, while the government was opening the bidding process to the private sector.

In December 2021, Lisbon-headquartered investment management firm Alpac Capital signed an agreement to buy a controlling stake in the pan-European television news network Euronews from Egyptian telecoms magnate Naguib Sawiris.

During the 2010s, high definition gained more traction as the standard quality for TV broadcasts with by the end of the decade most television channels having an HD feed.

However, high definition is still only available through pay TV services since, as of 2023, it has yet to be implemented for Portuguese Terrestrial Digital Television.