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Benfica TV
Benfica TV (BTV) is a Portuguese sports-oriented premium cable and satellite television channel operated by sports club S.L. Benfica. Its headquarters are located at the Estádio da Luz, having a second studio at Benfica Campus. Its first broadcast was on 2 October 2008, and regular transmissions began on 10 December. The channel was originally made available for free on all of its cable operators until June 2013.
Unlike other football club TV channels, BTV markets and broadcasts the club's own home league matches. When BTV became a premium channel in July 2013, Benfica purchased content such as the English Premier League, the Italian Serie A, the French Ligue 1, and Ultimate Fighting Championship events, broadcasting it on a second channel, which ended in June 2016. BTV rights belong to NOS since July 2016 and until end of June 2027.
In Portugal, BTV is available on MEO, NOS, Nowo and Vodafone. Internationally, it is available in Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, England, Canada and the United States. Moreover, it is available via streaming.
The concept of a television channel specifically covering Benfica and its members was first mentioned in 2005 with Luís Filipe Vieira's announcement of a new membership campaign called Kit Sócio ("Member Kit"). A year later, Vieira mentioned creating the channel again in his presidential campaign, as a way for the club to better communicate with its members and fans. After nearly two years, in April 2008 Benfica selected the first production companies to create the channel's content; former SIC Radical executive producer Ricardo Palacin was appointed as director and began the process of negotiating with cable operators to broadcast the channel. A studio at Estádio da Luz and another at Benfica Campus were constructed, with the channel's broadcast to launch in November. In August, Benfica announced that MEO would be their cable operator, and Cabovisão (now Nowo), AR Telecom and Clix followed soon after. Club administrator Domingos Soares Oliveira disclosed that negotiations with ZON TV Cabo (now NOS) had stalled, preventing them from broadcasting the channel, even though ZON was the largest cable operator in Portugal at the time.
On 1 October, Benfica announced an experimental broadcast for the following day, showing the second leg of the 2008–09 UEFA Cup first round against Napoli. Transmission would start two hours before the match and end one hour after. Director of communications João Gabriel described the event as "the first broadcast of a sports club channel in Portugal, that will revolutionize the TV rights market", adding that it was a "significant" step. The test occurred without any incidents, and 100,000 people tuned in to watch the game.
Regular broadcasts started on 10 December at 10:00 WET with a news report. According to Domingos Soares Oliveira, the channel was expected to have operating costs of €4 million per year, and advertising alone would be enough to cover them. Two days after the first broadcast, Benfica announced that it would start transmitting all of their amateur sports home games, because TV rights were free and no exclusivity deal existed. The first live game broadcast was a match of the basketball section against Ovarense.
In the channel's early years, Benfica focused on expanding the availability of Benfica TV, broadcasting through the Cabovisão, AR Telecom and Clix cable providers in January 2009. ZAP was added in March 2009, and the Dish Network in July 2010. By end of its second year, Benfica TV was available in more than 1 million homes. In July 2011 Benfica began broadcasting more than just their own games with the purchase of 180 games from various teams, including Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Further expansions in both availability and content gained the channel significant profit. They entered the French network Orange in April 2012, and in August 2012 purchased the TV rights for 82 Brasileirão matches.
At the same time, Benfica was negotiating a new TV rights deal with Olivedesportos, as the former deal, valued at €7.5 million, expired on 30 June 2013. In March 2012 Benfica announced that they had rejected a five-year, €111 million offer (€22.2 million per year), asking for €40 million per year instead. After months of exploiting alternative means of broadcast, on 25 October 2012 Benfica publicly confirmed they were transmitting their Primeira Liga home games on Benfica TV. On the club's 109th anniversary, Vieira divulged that Benfica had acquired the Premier League TV rights through 2015–16. The following day, Domingos Soares de Oliveira confirmed that the purchase was necessary for the need of "better content" and that Benfica TV would become a subscription-based channel, since it could not longer be a "free channel inserted in a network package." The subscription fee would be under €10 per month. With this change, Benfica finally expanded their cable operators to include ZON, almost four years after their initial launch.
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Benfica TV
Benfica TV (BTV) is a Portuguese sports-oriented premium cable and satellite television channel operated by sports club S.L. Benfica. Its headquarters are located at the Estádio da Luz, having a second studio at Benfica Campus. Its first broadcast was on 2 October 2008, and regular transmissions began on 10 December. The channel was originally made available for free on all of its cable operators until June 2013.
Unlike other football club TV channels, BTV markets and broadcasts the club's own home league matches. When BTV became a premium channel in July 2013, Benfica purchased content such as the English Premier League, the Italian Serie A, the French Ligue 1, and Ultimate Fighting Championship events, broadcasting it on a second channel, which ended in June 2016. BTV rights belong to NOS since July 2016 and until end of June 2027.
In Portugal, BTV is available on MEO, NOS, Nowo and Vodafone. Internationally, it is available in Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, England, Canada and the United States. Moreover, it is available via streaming.
The concept of a television channel specifically covering Benfica and its members was first mentioned in 2005 with Luís Filipe Vieira's announcement of a new membership campaign called Kit Sócio ("Member Kit"). A year later, Vieira mentioned creating the channel again in his presidential campaign, as a way for the club to better communicate with its members and fans. After nearly two years, in April 2008 Benfica selected the first production companies to create the channel's content; former SIC Radical executive producer Ricardo Palacin was appointed as director and began the process of negotiating with cable operators to broadcast the channel. A studio at Estádio da Luz and another at Benfica Campus were constructed, with the channel's broadcast to launch in November. In August, Benfica announced that MEO would be their cable operator, and Cabovisão (now Nowo), AR Telecom and Clix followed soon after. Club administrator Domingos Soares Oliveira disclosed that negotiations with ZON TV Cabo (now NOS) had stalled, preventing them from broadcasting the channel, even though ZON was the largest cable operator in Portugal at the time.
On 1 October, Benfica announced an experimental broadcast for the following day, showing the second leg of the 2008–09 UEFA Cup first round against Napoli. Transmission would start two hours before the match and end one hour after. Director of communications João Gabriel described the event as "the first broadcast of a sports club channel in Portugal, that will revolutionize the TV rights market", adding that it was a "significant" step. The test occurred without any incidents, and 100,000 people tuned in to watch the game.
Regular broadcasts started on 10 December at 10:00 WET with a news report. According to Domingos Soares Oliveira, the channel was expected to have operating costs of €4 million per year, and advertising alone would be enough to cover them. Two days after the first broadcast, Benfica announced that it would start transmitting all of their amateur sports home games, because TV rights were free and no exclusivity deal existed. The first live game broadcast was a match of the basketball section against Ovarense.
In the channel's early years, Benfica focused on expanding the availability of Benfica TV, broadcasting through the Cabovisão, AR Telecom and Clix cable providers in January 2009. ZAP was added in March 2009, and the Dish Network in July 2010. By end of its second year, Benfica TV was available in more than 1 million homes. In July 2011 Benfica began broadcasting more than just their own games with the purchase of 180 games from various teams, including Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Further expansions in both availability and content gained the channel significant profit. They entered the French network Orange in April 2012, and in August 2012 purchased the TV rights for 82 Brasileirão matches.
At the same time, Benfica was negotiating a new TV rights deal with Olivedesportos, as the former deal, valued at €7.5 million, expired on 30 June 2013. In March 2012 Benfica announced that they had rejected a five-year, €111 million offer (€22.2 million per year), asking for €40 million per year instead. After months of exploiting alternative means of broadcast, on 25 October 2012 Benfica publicly confirmed they were transmitting their Primeira Liga home games on Benfica TV. On the club's 109th anniversary, Vieira divulged that Benfica had acquired the Premier League TV rights through 2015–16. The following day, Domingos Soares de Oliveira confirmed that the purchase was necessary for the need of "better content" and that Benfica TV would become a subscription-based channel, since it could not longer be a "free channel inserted in a network package." The subscription fee would be under €10 per month. With this change, Benfica finally expanded their cable operators to include ZON, almost four years after their initial launch.