Benfica TV (BTV) is a
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
sports-oriented
premium
Premium may refer to:
Marketing
* Premium (marketing), a promotional item that can be received for a small fee when redeeming proofs of purchase that come with or on retail products
* Premium segment, high-price brands or services in marketing, ...
cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
and
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...
television channel
A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...
operated by sports club
S.L. Benfica
Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football.
Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...
. Its headquarters are located at the
Estádio da Luz
The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, it ...
, having a second
studio at
Benfica Campus
Benfica Campus (formerly Caixa Futebol Campus), also known as , is the training ground and youth academy of Portuguese football club Benfica. Having nine pitches (three of synthetic turf), including the main one with 2,721 seats – Benfica B' ...
. 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 The channel was originally made available for free on all of its cable operators until June 2013.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, Benfica TV 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 Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
, the Italian
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
, the French
Ligue 1, and
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
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, Benfica TV is available on
MEO, NOS,
Nowo
NOWO (“novo”) is a Portuguese telecommunications company. It is one of the four triple play operators in Portugal.
Apax France and Fortino Capital have been NOWO's shareholders since September 2015. In Portugal, these groups also own th ...
and
Vodafone
Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania.
, Vod ...
. Internationally, it is available in Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, England, Canada and the United States. Moreover, it is available via
streaming.
History
Introduction
The concept of a television channel specifically covering Benfica and its members was first mentioned in 2005 with
Luís Filipe Vieira
Luís Filipe Ferreira Vieira (born 22 June 1949) is a Portuguese real estate businessman who was the 33rd president of sports club S.L. Benfica, from October 2003 to July 2021.
He was also president of the club's SAD board of directors until ...
'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
A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, an ...
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
The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, it ...
and another at
Benfica Campus
Benfica Campus (formerly Caixa Futebol Campus), also known as , is the training ground and youth academy of Portuguese football club Benfica. Having nine pitches (three of synthetic turf), including the main one with 2,721 seats – Benfica B' ...
were constructed, with the channel's broadcast to launch in November.
In August, Benfica announced that
MEO would be their cable operator, and
Cabovisão
NOWO (“novo”) is a Portuguese telecommunications company. It is one of the four triple play operators in Portugal.
Apax France and Fortino Capital have been NOWO's shareholders since September 2015. In Portugal, these groups also own the ...
(now Nowo), AR Telecom and
Clix Clix, CLIX, etc. may refer to:
Technology
* Clix (ISP), a Portuguese triple play brand
* CLiX (markup), a formal XML schema validation language and method of using valid XML for overlapping markup
* Clix (miniatures), a system of miniatures games p ...
followed soon after.
The 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
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
.
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
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
section against
Ovarense.
Expansion
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
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
. Further expansions in both availability and content gained the channel significant profit. They entered the French network
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
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
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
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.
Premium channel
On 1 July 2013 Benfica TV became a premium channel, available in
standard-definition
Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...
and
high-definition. The price was €9.90 per month and included the aforementioned Benfica home games, Premier League and Brasileirão, plus
Major League Soccer and the
Superleague Greece.
Just days later, Benfica announced a deal with Cabovisão for the broadcast of the premium channel, and added
Farense home games to their content. They closed their first month with 100,000 subscribers, which Vieira praised as "a good answer for the strategic shift he made and serves as fuel for the future." Benfica TV made their first home game broadcast on 25 August, beating their direct competitors in rating and share. Expansion continued in the second and third month, adding
Vodafone
Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania.
, Vod ...
to their list of cable operators and finishing September with over 200,000 subscribers. Due to the increased amount of available content, Benfica launched a second channel in October, and signed with another cable provider, Premier Sports, in November.
![Logo Benfica TV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Logo_Benfica_TV.png)
In January 2014, Benfica added LiveMatch, an internet
pay-per-view option, that allowed residential customers to watch a
live stream
Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but n ...
of home games. In the same month, the channel beat historic rating records and surpassed 300,000 subscribers. In the following months, Benfica added
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
to their programming and shortened the channel's name to BTV.
In November, Benfica disclosed that BTV had generated €28 million, with expenses rising to €11 million, for a net profit of €17 million, making it their main source of income. It was more than double that of previous income from TV rights, but still less than the rejected offer from Olivedesportos.
By the end of 2014, Benfica TV was available internationally in the Portuguese-speaking countries
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
,
Cape Verde and
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, as well as to the significant
Portuguese populations in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
,
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
,
Switzerland,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. In July 2015 Benfica added two more major leagues to its programming,
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...
and
Ligue 1, signing a three-year deal that would last until 2018.
At the same time, changes in the leadership at the
Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional
The Liga Portugal (Portugal League), also known by its acronym LPFP, is a governing body that manages professional football club competitions in Portugal. It was founded in 1978 as Liga Portuguesa dos Clubes de Futebol Profissional and works as an ...
brought forward the question of centralizing TV rights to one owner. Soares de Oliveira agreed that "we need a centralized TV deal", while Vieira said that he did not oppose and assured that Benfica TV would continue, if not Benfica home games, then their other relevant content. On 2 December 2015, Benfica sold its first-team TV rights as well as the distribution and broadcasting rights to NOS in a three-year deal, receiving €40 million per season, with the option to extend the contract to a maximum of ten seasons, totalling €400 million. NOS later opted to keep Benfica's first-team matches on Benfica TV, still as a premium channel. They also opted to remove all other premium content, namely the UFC, Ligue 1 and Serie A, subsequently closing the second channel (BTV2) on 30 June 2016.
On 9 February 2017, BTV was awarded with the Prémio Cinco Estrelas (Five Star Award) for the best TV Sports Channel in Portugal.
Programming
Benfica TV covers Benfica's daily activity with four regular news reports at 10:00, 14:00, 21:00 and 24:00 WET. They comment on daily newspapers, as well as recent events in Portugal. Occasionally, for unscheduled
breaking news
Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...
related to Benfica, more news reports can occur. However, the channel's main content is the broadcast of football matches, specially Benfica's Primeira Liga home games.
Other minor content includes
Segunda Liga transmissions from
Benfica B and Farense, various matches from
Benfica youth; past content have included the Premier League, Serie A and Ligue 1, the
2015 Copa del Rey Final
The 2015 Copa del Rey Final was an association football match on 30 May 2015 to decide the winner of the 2014–15 Copa del Rey, the 113th edition of Spain's premier football cup since its establishment (including two seasons where two rival ed ...
,
2015 Supercopa de España
The 2015 Supercopa de España was a two-legged football match-up that was played in August 2015 between Athletic Bilbao, runners-up of the 2014–15 Copa del Rey, and Barcelona, the champions of 2014–15 La Liga and the 2014–15 Copa del Rey, m ...
,
2015 Supercoppa Italiana
The 2015 Supercoppa Italiana was the 28th edition of the Supercoppa Italiana, Italian football supercup. It was played on 8 August 2015 at the Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai, China. With Juventus winning both the 2014–15 Serie A championship a ...
, the 2014–15 edition of the
Taça de Honra
Taça de Honra (Honour Cup) is a Portuguese friendly football tournament played between teams of the Lisbon Football Association (AFL). It is the third oldest competition in Portugal after the championships of Lisbon and Porto. The format has ...
, plus
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
company Ultimate Fighting Championship.
From the start, Benfica has also broadcast its home matches for the five best-known amateur sports: basketball,
futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football.
Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...
,
roller hockey,
handball and
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...
, with teams in both senior and youth categories, male or female.
Some of the original programs produced by Benfica TV, not including post-game analysis, are:
* ''As Lanças Apontadas'', a 55-minute program where host Ricardo Palacin and guests review the week's main sports events
* ''Aquecimento'', a 90-minute show presented by Hélder Conduto discussing upcoming matches
* ''Jogo Limpo'', a 50-minute show with Fernando Seara, where he interviews, discusses and debates with guest athletes
* ''Direito Desportivo'', a program focused on the technicalities of
sports law
"Unprintworthy" redirects are redirect pages on Wikipedia that aid online navigation, but would have little or no value as pointers to target articles in a hard-copy book. The name of a redirect may be unprintworthy for a number of reasons, incl ...
* ''Alta Fidelidade'', a 30-minute show presented by Carlos Dias da Silva, interviewing a Benfica athlete
* ''Sport Lisboa e Modalidades'', a 60-minute program related to the club's amateur sports, including interviews, fun facts, and analysis of athletes
* ''Canela até ao Pescoço'', a 60-minute humour show, presented by Quimbé, Frederico Pombares, Mário Bomba and Alexandre Ovídio
* ''Vitórias & Património'', a 60-minute
documentary about Benfica history, notable events and players
* ''Em Linha da Noite'', a show about recent events, where viewers can call and comment
* ''Isto é Mística'', a mini-show related to the club's
fans
Fan commonly refers to:
* Fan (machine), a machine for producing airflow, often used for cooling
** Hand fan, an implement held and waved by hand to move air for cooling
* Fan (person), short for fanatic; an enthusiast or supporter, especially wit ...
* ''Jornal O Benfica'', a preview of the club's newspaper, ''
O Benfica'', presented by Pedro Guerra
* ''Tempo Corrido'', 25-minute interview of various notable fans
* ''Pelas Casas do Benfica'', a 30-minute show regarding the Houses of Benfica, the fans' gathering places, with facts, pictures and interviews
Criticism
In 2020, Benfica TV was criticized by
Bernardo Silva
Bernardo Mota Veiga de Carvalho e Silva (; born 10 August 1994), known as Bernardo Silva or simply Bernardo, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder, forward or a winger for club Manchester City and the ...
,
António Bagão Félix
António José de Castro Bagão Félix (born 9 April 1948) is a Portuguese economist and politician.
Education
Bagão Félix received his university degree in Finance from the Technical University of Lisbon's ISEG, formerly known as ISCEF ( ...
, and other
Benfica members for not covering the club's elections that year nor promoting debates between candidates to presidency. Benfica had previously justified the absence of electoral coverage and debates on BTV with the exact same absence regarding the three previous elections at the club, saying their decision was due to an editorial option unanimously approved by the club's social bodies.
References
External links
*
{{S.L. Benfica
S.L. Benfica
Television stations in Portugal
Television channels and stations established in 2008
Portuguese-language television stations
2008 establishments in Portugal
Sports television in Portugal
Mass media in Lisbon