SETÚBAL: TELECOMMUNICATIONS - The operators Meo (owned by Portugal Telecom) and NOS have finally reached an agreement for the reciprocal provision of broadcasting rights relating to sporting events, as well as broadcasting and distribution rights for Portuguese sports channels and Portuguese club channels, whose broadcasting rights are currently held or may be acquired by the parties, including, in particular, the sharing of current and future costs associated with this sports content.
NOS, which now holds the rights to Benfica and Sporting CP, has announced an agreement with the Portuguese operator Meo, now part of Portugal Telecom, Vodafone Portugal and Cabovisão, to the CMVM (Portuguese Securities Market Commission). This decision means that Porto Canal will return to NOS's television channel lineup, more than 5 months after its signal was cut off at midnight on February 13, while Meo will continue broadcasting Benfica TV (BTV).
The Lisbon club's channel continued to be broadcast by Meo, even though the contract with Portugal Telecom had expired in June. The rights relating to Benfica TV (BTV) passed to NOS, and it was not clear whether the channel would remain on Meo without the agreement that had been announced being finalized.
It's worth remembering that in May of this year, Portugal Telecom, a Portuguese telecommunications company founded in 1994, acquired the rights to Porto Canal and, from 2018, the rights to broadcast FC Porto's games, which are both sports companies owned by Joaquim Oliveira, Olivedesportos and PPTV.