There is a ratings war. But who watches, and what are mornings on Portuguese TV worth?
In the middle of the ratings war between SIC and TVI, we took a look at mornings on Portuguese television. Meet the kind of audience that watches these programmes, and the brands that are interested in them.
Viewers follow faces, not channels. Or rather, not the names of the television channels. The data show that Cristina Ferreira’s move from TVI to SIC put the Carnaxide station in the lead in the mornings, a position that previously belonged to the Queluz de Baixo channel. In other words, a large part of the audience went with Cristina, although it is still too early to say that the presenter has beaten Manuel Luís Goucha in the ratings war. But amid all this, one question has to be asked: who watches, and what are mornings on Portuguese television worth?
Leaving aside the Portuguese who rewind and fast-forward through the broadcast, mornings on free-to-air TV are defined by a home-based audience. “The difference between the morning programmes and prime time comes down essentially to working professionals, that is, people who work”, Pedro Mendes, director of IPAM Lisboa, begins by explaining to ECO. It is a more home-based and retired audience. As for the difference between mornings and afternoons, there is only one point of distinction: mornings still have some audience made up of working professionals, who get home at around 12:40, the lecturer explains.
AI translation from the Portuguese. First published in ECO on 12 January 2019.