MTV (Portuguese TV channel)

Television channel
MTV Portugal
Broadcast areaPortugal
Angola
Mozambique
HeadquartersMadrid, Spain
Programming
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed)
Ownership
OwnerParamount Networks EMEAA
Sister channelsNickelodeon
Nick Jr.
History
Launched4 July 2003
Links
Websitemtv.pt (inactive)

MTV is a Portuguese pay television channel that was launched on 4 July 2003, replacing MTV Europe in Portugal. A high-definition simulcast feed of the channel launched on 17 June 2015.

In its initial stages MTV Portugal shared similar content to MTV Spain and MTV Italy, while also airing programming from MTV US and MTV Europe. There was a strong focus on music content but gradually the channel began to air reality shows similar to other MTV channels.[1] The channel was launched in Portugal with the support of private broadcaster SIC as it previously had a MTV branded block in the early 1990s. The channel is based at MTV Networks Europe in Madrid and supported by a local office is Lisbon.

History

MTV Portugal was launched at midnight on 4 July 2003 with a special pre-recorded concert by Blind Zero, replacing MTV Europe.[2] The channel promised a "Portugalization" of its content, when, at launch, the channel had Portuguese staff, but no local programs were announced.[3]

At the beginning, the channel broadcast mainly music,[2] but gradually gave way to reality shows. Most of its programming consists of shows broadcast by MTV and MTV2 from the United States, but also shows from MTV UK (Geordie Shore, Just Tattoo of Us,...), MTV Spain (Gandía Shore,...) or MTV Brazil and MTV LATAM.

In Spring 2011, MTV Portugal began to air new localised programming. The last MTV Portugal VJs were Diogo Dias – the first presenter of the channel, having hosted MTV Portugal since 2004 -, Luís Marvão and Patrícia Vieira. Starting in the early 2020s, MTV Portugal no longer had presenters. There are some Portuguese celebrities who also were MTV Portugal VJs: Filomena Cautela, Luísa Barbosa (in the second half of the 2000s) and Ana Sofia Martins (in the first half of the 2010s).

As of 2024, MTV Portugal’s schedule was merged into MTV Spain’s, and still had localized content.

With the merger into MTV Global in 2025, Czech regulator RRTV requested that the former MTV Portugal license would be reused for MTV Poland's, and, consequently, the channel would be distributed from the Thor satellite instead.[4]

On 31st December 2025, MTV Portugal was excluded from operator MEO, which was the Portuguese subscription TV service with the largest number of clients as of 2023[5]. This happened on the same day that MTV 00s and MTV Live were closed, and MTV Portugal was folded into MTV Global schedule, stopping to air any music videos. Thus, the MTV Portugal channel continues to be available on the NOS and Vodafone Portugal operators.

VJ casting

In 2012, MTV Portugal aired a new local television program which aims to look for new VJs across the country. It began its search by going across the country to ten cities across six months and selects its top candidates to progress to the next stage.[6] During the VJ casting process it has visited Almada, Aveiro, Coimbra, Faro, Funchal, Guimarães, Lisbon, Montijo, Sintra, Viseu.[7]

Local programmes

  • MTV Amplifica (entertainment news update hosted by VJ Diogo)
  • MTV Breakfast Club (entertainment show hosted by VJ Patrícia and VJ Luís)
  • MTV News (available on MTV Portugal's Instagram)
  • MTV Hits (nonstop video show)
  • MTV Insomnia (nonstop video show)

Programs

References

  1. ^ "MTV PORTUGAL SITEMAP". MTV Portugal (in Portuguese). 12 July 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  2. ^ a b "MTV Portugal arranca sexta-feira sem produção nacional". Público (in European Portuguese). 1 July 2003.
  3. ^ "MTV Portugal começou emissão às 00h00". Público (in European Portuguese). 4 July 2003.
  4. ^ "Tisková zpráva ze 17. zasedání 2025, konaného dne 16. 12. 2025" (PDF). RRTV (in Czech).
  5. ^ "O fim de uma era: MTV desliga canais ao som de "Video Killed The Radio Star"" [Description]. SAPO (in Portuguese). 2 January 2025. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  6. ^ "MTV VJ Casting 2012". MTV Portugal (in Portuguese). 12 July 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  7. ^ "DESCRIÇÃO" [Description]. MTV Portugal (in Portuguese). 12 July 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  • Official website
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