Newspapers – Newspapers are generally accessible all over the country, except for most of the free dailies, which are distributed only in the larger cities. The online editions have most of their content freely accessible. There are a total of 725 newspapers in the country (INE 2008), but the vast majority of them are very small: their total annual circulation is 8,350,733, which means an average of 11,500 copies per year. There are 31 daily newspapers, but only 10 have a rather national distribution. All the regional ones print less than 10,000 copies a day.
Open television – The main open-access, free-to-air TV channels (two public – RTP1, RTP2 – and two private – SIC, TVI) can be watched all over the country. Actually, 99.4 % of Portuguese households have a television set (INE 2008). The commercial channels are free; the public ones are subject to an annual tax of about 21 Euros per household, compulsorily collected with the energy invoice (ca. 2 Euros per month).
Cable television – In 2006, 73 % of households were served by cable; three years later, this figure increased to 78 % (ERC 2009). But no more than 66 % of households (ca. 2.5 million people) actually subscribe to cable TV and, therefore, to several dozens of chains, most of them broadcasting from abroad. There are three major pay-TV operators, with the following market shares: ZON/TV Cabo – 64.4 %; MEO / PT – 23.0 %; Cabovisão – 10.2 % (Anacom 2009).
Radio – The national radio stations are generally accessible all over the country, either because they cover all the territory or because they broadcast in chains of regional or local stations. And their current investment in online distribution is strong as well.
Internet – More than 55 % of the population use a computer regularly, and 51 % use the Internet (see Tables 2, 3 and 4). These figures vary significantly according to age: in the younger group (16-24 years), the percentage of regular users of a computer increases to 94 %. The broadband penetration rate rose from 24 % of households in 2006 to 46.2 % in 2009 (Anacom 2009).
Table 2. Households with computer and Internet access
| 2006 | 2009 | 2010 | |
| Households with access to a computer | 45.4 % | 56.0 % | 59.5 % |
| Households with connection to Internet | 35.2 % | 47.9 % | 53.7 % |
| Households using broadband | 24.0 % | 46.2 % | 50.3 % |
Table 3. Population (16-74 years) using computer and Internet
| 2006 | 2009 | 2010 | |
| % who regularly use a computer | 42.5 % | 51.4 % | 55.4 % |
| % who regularly access the Internet | 35.6 % | 46.5 % | 51.1 % |
Table 4. Young population (16-24 years) using computer and Internet
| 2006 | 2009 | 2010 | |
| % who regularly use a computer | 82.7 % | 92.2 % | 94.0 % |
| % who regularly access the Internet | 75.2 % | 88.1 % | 89.3 % |
Sources: Pordata and INE (2010) – Inquérito à Utilização de Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação pelas Famílias.
