Annual subscription to a quality daily newspaper (Público) | 320 Euros |
Annual subscription to a weekly newsmagazine (Visão) | 130 Euros |
Annual subscription to broadband access 12 MB (average: 20×12) | 240 Euros |
Annual subscription to general Cable TV (average 100 channels) | 348 Euros |
Annual tax for Public Service of TV and Radio (compulsory) | 22 Euros |
TOTAL | 1,060 Euros |
Considering that the average income per capita in Portugal is around 15,000 Euros, the amount spent on basic news media, in a scenario like the one shown above, amounts to about 7 % of the annual income. It seems to be a fairly high price: spending about 90 Euros/month for access to the main media and Internet means an important effort in a country where the minimum salary, legally prescribed, is now 450 Euros a month.
Nonetheless, prices for Internet access and cable TV decreased very quickly, especially with “triple-play” packages (Internet + fixed telephone + cable TV). The offers of the two main players in this field vary presently between ca. 40 and 150 Euros a month, according to the number of TV channels received and to the speed of the Internet connection.
Most of the content of the main newspapers is freely available on-line.