Sport TV
| SportTV | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| SportTV logo | |
| Launched | September 16, 1998 |
| Owned by | Controlinveste (50%) ZON Multimédia (25%) Portugal Telecom (25%) |
| Picture format | Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Resolution: 576i (SD)/720p (HD) |
| Slogan | "O seu desporto favorito." ("Your favourite sport.") |
| Website | sporttv.pt |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| ZON TV | |
| meo | |
| Cable | |
| ZON TV | |
| Cabovisão | |
| IPTV | |
| meo | |
| Optimus Clix TV | |
| Vodafone Casa TV | |
SportTV is the brand name for a group of six Portuguese sports-oriented television channels. SportTV is the dominant subscription television sports brand in Portugal. The first channel, then known as only SportTV, was launched on 16 September 1998. It is owned by ZON Multimédia, Portugal Telecom and Controlinveste (and originally had the participation of Radiotelevisão Portuguesa). It is available in almost all television distribution operators in Portugal as a premium subscription channel.
SportTV broadcasts mainly association football, Formula One, basketball, volleyball, rugby, and tennis. It also features debates, news and sports reports.
The most important Liga ZON Sagres games are shown exclusively on SportTV.
Contents |
History [edit]
On 16 September 2005, seven years after the opening of the first channel, SportTV launched a second channel, SportTV 2 . It regularly broadcasts alternative sports such as mountaineering, cycling and radical sports. The channel was available only through ZON TV Funtaasic Life package, but the model didn't work. They relaunched the channel as a premium channel, also available on Cabovisão, Optimus Clix TV and Portugal Telecom's meo. This was followed in June 2008 by SportTV 3.
SportTV shown UEFA Euro 2008 in HD, through ZON TV.
On January 22, 2010, the thematic golf channel SportTV Golfe and its HD simulcast, SportTV Golfe HD were launched.
On August 13, 2010, they launched SportTV Liga Inglesa, a HD channel dedicated to the Premier League, broadcasting 380 games and 400 highlights per season, made by the Premier League (also broadcasting on other countries).
On January 7, 2011, SportTV 1, SportTV 2 and SportTV 3 started to broadcast in 16:9.
On August 13, 2011, all of the SportTV main channels started to broadcast in HD and it was launched a new channel, SportTV 4, that also is available in HD. At the same time, the SportTV HD channel ended its two-year run.
Controversies [edit]
SportTV is widely regarded as anti-competitive, since it is the only group of channels in Portugal with the rights to broadcast the Liga ZON Sagres matches, as well as other international competitions. Portugal is one of the few countries in Europe where Formula One is broadcast on a premium channel, the others being Finland and Sweden.
On September 2007, SportTV sent a cease-and-desist to a Portuguese live TV streaming website [1], because the latter was providing links to streams of UEFA Champions League matches that only Sport TV had the rights to broadcast. This has caused great public concern with regard to the monopoly abuse status of the Sport TV channels.
Broadcasting rights [edit]
Football [edit]
Liga ZON Sagres- Taça de Portugal
- Segunda Liga
Barclays Premier League- The F.A. Cup with Budweiser
- Capital One Cup
- FA Community Shield
Liga BBVA- Copa del Rey
- Supercopa de España
Serie A TIM- TIM Cup
- Supercoppa Italiana
Ligue 1- Trophée des champions
Bundesliga- DFL-Supercup
SOGAZ Russian Football Championship
Clydesdale Bank Premier League
Eredivisie- Johan Cruijff Schaal
Swiss Super League
SporToto Süper Lig
Copa KIA do Brasil
Primera División
UEFA Champions League- UEFA Europa League
Copa Santander Libertadores- FIFA Club World Cup
Basketball [edit]
Motorsports [edit]
- Formula 1
- MotoGP
- GP2 Series
- A1 Grand Prix
- WRC
- International GT Open
- FIA GT Championship
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series- Indy Racing League
- DTM
- Others, include Portuguese Rally Championship and Weekly magazines (Formula 3, SBK, ...)
Gridiron [edit]
Ice hockey [edit]
Professional wrestling [edit]
Mixed martial arts [edit]
Golf [edit]
- Ryder Cup
- U.S. Masters
- U.S. Open
British Open- European Tour
- PGA Championship
- PGA Tour
- World Golf Championships
Sailing [edit]
Tennis [edit]
Volleyball [edit]
Sport TV Américas [edit]
On August 13, 2010, Sport TV launched Sport TV América, a dedicated sports channel for the Portuguese diaspora in North America. The channel was launched in partnership with American Portuguese-language broadcaster SPT TV. It airs live football matches every week from the Portuguese First & Second divisions as well as coverage of the League Cup and Portuguese Cup.
Association football programming on Sport TV América includes:
- Liga ZON Sagres (5 matches per week)
- Liga Orangina (2 matches per week)
- Taça de Portugal Millenium
- Taça da Liga
Sport TV América is currently available in the US via Dish Network and in Canada via Bell Fibe TV, MTS and NEXTV.
