Benfica TV ready to take flight

Benfica TV will get underway this Thursday with an experimental broadcast that will feature, Benfica's UEFA Cup match against Napoli. Although only "experimental", this thursday's broadcast will be start to what many hope will be a successful project.


Benfica has already announced their partnership with a couple of TV outlets, all of them in Portugal. Although Benfica has announced the game will be broadcast abroad, the details are very scarce at this time.

Benfica has invited the media to a press conference that will take place tomorrow at Estadio Da Luz. This press conference will serve to officially introduce the channel.
This past Friday, Benfica opened the doors to the channel's premises to the media.
Today the ERC(Portuguese FCC) gave the green light to Benfica TV, at the same time, Benfica announced the broadcast of the Napoli game to Africa on an open channel.

I hope that in tomorrow's press conference details will be made available about a broadcast in the US. Let's also hope that it's not through SPT, but something tells me that it'll be. What SPT has done this year with the derbies has been an authentic outrage, and I wouldn't think twice about jumping ship to Benfica TV if it presents itself as an alternative.

I spoke to someone in the know this weekend about this whole SPT thing, and from what they told me, it is costing businesses $3000/year + $600(cost of the box)to be able to broadcast these 6 games. For the Associations and Social clubs, SPT is charging $1800/year + $600.
That person also told me that when SPT held a meeting with most of the area's Social Clubs and Associations to announce the proposition, most of the area restaurants were already committed to paying SPT that money, which provided SPT leverage, were the Club's and Associations decline the proposition.

In the meantime, SPT has not offered any type of a rebate to their residential accounts, when they know damn well that the vast majority of their subscribers has signed up because of the matches they air.

Let's hope that Benfica can somehow disassociate themselves from SPT, or you might see your wallet get hit.

I ran into an article about Benfica TV in an online marketing/advertising/media publication called Briefing.

I have taken the liberty to translate the article, here it is:


Talk-Shows, Documentaries, and live reporting on the hour are some of the new features of Benfica TV, that will available through Meo, Clix Smart and AR telecom, that will cost Benfica 4.5 million Euros.

This past friday Benfica introduced their TV project, that will provisionally take off on the second of October, with the airing of the Benfica - Napoli game for the Uefa Cup. Information, interactivity and entertainment will be the basis of the channel, that will also feature 20 minute blocks of information three times daily.

"We want to be a communication agency at Benfica's service, relying heavily on live reporting, and up to the minute information, that no one else will have. We would also like to encourage the public's participation, and air talk shows as well as documentaries, without forgetting the club's history.
Different club sports, youth formation and live training sessions will deserve live attention". Explained the channel's director, Ricardo Palacin.

DNA Young & Rubicam and Bloom Graphics, authored the logo and the channel's graphic identity, respectively. According to Miguel Bento, marketing director of the club, the graphic concept of Benfica TV is based on the "nobility, strength and independence of the eagle".

"It's the symbolism and the reflex of a project, that is also a picture of the second graphic column, that rests on the dynamic of the graphics that assume any format, taking into consideration the Benfica symbols, like the eagle and the arches of its stadium". Explained Miguel Bento when referring to the graphics that will be seen on the channel.

Besides being part of the Meo line up, the channel also has secured a presence in Clix Smart TV and AR Telecom.
In regards to negotiations with Zon(Meo's competitor), executive administrator, Domingos Soares de Oliveira, revealed that there hasn't been a substantial evolution in the negotiations, between Benfica and Zon in the past two weeks.

In relation to the Benfica-Napoli, the game will be aired in 50 countries, Italy, USA, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and Sao Tome and Principe to name a few.
Europe and North Africa are two other regions that will be able to watch the game.

The official start of the channel is supposed to get underway in November. The investment allocated to the channel will run around the 4.5 million Euros, and the channel will be on the air 6 hours a day, in its initial months of broadcasting.

Original Article