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Radio stations meet Portuguese music broadcasting quotas in 2021

The verification was conducted by ERC in the light of the broadcasting obligations laid down by the Radio Law

ERC has analysed the performance of national, regional and local radio programme services during 2021 with regard to their obligations to comply with the Portuguese music broadcasting quotas laid down by the Radio Law.

The analysis focused on the programme services registered to ERC’s “Radio Portal” platform. The study examined both monthly samples from 130 local radio programme services providing regular reporting, and the monthly monitoring of the southern regional radio programme service (M80) and of five national programme services (Antena 1, Antena 3, Rádio Comercial, Rádio Renascença and RFM).

ERC’s evaluation has taken into account the entry into force of the Order No. 24/2021, which updated the minimum Portuguese music broadcasting quota from 25% to 30% after March 2021.

ERC’s report showed that more than 90% of the local programme services continued to meet the legal quota. Additionally, more than 90% of the local radio stations continued fulfilling the subquota of 60% of music composed or performed in Portuguese by citizens from European Union Member States.

With regard to M80 regional programme service, ERC has learned that the shares were higher than the Portuguese music minimum quota on a 24-hour broadcast and between 7am and 8pm. The radio station has also met and exceeded the specified minimum percentage of the Portuguese music subquota on the two time slots stipulated by the law, ranging 80%. 

It can be noted that most of the private national programme services (Rádio Comercial, Rádio Renascença e RFM) have met and exceeded the 30% quota of Portuguese music, despite some fluctuations, either on the 24-hour broadcast or on the time slot between 7am and 8pm. The 60% subquota has been largely met on the 24-hour broadcast and on the time slot between 7am and 8pm. Rádio Renascença radio station showed the highest share, which exceeded 90%. 

ERC also verified the observance of the 35% quota of recent music. Both RFM and Rádio Comercial radio stations have registered high broadcasting shares of recent music, that is, music released in the past 12 months. ERC noted that the share of recent music broadcasted by Rádio Renascença radio station fell slightly in 2021 when compared with the previous year. This was due to both editorial and audience constraints, but there was a positive evolution by the end of the year. 

When analysing the public service radio programme services performance, Antena 1 and Antena 3, ERC has shown that both radio stations have fulfilled its legal obligations.

The analysis suggested that Antena 1 radio station registered Portuguese music broadcasting shares close to or above 70%, either on the 24-hour broadcast or on the time slot between 7am and 8pm. ERC has also found that Antena 1 has filled by 89.9% the broadcasting quota of music composed or performed in Portuguese throughout the year, by far surpassing the established monthly quota. As regards the recent music broadcasting minimum quota of 35%, the radio station has almost always registered higher shares above the reference value, exceeding 40%.

As for Antena 3, ERC has learned that the radio station registered Portuguese music broadcasting shares above 50%, either on the 24-hour broadcast or on the time slot between 7am and 8pm. With regard to the broadcast of music composed or performed in Portuguese by citizens from European Union Member States, Antena 3 has registered shares almost always above 60% in both time slots. Similarly, the radio station has registered very significant shares of recent music during 2021, which exceeded 80%, and thus safeguarding the great importance attached to the dissemination of Portuguese music works.

The full report on “Dissemination of Portuguese Music in 2021” is available here.