One of Portugal’s biggest political parties has suggested it may privatise national broadcaster RTP later this year. If the deal ends up going through, RTP may be ineligible for EBU membership, putting its Eurovision participation in doubt.
RTP is a ‘bottomless pit of public money’
Right-wing party Chega has said it will bring forward a proposal to privatise RTP to the Portuguese parliament in September, according to national newspaper SOL. It is believed the government is already in talks with the leader of the party André Ventura about the resturcturing and selling of assets at the channel.
A source from within the party told the newspaper:
Costs within RTP have been unbearable for taxpayers and this has not been reflected in added value for citizens. RTP has become a bottomless pit of public money, and, moreover, has become a refuge for people who no longer represent Portuguese society and are only there for political reasons.
Claims were also made against the fees collected from taxpayers to run the channel, which the source says is applied in an “unfair and disproportionate manner”.
What does this mean for Eurovision?
Should RTP be privatised, it would lose its eligibility to be a full member of the EBU, which is a union of fully public-owned channels across Europe. This would also then jeopardise RTP’s ability to take part in events such as Eurovision or Junior Eurovision.
As RTP is Portugal’s only channel in the EBU, if the channel is privatised, it would risk a complete withdrawal from Portuguese broadcasters from the union. The bill will be proposed in the next parliamentary session. However, this is not the first time a broadcaster faced privatisation, as Israeli broadcaster KAN has faced several similar threats from the government, only for the EBU to step in.
Portugal’s Eurovision journey
Portugal debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest with António Calvário’s “Oração” in 1964. Since then, Portugal has participated in the competition 55 times – appearing the final 46 times. Their only win in the competition came in 2017 with Salvador Sobral, performing his heart-wrenching song “Amar Pelos Dois”.
Portugal’s most recent participation was with Bandidos do Cante with the song “Rosa” in 2026. The band failed to qualify for the Grand Final, scoring 74 points and finishing in twelfth place. This was Portugal’s first time missing out on the final since 2019, with 35 points coming from the televote and 39 coming from juries.
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News Source: SOL
Photo Credit: Playocean
Thomas James 
Tim J