The Prime Minister’s traditional Christmas message, broadcast this Monday evening on RTP 1, was watched by an average of 512,200 viewers and had a share of 11%. This means that António Costa’s letter was followed by 164 thousand more people this year than in 2022, when the head of government managed to attract only 348 thousand, according to GfK data.
It was the ninth time Costa had addressed the Portuguese during the Christmas season as prime minister and it would be the last time. Of the nine speeches since the start of his mandate, this was the fifth most popular. The 2020 Christmas message reached the largest audience with an average of 717,000 viewers, while last year’s message recorded the worst result.
When Antonio Costa took office in 2015, he was watched by 500,000 viewers on Christmas Day. Two years later, the head of government recorded the second worst result: he managed to connect only 369 thousand people to a public station to hear his words. In 2018, Costa began to recover, it was watched by half a million viewers, and in 2019 it grew to 700 thousand. In 2021, it attracted just 525,100 people.
It should also be noted that for the 18th year in a row, dating back to 2006, SIC has topped the two most notable days of the season: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On the 24th he won with an average share of 17.1% compared to 13.1% for TVI and 11.2% for RTP 1.
On the 25th, station Paço de Arcos was again ahead of the competition, recording an average share of 18.1%, compared to 13.2% for TVI and 12.4% for RTP 1. This is SIC’s biggest lead over Christmas since 2019.
Author: Sonia Diaz
Source: CM Jornal
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