The Regulatory Authority for Social Communication (ERC) gave the LiveModeTV platform, which broadcasts World Cup 2026 football matches in Portugal, a deadline of 72 hours to register with the regulator as an on-demand audiovisual service (‘streaming’).
This new deliberation follows a first decision, dated June 16, in which the ERC understood that the LiveModeTV platform was subject to mandatory registration with the regulator as a media outlet.
According to the ERC’s previous analysis, the platform presented “characteristics typical of an editorially organized social communication service, including its own visual and editorial identity, structured programming, editorial responsibility for content, presence of presenters and commentators, as well as economic exploitation of the service”.
However, in the new deliberation of June 22, the ERC states that in view of the “material reconfiguration of the project” of LiveModeTV, the “existence of a television program service, namely the organization of a linear, continuous and unitary programming grid”, no longer exists.
The regulator adds that the changes communicated by LiveModeTV, on June 19th and 22nd, and the start of broadcasts of the Football World Cup, “allow us to provide a new angle on the qualification of services to be made available” by the platform.
According to ERC, the platform’s current model consists of offering audiovisual content organized into ‘playlists’ and thematic sections, continuous availability of recorded videos, free and individualized access by the user and the absence of a continuous linear programming schedule.
“This structure corresponds, in functional terms, to a form of organization of audiovisual content capable of integrating the concept of on-demand audiovisual service”, supported “by advertising (Advertising Video On demand – AVOD), through third-party platforms (OTT – over the top)”, the deliberation also reads.
“Although there is a linear component during the transmission of sporting events, this is functionally limited in nature to the period in which these events take place, and does not constitute permanent linear programming capable of autonomously characterizing a television program service”, adds the document.
Thus, the ERC considers that changes introduced to the service remove the qualification as Web TV, “but do not allow the qualification of an audiovisual communication service – in the SAP modality – to be removed, which requires prior registration with the ERC before starting the activity”.
LiveModeTV announced on June 11, when the World Cup 2026 took place in the United States, Mexico and Canada, that it would broadcast 34 games from the competition, including all of the Portuguese national team.
In the press release, the platform highlighted that it is available in Portugal on the social network YouTube and Prime Video, and that “in addition to the match of the day for each matchday, it will have several hours of programming dedicated to the 2026 World Cup, totaling around 8 hours per day”.
LiveModeTV presented itself as a “digital broadcast platform that combines high-level football with an interactive experience close to the fans”.
