“A comprehensive analysis of all the 30 debates held reveals a decline in the interest of Portuguese viewers in these debates compared to those of 2024,” the agency stated in a release, highlighting that the party leaders remain unchanged from 2024.
While last year saw four debates with an average viewership surpassing one million, in 2025, only two debates crossed this threshold: the encounter between Luís Montenegro and Pedro Nuno Santos, aired concurrently on three channels (RTP1, SIC and TVI), and the face-off between André Ventura and Luís Montenegro.
The debates broadcast on public channels “evoked less interest compared to 2024,” the agency observed, with an average audience of 883,000 viewers compared to 948,000 in 2024. Similarly, information channels gathered 114,000 viewers, down from 134,000 in 2024.
Conversely, the final debate featuring all parties without parliamentary seats was the least viewed on public channels but enjoyed a higher average audience than in 2024 (396,000 viewers versus 366,000 in 2024).
The analysis by Universal McCann further concluded that, excluding the PS and AD debate, which was broadcast simultaneously across various channels, “SIC aired the two most-watched debates,” namely the confrontation between Chega and AD and the encounter between Pedro Nuno Santos and Mariana Mortágua.
