20+ Portuguese TV Shows (With Subtitles) That You Can Stream

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Written by: | Last updated on February 8, 2024 | Est. Reading Time: 4 minutes

Watching Portuguese TV can be a great way to learn a few new Portuguese words and phrases and immerse yourself in the sounds of the Portuguese language.

Unless your Portuguese is already at a very good level, you’re going to need to watch TV with Portuguese subtitles (legendas).

That way, you can listen and read at the same time and you’ll have a much better understanding of what’s going on. As you progress, you’ll get to a point where you can watch the shows without subtitles.

Learning Portuguese? Check out these great courses that focus specifically on European Portuguese.

European Portuguese TV Shows

RTP

Of all the TV stations, RTP seems to have the most subtitled content. Their shows can also be accessed online from anywhere in the world and there’s no need to sign in.

Unfortunately, however, there doesn’t seem to be a way to searching RTP for shows with subtitles so you’ll have to refer to the list below. Another challenge is exporting those subtitles, but don’t worry: there’s a guide on how to do that below.

Warning: While there are some good Portuguese TV shows out there, the ones that have accompanying subtitles aren’t the most exciting.

Non-Fiction Shows & Documentaries

Documentaries

Comedy TV Shows

Other TV Series

Cookery Shows

Children’s programs

Downloading Subtitles from RTP

It’s possible to download the subtitles from RPT as a text file. You can then go through the file and make a note of all the words that you don’t know (ideally adding them to Memrise or a notepad where you can review them later).

On RTP shows, the subtitles file is a .VTT file. What’s that? It doesn’t really matter. Here’s how to get the subtitles.

  1. Open the episode you want to watch (select one of the links above)
  2. Click to view source code (press CTRL+U in Chrome, for example)
  3. Search the text (CTRL+F in Chrome) for .VTT

You’ll see a URL for a file ending in .VTT.

  1. Copy that URL into another tab in your browser and press enter.

The .VTT file will download. You can then open up the file with a program like Notepad.

Live TV on RTP

This page on RTP shows all of their shows that are subtitled.

SIC

Sic doesn’t seem to have much in the way of subtitled content online, but if you’re based in Portugal you can watch many of their shows with subtitles using teletext.

Live TV on Sic

Check the SIC TV listings to see which shows have 888 in their list (the teletext channel for subtitles).

Brazilian Portuguese TV Shows

Netflix

For anyone learning Portuguese, especially Brazilian Portuguese, Netflix is a fantastic resource. Not only does it have plenty of great TV shows and films that you can watch, but you can also change the audio of non-Portuguese TV shows into Portuguese.

And, there’s also a way to show both Portuguese and English subtitles at the same time.

Written by

James Cave is the founder of Portugalist and the author of the bestselling book, Moving to Portugal Made Simple. He has visited just about every part of Portugal, including Madeira and all nine islands of the Azores, and lived in several parts of Portugal including Lisbon, the Algarve, and Northern Portugal.

You can contact James by emailing james@portugalist.com or via the site's contact form.

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There are 8 comments on this article. Join the conversation and add your own thoughts, reviews, and stories of life in Portugal. However, please remember to be civil.

Comments

  1. Thanks for this post – really useful. Especially the how to download subtitles from RTP. I did this and then pasted it into DeepL to get the Portuguese text into English. Update: Seems to be a limit on how much you can translate, guess I never hit it before 🙁 (*)

    On a side note I thoroughly recommend Por do Sol on RTP which actually also has English Subtitles “built-in”

    (*) I am using Linux and there is a kind of workaround using Translate Shell in interactive mode – See this link at “Translate a File”
    https://www.2daygeek.com/translate-shell-a-tool-to-use-google-translate-from-command-line-in-linux/ – if you’ve a mind to!

    Reply
  2. muita obrigada. Very useful, and informetive about Portuguese culture and history as a big bonus. Love the cookery shows too…..

    Reply
  3. Very useful. To open the subtitles to the show just click at the CC in the right corner of the screen. For downloading the subtitle files follow the instruction given by pressing CTRL+U, search for the .VTT and open it in your browser. The text for every subtitle you will find based on the time. Here is one example:
    105
    00:07:34.039 –> 00:07:36.880
    mas podes beber devagar
    e ir saboreando.

    Reply
  4. Muito obrigada pela informação; Muito interesante. Although, I cannot find the subtitles for Bem vindos a beirais and I cannot download the subtitles, although I am following your instructions.

    Reply
    • Hi Ilse,

      I can’t find the subtitles either.

      I’m not sure if it used to have subtitles and they’ve removed them for some reason or if it never did and I added it by accident.

      Unfortunately, I think you’re going to have to watch something else.

      Reply

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