Advanced Television

Italian broadcasting market worth €9.7bn

July 11, 2017

From Branislav Pekic in Rome

The Italian broadcasting market (TV and radio) was worth €9.7 billion in 2015, representing a 0.8 per cent growth on the previous year.

According to data released by the industry association of Italian broadcasters Confindustria Radio Television (CRTV), the TV segment grew by just 0.5 per cent in the period, compared to a growth of 4.7 per cent for radio.

The preliminary data for 2016 indicates a further growth of 4 per cent, led mainly by the TV segment as a result of major sporting events.

However, revenues dropped by 35 per cent in the period 2011-2015. TV licence fee and pay-TV revenues remained stable, with advertising registering a slight growth, mainly thanks to radio (+7.5 per cent).

The advertising market as a whole lost about 1/6 of its value since 2008, with press and TV the most affected media with a drop of €3 billion, only partially offset by internet growth.

CRTV also published its latest report on the state of the Italian TV market for the first half of 2017 which reveals that there are 361 TV channels in Italy, of which 126 free-to-air. The leading channel owners and producers are Sky Italia (116), followed by Mediaset (39), RAI (26), Fox International Channels Italy (24) and Discovery Italia (21).

Of the total number of channels, 130 are available on DTT, while 291 are distributed via satellite (FTA and pay-TV). The pay-TV offers include over 70 HD channels (104 if distribution on all platforms is considered).

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