Italian media drops €3.4bn in 5 years
June 12, 2014
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Italy’s media industry lost €3.4 billion over the past five years, representing a 35 per cent drop compared to 2008, according to Rodolfo de Laurentiis, the president of Confindustria Radio TV.
Speaking at the annual assembly of the industry group, he pointed out that leading broadcasters RAI and Mediaset lost more than €200 million per year in the period 2008-2013 as a result of a drop in advertising.
Even the pay-TV sector is affected by the crisis, with the Mediaset stable at about 2 million subscribers, while Sky Italia has dropped from a peak of 5 million in 2011 to the current 4.8 million.
De Laurentiis criticised new OTT operators who are competing against traditional media groups on their field, but without being subject to the rules that bind the established broadcasters and giving very little back to Italy in terms of employment and taxes. For this reason, he advocated new and fair rules that would enable the broadcasters to compete on equal terms.
De Laurentiis also appealed for more protection of copyright online, citing a Fapav/Ipsos survey which shows that a quarter of all TV programmes were viewed illegally over the Internet, including premium content such as TV series and sporting events.