Advanced Television

Sky Italia’s TV8 back in the black

December 18, 2018

From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Sky Italia’s terrestrial channel TV8 is finally in the black, after turning a profit of €3.1 million in the year 2018 (the period to June 30th).

According to daily Italia Oggi, the venture lost €20.7 million since launching in August 2015 and ended the previous financial year with a loss of €9.7 million.

Revenues increased to €61.1 million (+22 per cent year-on-year), while TV right costs dropped 9.5 per cent to €45.8 million.

The combined effect impacted EBITDA, which was positive for €4.6 million compared to a negative €12 million in 2017. EBIT also grew to €4.6 million, a marked improvement on the negative €12 million of the previous year.

TV8 reached an audience share average of 24.2 per cent (+22 per cent) in the 12 month period from July 2017 to June 2018 and is the sixth TV network among the 15-54 year target.

The future is looking bright for the broadcaster, as the average share over 24 hours in the period July-September 2018 has grown by 16 per cent, with an estimated 2019 revenue of around €70 million.

The main crowd pullers have been programmes produced specifically for the channel such as Guess My Age, Cuochi d’Italia and Italia’s Got Talent; a selection of programmes aired by Sky Italia such as MasterChef and The X Factor; as well as sports events like Formula 1, MotoGP and UEFA Europa League football.

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