Italy: Pay-TV revenues down 8% since 2009
December 2, 2019
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Italian pay-TV revenues dropped by 8 per cent in the decade 2009-2019, while costs for the Italian Serie A increased by 78 per cent, according to a report by Enders Analysis, carried by Business Insider Italia.
Perhaps of more concern is that the number of Italian pay-TV subscribers dropped by 1.15 million in 2018, partly as a result of widespread piracy.
Although the auction for the 2021-2024 Serie A rights is just around the corner, the UK-based technology and media analyst believes that the asking price will have to decrease.
In fact, with 80 per cent of DAZN customers already subscribing to Sky Italia, a war on the TV rights front seems unlikely.
Enders also believes that the possibility of Mediapro launching a subscription TV service, together with the Italian Football League, “is a bluff because heavily indebted clubs are not able to withstand the inevitable start-up losses”.
Enders Analysis points out that the peak in revenues from the sale of TV rights was reached with the auction for the UEFA Champions League in 2017.