Italy: Broadband ties with DTT for main TV access
December 19, 2019
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Broadband will become the primary mode of access to TV in Italy in the period 2019-2021, along with DTT, according to the latest ITMedia Consulting Report on the state of the Italian TV market.
By the end of 2020, Broadband TV will have reached 9.2 million homes, up from 5.9 million in 2019 (+25 per cent).
Significantly, free-to-air will no longer be the means of primary access to TV content in Italy, with pay-TV increasing its share from 43 per cent at the end of 2019 to 55 per cent.
Consequently, the TV market will grow, over the next two years, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.5 per cent, to €8.3 billion, thanks mainly to pay-TV revenues.
Despite Mediaset’s exit from the market and the expected decline in traditional DTH and DTT components, pay-TV will grow (+8.1 per cent) due to the explosion of Broadband TV services, Sky Italia’s entry as a network operator and above all SV0D (CAGR of 57.5 per cent).
Sky Italia, Mediaset and RAI will share 84 per cent of the total TV market, while other players will have the remaining 16 per cent. Sky will strengthen its leadership position, increasing the gap between RAI and Mediaset, which is declining after the exit from pay-TV.
Advertising will remain stable (+0.5 per cent), especially in the broadcast segment, coming mainly from the online TV component.