Italy: Online TV to surpass DTT in 2021
March 10, 2020
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Online TV will reach 9.2 million Italian homes in 2021, compared to 5.9 million in 2019 (CAGR +25 per cent). Thus it will become the leading broadcast platform, surpassing DTT, according to ITMedia Consulting data prepared by Mediobanca.
Online TV currently weighs in with 43 per cent of total viewers, but in a year should account for 55 per cent. As a result, the three largest national broadcasters (RAI, Mediaset and Sky Italia) will fall considerably below 90 per cent of total national TV revenues.
Online services will continue to grow with the acceleration of Amazon Prime Video’s production of new Italian content and the launch of Disney+ in Italy from March 24th. The proliferation of new content will also make the role of aggregators fundamental, with Sky Italia and TIM likely to play a privileged role.
Overall, TV will continue to be the main distribution channel but the consolidation of the sector will continue in order to contain the advance of OTT services. One such example is Mediaset’s ‘pan-European’ project aimed at integrating the Italian and Spanish markets.
According to Nielsen data, cited by Mediobanca, Italian advertising sales in 2019 fell by 0.9 per cent overall, with a sharp drop of the TV segment (-5.3 per cent) partly offset by OTT (+9.2 per cent) and radio (+1.7 per cent).
It is unlikely that there will be changes to this trend in 2020, although major sporting events, such as the Tokyo Olympic Games and the Euro 2020 tournament, could accelerate advertising revenues.