Advanced Television

Italian broadcasting sector grows 4.6%

February 6, 2023

From Branislav Pekic in Rome

The Italian broadcasting sector (TV and radio) recovered some of the ground lost due to the pandemic, reaching a total turnover of €8.5 billion in 2021 (+4.6 per cent on 2020), although still below the €8.7 billion of 2019 (-2.6 per cent).

According to Mediobanca’s Media & Entertainment Report for 2021, the recovery was not homogeneous, with FTA TV growing 9.7 per cent to €4.8 billion, while pay-TV continued to decline (-3.6 per cent to €3.1 billion).

However, the pay-TV segment saw diametrically opposite trends, with traditional pay-TV downsizing (-14.9 per cent) and double-digit growth for streaming (+32 per cent), with the later now accounting for 32.3 per cent of overall pay-TV revenues, more than double the figure from 2019.

Estimates for 2022 indicate a four per cent drop of revenues for the Italian broadcasting sector, with a further contraction of traditional pay-TV and a slowdown in advertising sales (-5 per cent).

Revenues of the eight main Italian Media & Entertainment operators grew by 3.4 per cent in 2021, boosted by the continued expansion of the SVOD segment (+40.5 per cent) and the recovery of the advertising market (+14.5 per cent), while pay-TV revenues are still underwhelming (-15.1 per cent).

The three main TV broadcasting groups (Rai, Sky and Mediaset) account for over 80 per cent of the overall turnover.

Rai confirmed its leadership position with a turnover with €2.7 billion (+6.7 per cent), ahead of Sky with €2.5 billion (-10.4 per cent) and Mediaset with €2 billion (+11.7 per cent).

Online platforms saw further growth and now account for 11 per cent of the sector, thanks mainly to Netflix which has nearly five million subscribers (+50 per cent) and a turnover of around €550 million (+35 per cent), aiming for €600 million in 2022.

Advertising revenues in 2021 grew by 13.3 per cent compared to the previous year.

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