Report: Ads no longer main revenue for Italian TV
July 20, 2023
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
The Italian TV sector was worth around €8 billion in revenues during 2022, down 0.3 per cent compared to 2021, according to the Annual Report of the Communications Authority (AgCom).
The free-to-air segment accounted for 60 per cent of this figure or €4.8 billion (-0.9 per cent), while pay-TV revenues increased slightly (+0.5 per cent) to €3.2 billion.
For the first time ever, ad revenues are no longer the main source of financing, down to 36.8 per cent of the total from 38.5 per cent in 2021. They have been surpassed by subscription-based services with 39.1 per cent (up from 38.1 per cent), with the TV license fee accounting for the remaining 24.1 per cent (up from 23.5 per cent).
Concentration in the sector, measured by Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) index, dropped slightly, although the top three operators still hold 73 per cent of total resources.
Public broadcaster Rai confirmed its leadership position for the year with 29.6 per cent of the total revenue (-0.1 per cent), followed by Comcast/Sky with 23.4 per cent (-4.5 per cent), Fininvest/MFE (Mediaset) with 19.7 per cent (-0.2 per cent).
Online platforms, such as Netflix, DAZN, TIM, Disney+ and Prime Video, saw the highest growth (+5.2 per cent), and now account for 17.1 per cent of total TV sector revenues.
For traditional platforms, revenues from the sale of pay-TV and PPV offers and ad sales on pay-TV channels together make up 53 per cent of total pay-TV revenues (-19.2 per cent). Conversely, revenues from paid web offerings, including both SVoD and the sale and rental of individual content (EST and TVoD), grew by 37.9 per cent to €1.5 billion.
On the average day of the year, viewers of free and pay-TV channels on DTT and satellite dropped by 9 per cent compared to 2021.
Rai led again for TV audience share, with 37.9 per cent (-1.3 per cent), edging out Fininvest/Mediaset with 36.8 per cent (+2.2 per cent). Warner Bros. Discovery placed third with 7.9 per cent (-0.2 per cent), ahead of Comcast/Sky Italia with 7.3 per cent (+0.6 per cent), Cairo Communication/La7 with 4.3 per cent (+0.3 per cent) and others with 5.7 per cent (-1.6 per cent).