Data: Over half Italians consume TV via connected devices
December 18, 2023
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
There are currently 25 million Italians watching TV content every month through a connected Smart TV. This figure grows to 32 million, or over half of the Italian population, if external devices are included.
Despite the rise of streaming platforms, traditional TV is still holding its own. The average TV viewing time in 2023 was 7,450,000, compared to 7,344,000 in 2022.
The data comes from the 2023 TV Yearbook, which summarises all the annual TV trends, created with the patronage of Italy’s Communications Authority (AgCom), by Certa di Università Cattolica in partnership with Auditel, Apa, Confindustria Radio Televisioni, Sensemakers/Comscore, eMedia, Nielsen and Upa.
The 1.2 per cent annual growth in TV viewing in the period May-November 2023, is thanks to several factors, including the increasing availability of high-quality content, the ability to watch TV on demand, and the personalisation of the viewing experience.
Connected TVs and on-demand content are drawing younger audiences back to the small screen, offering content suited to their preferences and viewing habits.
The so-called ‘unrecognised viewing’, includes browsing, gaming and streaming consumption on platforms, not attributable to traditional TV channels, is stable at less than 20 per cent of overall consumption.
The most popular TV show in Italy is the music competition Sanremo Festival (pictured), which had an average audience of 10.6 million viewers in 2023. In terms of ‘Total Audience’ Big Brother Vip (237 million streams) and Mare Fuori (163 million streams) dominated viewing figures.