Survey: Italy cuts back on SVoD
March 20, 2024
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Deloitte’s latest survey, Digital Consumer Trends Survey 2023, reveals a decline in streaming subscriptions in Italy compared to 2022.
According to the survey, 68 per cent of Italian adults have access to a paid streaming service, down by 3 per cent year-on-year. Younger generations (18-24) are the biggest users (89 per cent), compared to just 49 per cent of those in the 65-75 age group.
New subscribers to SVoD services have dropped over the last 3 years, going from 21 per cent in 2021 to 16 per cent in 2023.
Cost seems to be a key factor, as 25 per cent of Italians share subscription costs to save money, and 29 per cent of streaming accounts are shared. Interestingly, 14 per cent of users, especially younger ones, don’t pay at all. If streaming platforms cracked down on sharing, Italians would prefer keeping subscription costs the same, even if it meant watching ads.
The report also highlights the continued popularity of free video streaming services (used by 87 per cent of adults) and traditional options like pay-TV (17 per cent) and sports broadcasts (18 per cent).
Smart TV ownership has increased by 2 per cent in the last year and 24 per cent in the past five years, reaching 71 per cent of Italian adults.
“We are witnessing a consolidation of the monetisation strategies of streaming platforms. It is reasonable to think that there will be a rationalisation of the market, according to the logic of centralization of the offer by the main players,” says Francesca Tagliapietra, head of Technology, Media & Telecommunications at Deloitte Italia.