Italy: Mediaset surpasses Rai in daily viewers
May 1, 2024
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Average daily TV audiences in Italy dropped by 2.6 per cent in 2023 compared to 2022 to 8.22 million, while prime-time audiences declined by 2.5 per cent in the same period to 18.99 million, according to the Communications Authority (AgCom)
For the first time, Mediaset (3.09 million or 37.6 per cent of the total) surpassed Rai (3.04 million equal to 37 per cent) in average daily viewers for the entire day in 2023. Rai’s thematic TV channels (ten) saw a 4.6 per cent decrease in prime time, while Mediaset’s 13 thematic channels grew by 1.7 per cent.
After the country’s main two TV groups, Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) followed with around 700,000 daily viewers (+5 per cent), Comcast/Sky’s ratings remained stable at 620,000, while Cairo Communication/La7 showed a decline of 11.8 per cent to 320,000 viewers.
In the prime time segment, in 2023, Rai confirmed its leadership position with an average daily audience of 7.17 million (37.8 per cent share), compared to 7.12 million for Mediaset (37.5 per cent share). WBD followed with 1.46 million (+10.4 per cent), Comcast/Sky with 1.45 million (+4.9 per cent), and Cairo Communication/La 7 group with 1.01 million (-30,000).
Paid VoD platforms saw a modest increase in unique users in December 2023 compared to December 2022 (15.1 million vs 14.9 million). Netflix remains the leader with 8.7 million average monthly users in 2023 but experienced a slight decline (-1.6 per cent) compared to 2022. Prime Video grew (+3.1 per cent) with 6.7 million average monthly users in 2023. Disney+ and Sky/Now both saw user base increases (+2 per cent and +16.4 per cent respectively) in 2023, while DAZBB saw a decline (-9.8 per cent).
Free VoD platforms experienced a decrease in unique users in 2023 (-1.5 million) compared to 2022. News Mediaset Sites, Sky TG24, and RaiPlay were the most visited free VoD platforms in 2023.