4 December 2012

The year 2012 represents a turning point in the Italian TV industry. The economic recession affects the TV market:  the severe crisis of the advertising market comes along with the first drop of pay TV resources ever, which had been the engine of growth for the last decade.

As a result, the market falls by 5%.

Once the switchover has been completed, the DTT will start reducing its penetration among primary TV sets. On the other side, satellite doesn't stop its growth. But according to ITMedia Consulting, the new broadband TV platforms will be the fastest running: thanks to the development of broadband, better quality, and a wider range of services and more competitive prices, they will pass from 2% households to 8% at the end of 2014.

The advertising downturn hit Mediaset and Rai most: at the end of the year both recorded a double digit loss, higher than the overall market decline. Sky's advertising hangs in, also because of good performances on DTT. Telecom Italia's advertising performs well, too.

Two clear trends can be identified: on the one hand, the audience growth will result in higher revenues on DTT, especially on behalf of third-party content providers. On the other side, broadband development will enable the increase of linear offers and, above all, non linear over the top services also by new entrants.