The Television Market in Italy

At the end of 2009, the Italian television market - license fee, advertising, subscriptions and services on demand to end-user - reaching a total of € 8.4 billion. With an annual growth rate which is just a bit more than 1%, the market will be worth at the end of 2011, € 8.9 billion.

The trend of the market will be influenced by the economic crisis. Advertising reduces in 2009 and rises again in 2011 (-2.1% per year over 3 years), pay-tv is growing (7.2% per year) thanks to DTT offer and limited distribution of IPTV.

These results emerge from the third Report the Television Market in Italy: 2009-2011, to be released on November 16 by ITMedia Consulting, a consulting company leader in the digital economy founded by Augusto Preta. The Report describes with data, tables and charts the changes that will face the Italian TV market in the coming years by providing, in a timely manner, forecasts of growth of different platforms, resources and key players.

In the Report there are considered ways of distribution and resources - advertising, license fees and revenues from pay television - in order to evaluate effectively the value of each platform and each operator within the system.

The Italian market is becoming increasingly digital and multiplatform. In 2011, one year before analogue switch-off, almost 22 million households will be digital, with a penetration of 92%. Analogue television, in fact, is destined to lose market share to the benefit especially of DTT, which, in 2011, will come in 56% of Italian households. The satellite will not grow much in terms of penetration due to market saturation, but it will remain secondary. IPTV will also enjoy a significant growth.

Great prospects for growth are also provided by the new television offerings on IP protocol, which have the advantage of being more flexible than the traditional platforms. This mode of transmission of the content is indeed faced with an evolution of its business model to offer what includes hybrid broadcast-broadband services, which allow the distribution of video over a broadband connection and directly connecting the set top box of the TV to PC (Over-the-top TV). Currently, these new services have a limited impact on the television market, but there will be a development since 2011.

Pay-TV is present in almost 40% of the population, and driven by increased digital penetration. In 2011 it will come in almost half of Italian households. Moreover, while advertising is the dominant source of terrestrial digital television, the satellite will continue to be supported mainly by subscriptions.

Despite the unfavourable period, and despite the substantial balance in the market shares of the three main players, the Italian television market is crossed by great dynamism.

According to ITMedia Consulting, in 2009, Sky Italia becomes first national operator, with € 2.7 billion in revenues from subscriptions and advertising, but it will again be passed by Mediaset in 2011. Within three years, the satellite operator will increase its revenues at an average annual rate of 2.7%.

Rai is the operator most affected by the crisis, but it will still, in 2011, hold 30% of the market.

Telecom Italia will remain a minor player in the television market. Divested assets in pay-per-view on DTT, it only offers pay services in IPTV, which, in 2011, will represent 41% of total revenues.

Mediaset will maintain the primacy of advertising, while Sky will be a leader in the field of pay TV, but both will reduce as a result of increased competition from multi-platform, its share within its primary market.