The Italian TV market value has dropped by 5.2 per cent – nearly €500 million – between 2011 and 2012, according to the report “The television market in Italy: 2012-2014” from Italy’s ITMedia Consulting.

The economic downturn has hit the TV and advertising industry – and for the first time a drop in the pay-TV segment (both in subscribers and ARPU) has occurred, having seen growth for the last decade.

The three main players – Mediaset, Rai and Sky Italia – have 93 per cent of the overall market, but Sky Italia has established itself as the leading player, increasing the gap to Mediaset and RAI – who are most affected by the decline in advertising spending. At the same time there has been a transfer of revenue to other operators, which will grow by 17 per cent annually between 2012 and 2014.

With the completion of the analogue switch-off in July 2012, DTT has reached saturation point after years of growth, and will see its penetration rate on main TV sets drop from 73 per cent in 2012 to 66 per cent in 2014. Currently, 24.5 million Italian households watch TV via a digital platform. For its part, satellite will continue its growth trend, increasing from 25 per cent to 27 per cent penetration.

However, ITMedia Consulting predicts that the highest growth will come from the new broadband TV platforms: moving from 2 per cent to 8 per cent of the total in 2014. In particular, over-the-top services, which will take the place of IPTV, will be the main driver of growth, encouraged also by the explosion of mobile broadband and multiscreen services.

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