Italy: VoD market shows signs of slowdown
June 12, 2024
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
The Italian market for VoD splatforms added 400,000 subscribers in 2023, reaching 8.8 million. While subscriber growth continues, the pace has decelerated compared to previous years (+800,000 in 2021 and +500,000 in 2022), according to research by EY’s OTT Observatory, presented at the European Digital Fed-Forum in Lucca.
Silvestro Demarinis, director of Technology, Media & Telecommunications at EY, attributes the overall growth of the SVoD industry (over 500 per cent since 2016) to a surge in new streaming services, viewers subscribing to multiple platforms, and evolving business models.
Accounting for account sharing (estimated at 2-3 users per subscription), the actual number of viewers is believed to be over 19 million. Additionally, free streaming services boast over 30 million Italian users, a figure reflecting an 87 per cent increase since 2016.
According to EY, 76 per cent of users of paid platforms prefer the TV screen (and in particular smart TVs) for streaming content, while those who watch free content mainly opt for smartphone viewing (52 per cent of free users), usually enjoying shorter content.
The report also highlights that 85 per cent of users are receptive to ad-supported subscriptions, while younger audiences gravitate towards on-demand viewing over traditional TV schedules. High content costs and customer churn are identified as the main challenges facing SVoD platforms.
EY’s research monitored 11 active SVoD platforms in Italy: Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Timvision, Mediaset Infinity, NOW (Sky), DAZN, Youtube Premium, Apple TV+, Discovery+ and Paramount+.