Italy and Spain, traditional TV resists the advance of streaming

A TV market in Western Europe with marginal growth of 1 per cent in 2023 at EUR 76.4 billion, compared to EUR 75.5 billion in 2022. However, these figures do not take into account inflation at 6.4 per cent, which brings the real figure to -5.4 per cent.

This is one of the data contained in 'Turning Digital', ITMedia Consulting's annual report now in its 22nd edition and among the reference texts for the market on the state of television and the main trends in Europe. Among these, the most evident is the growth of pay-TV, against a decline in advertising, below pre-Covid levels.

Beware, however, because this trend is the litmus test of the transformation of all TV in Europe. Indeed, 2023 saw a consolidation of Pay-TV as the main source of revenue, with EUR 36.7 billion, up 5% on the previous year. However, behind this figure lies a profound change: while traditional services are in decline, video-on-demand (Vod) services, a la Netflix for instance, are gaining ground. In 2023, these Vod services accounted for 51% of total pay-TV revenues, a figure that has more than doubled since 2019.

The trend that started in the US, where streaming services have overtaken traditional pay-TVs in number of subscribers and revenues, therefore seems to be rapidly spreading to Europe as well. With one caveat: this is not the case everywhere. In the UK, Germany and France, online TV market shares are growing significantly compared to generalist free-to-air TV and are over 25% of total TV advertising. Italy and Spain, on the other hand, show greater resilience, with market shares still marginal, reflecting the strength of traditional broadcasters, from Mediaset to Rai and others. "In France, the United Kingdom and Germany," Augusto Preta, of ITMedia Coonsulting, explained to Il Sole 24 Ore, "the main broadcasters are investing more in their online offer".

It will eventually come to Italy as well, but for now traditional TV, as in Spain, retains its preponderance. Within this framework, however, one has to reckon with a television industry that is in a period of profound transformation in Europe. The transition from the traditional television screen to streaming platforms is now an established reality. And while it is true that Italy is an exception with TV advertising market growth in 2023 (+2.1%), TV advertising in Europe, according to the Report, fell by 2.9% to EUR 24.4 billion, returning to pre-pandemic levels. Despite the temporary recovery due to major sporting events such as the European Football Championship and the Paris Olympics, the trend is now clear: investments are looking towards digital platforms