Tg1 tops the charts, but for TV news 20% drop from 2021
The RAI flagship network's news is ahead of its competitors in both the evening and daily editions. Over 6.5 million Tlc lines in Ftth fibre and in five years +45% data consumption
Key points
Tg1 is still there, at eight o'clock in the evening, first in the 'information diet' of Italians. A sort of domestic ritual that endures with almost 4.6 million viewers: up 2.6% in one year, says Agcom's Communications Observatory.
But in this picture, there are two indications to highlight: one good and one not so good. The good part lies in the fact that between one year and the next, the hours spent by Italians in front of the main, news programmes between January and June have increased: +0.5% in prime time (268 million hours, understood as the time dedicated by each viewer to watching the news) and +1.4% in the 12-14.30 slot (201 million hours). Less good is the fact that this ritual is less collective than it used to be. The audience has thinned out. The comparison with 2021 sees a drop of 19.9% for evening news and 20.3% for daytime editions.
The evening editions of the News
The data lined up by the Authority on the TV information side therefore rewards the Rai 1 flagship led by Gian Marco Chiocci. Tg5 follows it with 3.4 million viewers (-7.1% per year and -23.5% compared to 2021), TgR stops at 2.2 million (-2.2% per year and -27.3% compared to 2021), Tg3 at 1.7 million (-1.4% and -25.4%). La7's TgR is growing (1.3 million: +7.6% in a year and +6.3% in the last five), ahead of Tg2 (1.9 million: -9.1% per year and -48% from 2021), Tg4 (623 thousand: +23.1% and -6%) and Studio Aperto of Italia 1 (543 thousand: +13.1% and -32.1%)
The News of the Day
At lunchtime the same script: Tg1 at 13.30 in the lead with 3.3 million listeners (+2.4%), followed by Tg5 (-2.9%: over 2.7 million), TgR (broadcast on Rai 3), which reaches 2.1 million listeners (-1.3%) and Tg 2 with 1.4 million viewers (-8.7%). There were opposite trends for Studio Aperto, which slightly exceeded 1 million viewers (+3.1%), Tg 4 (+22%) and Tg La7 at 13.30 (+19.1%).
Tv audience decline
But they are still signs in a graph that is dominated by declines, looking at it with a broader horizon. And it is a decline that affects news TV as much as TV tout court. In the first half of 2025, the average daily audience declined by 2% compared to 2024 and 16.6% compared to 2021. In prime time, the average audience fell from 23.9 to 19.7 million (-17.9%). Rai retains the lead with 7.7 million viewers (38.9% share), followed by Mediaset (6.8 million, 34.7%), but both are far from the splendours of the past. Only Rai1, which grew to 24.5% share, and La7 (+5.9%) are swimming against the tide.
