The Italian television industry is witnessing significant shifts as the traditional face-offs between Rai and Mediaset continue. According to data from Agcom and Auditel, the state broadcaster Rai has outperformed its competitor Mediaset for daily viewership over the first nine months of 2024, attracting 3.01 million daily viewers compared to Mediaset's 2.96 million. Rai's share also stood at 37.1%, inching past Mediaset's 36.5%. Despite these figures indicating Rai's current leadership, the annual performance tells another story.
Throughout the entirety of 2024, Mediaset claimed the top spot with 36.9% market share against Rai's 36.6%, marking the second consecutive year Mediaset led Italy's television ratings. This victory was fueled by Mediaset's growth of nearly 9.8% over the past five years, surging from 33.6% to 36.9% share. The competition remains fierce, but overall, both broadcasters are grappling with significant viewer losses since the pandemic peaks of 2020.
Overall viewership numbers reveal compelling trends. Although Rai's daily viewer totals rose by 0.6% from 8.07 million to 8.12 million between 2023 and 2024, this increase is marginal compared to the dramatic drops seen since 2020. The data shows a steep decline of 1.84 million viewers (18.5%) from 2020 to 2024, yet Rai's prime time numbers slightly improved with just 18.78 million averaged, up from 18.64 million.
For Rai, sporting events like the Euro Championships, Olympics, and major tennis tournaments have played pivotal roles in attracting viewers. "...Rai ha trasmesso eventi importanti come Olimpiadi ed Europei di calcio," noted one media analysis report, emphasizing how live events contribute to ratings recovery.
Conversely, Mediaset's programming strategy has clearly paid off, pushing its digital content forward. With more than 10 billion videos viewed, Mediaset noted a staggering 44.4% growth year-on-year for non-linear viewership, driven largely by connected TV, PCs, and mobile devices. Each channel from Mediaset has carved its niche, with Canale 5 remaining the most-watched channel at 17.6% among commercial audiences, eclipsing Rai 1 with 14.4%.
At the same time, audiences are not just shifting between channels, but altering their viewing habits altogether. The rise of digital platforms is creating challenges for traditional broadcasters, with significant changes evident across the industry. Both Rai and Mediaset are experiencing losses as they adjust to the new media consumption reality. Between 2020 and 2024, Rai has lost nearly 820,000 viewers (-21.5%), and Mediaset approximately 510,000 (-14.6%).
Retequattro has managed to outperform La7, boasting 4.2% viewership compared to La7's 3.8%. This indicates individual channels are also engaging their audiences differently. Mediaset's ability to integrate traditional and digital platforms has shown results, evident from their growing section of non-linear content and increased engagement with younger demographics.
The competitive spirit also extends to news programming, where Retequattro leads during prime-time information slots from 21:30 to 00:30 with 5.4%, edging out La7's 4.5%. This demonstrates Mediaset's strength across multiple content areas. The group also controls radio with RadioMediaset leading among Italian broadcasters, with substantial portions of the listening audience comprising young adults, yielding numbers of 1.32 million listeners.
Despite some challenges, it is clear both Rai and Mediaset are adapting swiftly to benefit from increased viewership. Mediaset's triumph amid sport event drops for Rai and its sustained viewer engagement indicate resilience. "Pur non essendo tra i propri obiettivi," stated Mediaset, reflecting their commitment to being the premier TV editor in Italy, which they have now cemented as they plan to penetrate even more deeply across different viewer segments.
Looking forwards, the television industry appears to remain closely tied to sports and digital innovation, as both Rai and Mediaset continue to evolve. With both facing long-term viewer losses, the future will depend significantly on their capacity to adapt and capture audiences across new platforms and formats.
