The Italian media market is experiencing profound transformation, shaped by the rapid rise of digital platforms and the continuing but changing role of television. International tech companies like Google, Meta, and Netflix dominate online revenues, presenting challenges for domestic traditional media players. While TV news consumption remains relatively stable, print media face ongoing decline – and willingness to pay for online news remains a challenge.

Television still dominates the legacy media landscape in Italy, generating nearly 72% of the traditional media sector revenues, in contrast to the ongoing decline of print media and modest growth in radio. Historically marked by high ownership concentration between the public broadcaster RAI and the Berlusconi family-owned Mediaset, Italy's television sector has recently become slightly less concentrated. RAI remains the leading player, followed by the pay-TV operator Sky and Mediaset, with these three operators together still holding approximately 70% of total TV revenues. Streaming platforms such as Netflix, DAZN, TIM, Amazon, and Disney have significantly strengthened, capturing close to 20% of the total.¹

Online advertising continues its upward trajectory in Italy, now accounting for 61% of total advertising revenues. However, this segment is highly concentrated, with major international platforms capturing 85% of digital ad revenues, leaving traditional publishers struggling to remain competitive, enjoying just 15%.²

TV’s continued importance is reflected in our offline weekly reach ranking, which is dominated by the main broadcasters. Among print outlets, only Il Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica are used weekly by at least 10% of respondents. These are the flagship newspapers of Cairo/RCS and GEDI, the two main publishing groups, which jointly account for over a third (34%) of the total copies sold in 2024.

Recent developments in the press sector highlight the ongoing challenges facing traditional print media. After 25 years, the Italian edition of the free newspaper Metro ceased publication at the end of 2024, both in print and online. GEDI is selling the local newspaper Provincia Pavese, continuing a series of divestments that have left them with only one local publication. GEDI has also appointed a new editor-in-chief at La Repubblica, yet another leadership change in a short period. This latest move suggests an effort to reconnect the paper with its original editorial identity, following earlier attempts to moderate its traditional left-leaning orientation, which met with mixed reactions from both readers and staff.

Online news reach looks very different. While broadcasters like Mediaset, Sky, and RAI remain popular, they are challenged online by the websites of leading newspapers such as La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera, and Il Fatto Quotidiano, as well as by the national news agency ANSA. The digital-born outlet Fanpage, launched in 2010, has consolidated its position as the leading online player. Other digital-native brands, including Il Post and Will Media, reach smaller audiences overall but perform comparatively well among younger users (reaching respectively 11% and 9% of under-35s).

The shift towards membership models continues to gain traction among Italian digital-born news outlets. Fanpage has recently launched a membership initiative. Unlike traditional paywalls, all core content will remain free – a choice designed to keep the site's high traffic volumes and advertising revenues – while subscribers gain access to extra features such as exclusive podcasts, newsletters, and an ad-free experience. The move reflects a broader trend among Italian digital-native outlets – including Il Post, Open, HuffPost, Linkiesta, and Citynews – to diversify revenues beyond declining advertising streams by more actively engaging their audiences. However, our survey shows that only 9% of Italian respondents pay for online news.

In late 2024, Italy’s data protection authority issued a warning to GEDI over its planned partnership with OpenAI, raising concerns about potential breaches of EU privacy rules. Under the agreement, ChatGPT users would gain access to attributed quotes, content, and links to GEDI's publications, while the publisher's journalism could be used to improve the accuracy of OpenAI products. However, the regulator cautioned against the possible misuse of sensitive personal data contained in archival material.³

In March 2025, Il Foglio published what it described as the world’s first AI-generated newspaper edition, with headlines, articles, editorials, and even reader letters entirely produced by artificial intelligence. Presented as a time-limited, deliberately provocative experiment aimed at stimulating debate on the evolving role of AI and digital tools in journalism, the initiative emphasised exploration and strategic promotion rather than signalling a fundamental shift away from conventional reporting.

Alessio Cornia
Dublin City University, Ireland

Changing media

TV news use has stabilised after years of decline, while print continues to shrink. Online news shows a modest drop compared to previous years.

Trust in news remains relatively low at 36%. Outlets perceived as more neutral in their political stance tend to be more trusted. Fanpage and Il Post score lower, likely because they are trusted mostly by younger audiences, while older users tend to place less trust in them.

Footnotes