Report: Italy has 283 TV channels
May 1, 2026
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
As of December 2025, Italy has 283 TV channels nationwide, operated by just under 100 broadcasters – two‑thirds of them domestic. Excluding duplicates and time‑shifted versions, there are 211 parent channels, according to the 2025 report of the Italian broadcasting association Confindustria Radio TV.
High definition has become the standard, with 130 HD channels; for the first time, HD‑only channels outnumber SD (93 channels). Distribution remains split between DTT, with 102 free-to-air TV channels, and satellite with 175 channels, primarily serving the premium segment.
The pay‑TV market is concentrated around Sky Italia, followed by DAZN. The top five broadcasting groups – Sky Italia-Comcast (49 TV channels), Rai (45), Mediaset (20), Warner Bros Discovery (16), and Sciscione (13) – account for 64 per cent of all channels.
Mediaset has the broadest offering on DTT with 18 TV channels, while Sky Italia offers the most channels on satellite (49).
The study also examines DTT in Europe’s five biggest markets (Italy, the UK, France, Spain and Germany), revealing shared trends despite differing contexts.
Italy and the UK each offer 100+ DTT channels, followed by Germany (33), while France and Spain provide far fewer, at 27 channels each.
Across the major European markets, the number of national multiplexes typically ranges between six and seven. The exception is Italy, which operates 11 multiplexes.
Private/commercial broadcasters dominate in all markets, though public service channels maintain a strong presence in Italy and the UK.
Italy leads in HD broadcasting with 61 HD channels, followed by Germany (33) and France and Spain (26 each). Ultra‑HD remains marginal, with limited availability in France and Spain.
Across all markets, DTT is not being phased out but is undergoing a strategic repositioning. A common cross‑market trend is the rise of hybrid services based on HbbTV, which blend linear broadcasting with on‑demand content and interactive features.
Other posts by :
- US spectrum shuffle could earn SES billions
- FAA plans to tax rocket launches
- Could someone buy AST SpaceMobile?
- FCC: D2C is set for ubiquitous connectivity
- SpaceX continues complaints over Amazon Leo
- Starlink struggling for approval on South Africa, India
- Impressive Starlink deployment rate
- Bank: Space industry worth $1tn by 2040
- Xona Space wants 259 LEO satellites