Production spending across Italy's film, television, and streaming sectors dropped by 7.4% in 2025 to €2 billion (roughly $2.24 billion), according to a new industry report presented by Italian television producers' association APA at Rome's MIA market. The downward turn arrives after years of expansion, driven heavily by governmental hesitation regarding domestic tax incentives and an evolving shift in audience consumption habits.
Policy Stalls Hit Scripted Projects Hardest
The study points to ongoing regulatory adjustments around domestic production tax incentives under Italy's government as the primary catalyst behind the sector's deceleration. While foreign production rebates remained unaffected and stayed firmly in place, domestic production stalled while producers waited for clarity on local incentives.
According to the APA report, the resulting uncertainty severely hampered long-term planning, placed financial strain on production houses, and compressed profit margins. Smaller production companies experienced the most direct consequences, struggling with cash liquidity shortages and reduced funding capabilities for future slates. The report noted that relief has started to emerge now that updated domestic tax credit rules are operational and application portals have officially reopened.
Scripted Output Shifts Toward Regional Audiences
Despite the broader investment slowdown, the sheer count of scripted titles rose 9% in 2025 to 101 series for the current television season. However, this numerical increase was mostly fueled by 74 lower-scale domestic series commissioned for linear broadcast channels, which generally lack international market appeal.
Streaming platforms kept their slate of Italian scripted originals flat year-over-year at 27 titles, matching the 2024 total. Much like the broadcast shows, the majority of these platform productions remained targeted primarily at domestic viewers rather than global audiences, reflecting cautious regional commission strategies.
Broadcast Ratings and Global Streaming Standouts
Scripted programming nevertheless demonstrated durable appeal across domestic demographics. On traditional broadcast networks, Lux Vide's pirate adaptation "Sandokan" and BiBiFilm's Naples-based school drama "La Preside" captured strong ratings, with both series averaging north of 4.6 million viewers per episode.
Digital distribution also saw notable achievements. Picomedia's Naples prison drama "The Sea Beyond" maintained strong multi-platform viewership across state broadcaster RAI's digital and linear networks, alongside Aurora TV's period series "Il Paradiso delle Signore." On Netflix, director Stefano Sollima's serial killer drama "The Monster of Florence" found substantial international traction after launching at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, generating 9.7 million global views during its debut week in October 2025.
Unscripted Formats and Format Evolutions Expand
Unscripted programming maintained its role as the foundation of Italy's broadcast landscape, yielding over 17,000 hours of original, first-run broadcasts throughout the past year. Independent producers were responsible for 59% of these titles, while game shows continued to solidify programming footprints in both prime-time and early-evening time slots.
Streaming platforms also leaned heavier into unscripted fare, showing a 51% surge in unscripted titles and a 30% rise in total unscripted hours. The factual subgenre recorded the most notable surge within the unscripted category, leaping 36% in total hours, complemented by a doubling of domestic adaptations of foreign factual formats.
Streaming Gains Ground as Microdramas Emerge
The landscape continues to witness a fundamental transfer of audience share from linear television to streaming alternatives. Streaming now represents 43% of Italy's overall market—more than double the 21% share it occupied in 2020—and the report projects the segment will overtake linear television value in the short-to-medium term.
Concurrently, short-form microdramas are establishing a presence in the country. Dedicated microdrama platforms including ReelShort, DramaBox, NetShort, and DramaWave placed among Italy's top 15 entertainment apps measured by consumer spend. The sector also saw its inaugural local production, "Tutto in una notte," a 54-episode project produced by Fascino PGT that rolled out across the WittyTV platform and social media.
Looking ahead, Italian producers now face the task of stabilizing production schedules with newly reopened tax credit filing procedures, while adjusting output across linear networks and expanding streaming platforms.
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Source: Variety
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