Notes on the method
Executive Summary
- The first signs of stagnation in scripted productions
With 116 first-run titles and 692 hours, the 2022/2023 season records a single extra title compared to the previous and a reduction of -3% hours, a sign of the narrowing of formats and length of single TV series episodes and of some upheaval in the overall operators offer. Linear network productions drop (-7 titles, -5% hours), while OTT platform growth continues (+8 titles, +11% hours). - The offer confirms the volume figures but gradually changes its features
The public service cuts original productions by 7 titles (-10% hours). Sky and Mediaset are more stable with 1 less title each and an increase in hourly volume: +3% in the case of pay TV, +29% for commercial channels. Streaming platforms RaiPlay (-1 title, -33% hours) and Netflix (-3 titles, -23% hours) have declined. The other SVODs compensate: Amazon marks strong growth (+7 titles, +40% hours), becoming, with a total of 16 titles in the season, the second operator by title volume. Disney grows by 1 title and 2 hours, while Paramount+ debuts with 3 titles and 17 hours of TV series. - The primacy of TV series
Among scripted content, Seriality stands out with 56 titles (48%) and 548 hours (79%, thanks to the long lengths of soap-operas), which remain stable (+1 title, -0.6% hours vs 2021/2022), favoring the “short series” format (5-8 episodes), more widespread among OTTs. TV-Movies and platforms (-1 title and -4% hours) and Kid’s content (-4 titles, -18% hours) are in slight decline. Docudramas are growing (+5 titles, +14% hours), although still a minority, counting only 2% of the extensive offering and for now confined to Rai. - In OTT catalogs, original products prevail, while renewals weigh heavily within linear networks
New releases drop from 87 to 83 compared to 2021/2022, with a more limited hourly volume (43% of hours, down by -17%), but prevail over renewals, which increase by +5 titles and +10.5% hours. Streaming has proven to be an experimental field: around 90% of titles are original productions (+9 titles, +20% hours of OTT novelties), with Prime Video and RaiPlay among the most innovative. In TV series, the formats are increasingly shorter: 6 out of 10 titles have a format ranging from 5 to 8 episodes (+6 titles), and the highest rate of innovation lies in this format: out of 34 “short series,” 24 are new (71%). - A season dedicated to Teens & Coming of Age
In general, Dramas are slightly growing (+4 titles, +3% hours) and prevail – with a ratio of 57% titles and 58% hours – over Comedies (-3 titles, -10% hours vs 2021/2022). Among the subgenres, there is a boom in Teen & Coming of Age content (+11 titles, +62% hours), more widespread in serials (Mare Fuori, Skam Italia, Prisma, Vivere non è un gioco da ragazzi, etc.) and predominant in OTT catalogs. Among the series, Crime and Detective series are prominent. Among Movies, Supernatural is on the rise, while Animation is in half of the Kid’s productions. - The scenario is fragmented, predominantly domestic and marked by a high economic value
There are 87 outsourced production companies, 6 fewer than in 2021/2022. The scenario features a high rate of fragmentation and turnover: in 2022/2023, 48 former indies are missing, replaced by 42 new ones. There are 27 (31%) production companies with more than 1 title in the season, among which Palomar (6 titles), Cattleya, Picomedia, Lux Vide, and Pepito Produzioni (5 titles each).
Production costs are significantly higher in the case of pay TV and OTT titles. International co-productions are in slight decline (-3 titles, -19.5% hours), with 13 titles accounting for 12% of the hourly offer.