Increasing investments in Italian content and advertising limits.
According to the press release issued by the Council of Ministers, the new European directive on media and audiovisual services has been implemented. The new Consolidation Act concerns traditional television broadcasting, on-demand audiovisual media services and several aspects regarding the protection of minors for video-sharing platforms.
The major new measures are:
- the reinforcement of the promotion of European content, through the obligation to broadcast and invest in European and national content. In detail, the act provides for an increase up to the doubling of investment obligations in European and Italian content for OTTs, gradually raising the investment rate up to 25% in 2025;
- the updating of the rules for the protection of pluralism: a mechanism for the protection of pluralism has been introduced in which there are no longer any prohibited market positions. When a certain market share is reached, the Communications Regulator will carry out a preliminary investigation to check whether pluralism has been damaged;
- increased flexibility of advertising limits. An increase in advertising limits is introduced for all television subjects, applied to two daily time slots. The new Consolidated Act provides for a maximum crowding of 7% in 2022 and 6% from January 1, 2023, linear pay services at 15% and linear free services will go to 20%. The 25% cap for local television stations remains unchanged.
For further information please refer to the press release of the Council of Ministers.
