First half of 2019 sees Italian broadcaster bank €108.9m profit despite ads dip. Getty Images Mediaset, the largest commercial broadcaster in Italy, has recorded a drop in revenues of close to €300 million (US$330 million) for its domestic operations following its first season without rights to the Uefa Champions League, according to a financial filing for the first half of 2019. The filing reveals a fall in Mediaset’s Italian revenues from €1.297 billion (US$1.42 billion) to €1.002bn (US$1.1 billion) in the first half of 2019, while the company’s Spanish operation also saw a drop in revenue from €508m (US$556.8 million) to €482m (US$528.3 million) compared to the same period in 2018. Meanwhile the company’s net profit grew substantially from €42.8 million (US$46.9 million) to €108.9 million (US$119.3 million). Mediaset lost out in a bid to retain media rights for European soccer’s premier club competition in June 2017, as pay-TV broadcaster Sky Italia bagged an exclusive contract for the Champions League and Europa League competitions. Sky’s deal keeps the competitions on its channels through to the end of the 2010/21 season, though Mediaset has regained free-to-air (FTA) rights to the Champions League as part of a sub-licensing agreement, which was upheld after appeals made by Italy’s public broadcaster Rai were rejected in court. In the period without Champions League coverage, Mediaset also felt a drop in its overall advertising revenues, which fell from €1.1 billion (US$1.21 billion) in the first of 2018 to €985.2 million (US$1.08 billion) in 2019. Mediaset’s operating costs in Italy were also down from €1.29 billion (US$1.4 billion) from €1.68 billion (US$1.84 billion), apparently linked to reduced expenditure around its coverage for the 2018 Fifa World Cup, for which Italy didn’t qualify.
Italian broadcaster Mediaset has reported a decline in revenues of almost €300m ($330m) to €1bn for its domestic activities during H1 2019, after losing out to Sky Italia for the media rights to the Champions League and Europa League in 2017. Sky Italia secured the rights until the end of season 2020/21. However, Mediaset won free-to-air rights to the Champions League when a sub-licensing agreement was upheld in court.