Newspaper sales have collapsed to tenth of century's start says watchdog

Italian newspaper sales have

collapsed over the last 25 years and are now just a tenth of

what they were at the beginning of the 21st century, Italy's

media watchdog told parliament Tuesday.

"The most painful note from the media system comes from

newspaper publishing, which in 2025 saw print circulation

plummet to 1.2 million units per day, almost a tenth of what was

sold at the beginning of the century," said AGCOM President

Giacomo Lasorella during his Annual Report to Parliament.

"The decline was 9.3% compared to the previous year," he added.

"Publishing companies' revenues are sharply declining (-7.9%),

making public funding a vital support system that now accounts

for almost 10% of the sector's total."

Lasorella also said that streaming platforms now reach a quarter

of the TV market.

"The top three operators still hold 67% of the media market,

with Rai at 26.6%, Comcast/Sky at 22%, and Fininvest/Mediaset at

18.5%, but they must contend with the growth of global platforms

such as Netflix, Dazn, Amazon, and Disney+, which now account

for 23.3% of total resources thanks to their premium content."

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