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Television in Italy is no longer just a glowing box in the center of the living room, but a complex ecosystem that lives on smartphone screens, in Smart TV apps, and on social media feeds. For decades, the Italian audience was divided between public service channels and commercial networks, creating a duopoly that has shaped the country’s collective imagination. Today, this landscape is undergoing a radical transformation, driven by technology and the need to compete in an increasingly global and European market.
Despite the rise of international streaming platforms, traditional (or linear) television maintains a central role, especially when it comes to major live events. Understanding how to navigate traditional schedules, on-demand platforms like RaiPlay or Mediaset Infinity, and new hybrid offerings is essential for the modern viewer who doesn’t want to miss anything, from the Sanremo Festival to the Champions League final.
The historic rivalry between Rai and Mediaset has evolved. It’s no longer just a race for an extra share point in the evening, but a clash of two editorial philosophies trying to survive and thrive in the internet era. On one side is Rai, the public service broadcaster, funded by a mix of a license fee and advertising; on the other is Mediaset, a commercial giant that lives exclusively on advertising revenue.
In 2024 and 2025, data shows a clear division of roles. Rai, led by Rai 1, maintains its leadership in “Prime Time” and with the generalist audience, confirming its status as the institutional home for Italians. It’s the place where people gather for major drama series, the 8:00 PM news, and events that unite the country. Mediaset, on the other hand, dominates the so-called commercial target (audiences aged 15 to 64), the most coveted by advertisers, thanks to lighter programming based on reality shows and pure entertainment.
This distinction is crucial for the viewer: if you’re looking for in-depth content and tradition, the remote points to the first three channels; if you’re looking for escapism and a faster pace, the commercial offering from the “Biscione” (Mediaset’s nickname) remains the benchmark, capable of quickly adapting to changing tastes.
While Rai remains strongly anchored to its national territory by mandate, Mediaset has embarked on an ambitious expansion beyond Italy’s borders. Under the leadership of Pier Silvio Berlusconi, the company has transformed into MFE – MediaForEurope. The goal is clear: to create a pan-European television hub capable of competing with American streaming and web giants.
This strategy has led MFE to acquire significant stakes in major foreign television groups, such as Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 and, more recently, the Portuguese group Impresa. For the Italian viewer, this means Mediaset is increasingly becoming an international “content factory.” Productions are no longer designed just for Milan or Rome, but for a market that spans from Madrid to Munich.
This European expansion is not a financial whim but a necessity for survival: only by creating economies of scale can European broadcasters sustain the costs of the major productions needed to challenge Netflix and YouTube.
If there’s one moment when traditional television demonstrates its full power, it’s during “Major Events.” The Sanremo Festival represents the pinnacle of this phenomenon, turning into a collective ritual that brings Italy to a standstill for a week. The 2025 edition confirmed that linear TV is far from dead, setting audience records and an advertising revenue that exceeded 65 million euros.
The success of Sanremo is no longer measured by classic Auditel ratings alone. The “Total Audience” includes those who watch the festival on tablets, catch up on clips on YouTube, and comment on social media in real time. To delve deeper into the results and dynamics of the latest edition, it’s useful to consult the analysis of the final ranking of Sanremo 2025, which highlights how the popular vote and jury votes intertwined in an increasingly digital context.
The economic impact of such an event is devastating in a positive sense: it generates a ripple effect that goes far beyond music, affecting tourism, fashion, and the recording industry. Sanremo is proof that when public TV manages to capture the language of young people (with an 84% share in the 15-24 age group), it becomes an essential “digital bonfire.”
The real battle for attention is now fought on proprietary platforms: RaiPlay and Mediaset Infinity. These apps are no longer simple archives for rewatching a missed episode from the day before, but true competitors to paid services.
RaiPlay focuses on the vastness of its catalog. It offers free access to an immense historical archive (the Teche Rai), as well as preview series and live streams of all channels. Its strength lies in its editorial quality and the absence of direct economic barriers for the user (as it is funded by the license fee). It is the ideal platform for those seeking documentaries, Italian arthouse cinema, and quality drama series.
Mediaset Infinity takes a different approach, offering a “freemium” model. Watching TV programs (Le Iene, Grande Fratello, Turkish soap operas) is free and ad-supported. However, there is a paid tier (Infinity+) that offers international cinema and, most importantly, major Champions League soccer matches. This model allows Mediaset to monetize both the casual user and the passionate fan.
To understand how these platforms position themselves against international giants, it can be useful to read the comparison on Netflix or Prime Video, which helps to outline the competitive landscape in which our national TV networks must operate.
Along with Sanremo, sports (and soccer in particular) are the other major pillar keeping live TV alive. However, for the Italian fan, the situation has become complex due to the fragmentation of television rights. There is no longer a single channel where you can watch “everything.”
Rai maintains firm control over the National Team’s matches, a true public service duty that guarantees massive audiences. Mediaset, on the other hand, has bet heavily on the Coppa Italia (broadcast exclusively for free) and on some Champions League matches, using them as a driving force to promote its Infinity platform. To navigate this maze of schedules and platforms, it is essential to consult updated guides like the one on major European soccer on TV.
This division forces the user to become a “hybrid viewer,” able to switch from digital terrestrial for Italy’s match, to a streaming app for a league game, and to pay-TV for European cups.
Technological innovation has changed the way we consume Rai and Mediaset. The key is HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV). If you own a recent Smart TV connected to the internet, you may have noticed that pressing a colored button or the up arrow on your remote while watching a channel brings up an interactive menu.
This technology allows you to restart a program that has already begun (the “Restart” function), access regional news from other regions, or vote in live polls. It is the perfect meeting point between the convenience of the traditional television stream and the flexibility of the internet. Rai and Mediaset have invested heavily in this technology to keep the viewer on the channel, offering them extra content without having to switch devices (the so-called “second screen”).
The Italian television landscape of 2025 is a living organism where tradition and innovation feed off each other. Rai and Mediaset, while maintaining their historic identities, have understood that to survive, it is no longer enough to just broadcast; they must interact. Public TV continues to be the guardian of national memory and identity through major events, while Commercial TV evolves into an agile and aggressive European media company.
For the viewer, the challenge is to learn how to orchestrate these tools: using the remote for live TV, the app for catch-up, and the smartphone for interaction. Television is not dead; it has simply spread everywhere, becoming a total experience that requires a conscious choice from the person watching.
Today, a classic antenna is no longer essential. Thanks to the Total Audience strategy, you can follow major national events live or on-demand via official platforms like RaiPlay (for Sanremo and the National Team) and Mediaset Infinity. These applications, downloadable on smartphones, tablets, and Smart TVs, often offer exclusive content, a restart function to watch the program from the beginning, and high-definition video quality that surpasses that of the old digital terrestrial TV.
The fundamental distinction lies in their funding sources and mission. Rai, as the state TV, is partially funded by the license fee paid by citizens and has a public service obligation, ensuring educational and informational programming. Mediaset, now part of the European holding company MFE (MediaForEurope), is a private commercial company that sustains itself exclusively through advertising revenue, thus focusing on entertainment content capable of attracting the relevant commercial target audience.
Total Audience is the new measurement system introduced by Auditel that no longer just counts viewers sitting in front of the TV, but also includes those who consume content on second screens like smartphones, PCs, and tablets. It is crucial because it shows that television is not dead, but has evolved: programs like Sanremo or reality shows achieve record numbers precisely because of young people watching them via streaming and not on a classic television set.
The secret lies in the concept of a collective ritual. While streaming platforms offer a solitary and asynchronous viewing experience, major generalist TV events (like Sanremo or soccer matches) create a moment of simultaneous national gathering. This phenomenon is amplified by social media, where real-time commentary becomes an integral part of the experience, making the viewer a protagonist and generating what is called Social TV.
The switch to standards like DVB-T2 serves to free up frequencies and improve the technical quality of broadcasts. For the viewer, this means being able to access channels in high definition (HD) and even 4K for major events, with sharper colors and better audio. However, it requires owning a compatible television or decoder (generally purchased after 2017) to continue watching the full range of Rai and Mediaset offerings without interruption.