Sky celebrates its first 20 years and looks to the next. «We are partners of the platforms, we help customers to choose» says the managing director of Sky Italia, Andrea Duilio during the presentation of the Sda Bocconi research on the impact of the broadcaster in Italy and then relaunches on sport: «For us football it’s important. We have just acquired the rights to the Champions League, Europe and the Conference League for the three-year period 2024/2027. Serie A is also important, as demonstrated by the fact that we have invested over 10 billion in recent years. We are the most important financier of Italian football. We are making evaluations, we will be in the auction and we will do the best for our customers and our shareholders».
On the other hand, from an economic point of view, the first 20 years of Sky Italia can be summed up in 20.5 billion in taxes paid into the state coffers; a contribution of 50 billion euros to the GDP and an employment induced of over 30,000 people employed on average per year. From a socio-cultural point of view, however, the pay TV controlled by Comcast has guided the transition to digital by changing the way of producing and consuming audiovisuals. And, in cascade, building a new way of narrating sport, cinema and the cultural industry in general.
This is what emerges from a research by Sda Bocconi, School of Management, presented in Milan on the impact of the group in Italy since its debut in 2003. From the study, carried out by Carlo Altomonte, Arianna Brioschi, Carlo Alberto Carnevale Maffè, Guia Beatrice Pirotti, and Stefano Riela, it also emerges that the total cumulative output amounts to 125 billion euros in twenty years. A value calculated by giving the company a multiplying effect of 2.6. Translated: every euro of Sky revenues generates 2.6 euros of output, considering the direct, indirect and induced effects.
However, Sky’s impact on the country was also – and perhaps above all – cultural. In an era that is still largely analogue, satellite pay TV has contributed to the digitization and diffusion of advanced devices and services in the country. Strengthened by his international experiences, he has brought innovations such as high definition and 4K; live viewing on the move and finally the Sky Glass smart TV which, via streaming, integrates all the contents of the platform, free-to-air channels and the main apps into a single interface.
A change that is also reflected in the evolution of the company, which in twenty years has gone from satellite pay TV to a tech media company, which offers content, technology and ultra-broadband connectivity.
The editorial approach has also made a significant contribution to Italian socio-cultural development with investments of 15.2 billion euros in rights, original productions and content purchased from third parties in the last 10 years alone – of which 11.6 billion in the Italian market. Finally, the study shows how Sky was the main private investor in Italian sport, and contributed to the diversification and expansion of sporting culture in Italy, giving visibility to many sports that until a few years ago were considered a niche.