Italians’ love of film shows no sign of fading, and cinema remains at the heart of it, even as viewing now spreads across a range of screens, services and experiences that complement one another. That is one of the headline findings of the new edition of “Sala e Salotto,” the study carried out by Ergo Research for ANICA and unveiled at MIA | Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo at Palazzo Barberini in Rome, during the event “Film Consumption in Italy: Audiences Between the Cinema Experience and Other Screens.”
Between 1 January 2025 and 30 June 2026, around 30 million people went to the cinema, bringing attendance back in line with pre-Covid levels, even though each moviegoer is buying fewer tickets on average. Younger viewers continue to lead the way: 15-to-24-year-olds were the only age group that bought more cinema tickets in 2025 than in 2019.
Cinema Attendance Back to Pre-Covid Levels
The composition of cinema audiences also highlights the relatively limited contribution of people aged over 50: while they account for roughly half of the Italian population, they represent only 39% of total cinema admissions and just 25% of all tickets sold. In summary, cinema audiences in Italy are predominantly young, with an average age of 36.
When viewing habits across all screens are considered, a picture emerges of a widespread passion for film that cuts across all age groups and all forms of content delivery: on average, each person watches one film every four days, amounting to 91 films per year. Cinemagoing, the flagship of out-of-home film consumption, accounts for less than 2% of total viewing occasions, yet it often plays a crucial role in enhancing and driving subsequent viewing experiences.
The largest share of film consumption is still tied to free offerings (62% across linear and on-demand services). However, setting aside the scourge of piracy, as much as 22% of viewing takes place through paid services, both television-based and streaming.
Adults aged over 50 account for the largest share of users of paid services. The study also included a dedicated experiment tracking cinema attendance and paid-service consumption over four consecutive weeks, with the aim of reconstructing the behavior of film enthusiasts as they engage with the various subscription-based services available on the market. Among the most significant findings is the relationship between cinema attendance and film viewing on other screens: for every cinema ticket purchased, respondents reported watching eight films on paid services during the same period. This ratio is even more pronounced in the case of Italian films: for every cinema ticket purchased for an Italian title, respondents reported watching 19 Italian films on paid services over the same period.
Italian Films Shine on Paid Platforms
During the period under review, more than 32 million at-home film viewings were recorded, compared with 4.2 million cinema admissions (tickets sold). Italian cinema accounts for 19% of total at-home film viewings (6.3 million), compared with 8% of cinema admissions during the same period. The picture is even more favorable when looking at new releases, namely films that have recently become available on paid services. Out of a total of 9.3 million viewings of new-release films, as many as 3 million were for Italian titles, representing 32% of the total. When considering the total viewings of Italian films alone (both new releases and catalogue titles), which amounted to 6.3 million viewings as noted above, as much as 48% were attributable to new releases. Thus, while international content dominates catalogue viewing, Italian films are the audience’s preferred choice within the most recent theatrical-release offering available on paid services.
In short: Italian cinema performs exceptionally well on paid platforms, particularly when it comes to recent productions. But which Italian films are driving this performance? Primarily those that had already been released in cinemas in the preceding months and were newly available on paid services. While these titles account for 70% of total viewings overall, their share rises to an impressive 92% in the case of Italian films.
The top ten rankings are revealing: four Italian titles feature in the overall top ten, all of them having previously enjoyed a theatrical release. The results confirm some expectations and deliver a few surprises, reflecting the second and third lives that films can enjoy across successive release windows.
The Italian top ten includes titles from the previous season, long-running box-office successes and even an original production. At the same time, the range of films available on the small screen is extraordinarily broad: over the course of just four weeks, respondents cited almost 2,000 different titles, compared with the 125 films showing in cinemas during the same period.
A final observation concerns the intensity of cinema attendance: 30% of users of paid services reported never going to the cinema, despite regularly consuming films through paid services. By contrast, 60% of all tickets sold during the period under review were purchased by frequent cinemagoers (those who attend the cinema more than five times a year). This suggests that film consumption continues to be driven primarily by a loyal audience with a strong attachment to the cinema experience, rather than by occasional viewers.
“The first key finding,”
comments ANICA President Alessandro Usai, “is that the study confirms what many of us had already sensed as audiences ourselves: films continue to be consumed well beyond their initial theatrical run. As a result, assessing the success of films, whether individually or collectively, Italian or international, solely on the basis of box-office performance is deeply misleading. The second finding is that this appears to be particularly true of recent Italian cinema, which accounts for a very substantial share of film viewings on paid services. Not all films, however, perform in the same way once they reach the small screen. The titles that performed best in cinemas, together with other more ‘light-entertainment’ offerings, appear to be those that continue to capture audience attention beyond the theatrical window.”
“More broadly, gaining an ever deeper understanding of viewing habits can help writers, directors and producers better understand the audiences their films will ultimately engage with.”
The Presentation of the Study
Following opening remarks by Undersecretary for Culture Lucia Borgonzoni, the event was introduced by Michele Casula, Co-founder and Partner at Ergo Research, who presented the findings of the study. The discussion was moderated by the President of ANICA Alessandro Usai.
The panel then brought together representatives of some of the audiovisual industry’s leading companies and distribution players: Margherita Amedei, Cinema and Series Director at Sky Italia; Tinny Andreatta, Vice President Italian Content at Netflix; Paolo Del Brocco, Chief Executive Officer of Rai Cinema; Livia Ferraro, Head of IT Digital Public Policy at Amazon; Federica Lucisano, Chief Executive Officer of Lucisano Media Group; Francesco Magini, Vice President of Disney+, Direct-to-Consumer Italy and Turkey for The Walt Disney Company; and Paolo Orlando, Head of Distribution at Medusa Film. The debate was moderated by Alessandro Usai.
The initiative was organized in collaboration with the International Audiovisual Market (MIA), with the support of the General Directorate of Libraries and Cultural Institutes of the Italian Ministry of Culture.
Read more: APA Report 2026: Italy’s Audiovisual Industry Grows Despite Investment Decline
