The Italian TV system has both free and paid channel.

According to research conducted by the Ufficio Studi di Confindustria Radio Televisioni, at the end of 2018, there were 421 television channels at the national level. These channels were owned by 123 publishers (national and international), 78 of which were based in Italy.

138 channels are available free of charge (with DTT and TivùSat) and 222 via paid services (such as Sky and Mediaset Premium). 

The main television companies are:

• Rai (Rai 1, Rai 2, …)
• Mediaset (Canale 5, Italia 1, Mediaset Premium, …)
• Sky Italy
• Discovery Italy
• Cairo Communication (La 7)
• Rete Blu (TV 2000)
• Viacom International Media Networks Italy (Super!, Paramount Network, MTV, Nickelodeon,…)

The main national publishers are 

• Sky Italia Group
• Mediaset Group
• Rai
• Discovery Italia Group 
• Fox Italy

These first five publishers own 225 TV channels (65% of the total).

The offer is diversified between free and paid programs, except for the public service operator Rai, with a completely free TV offer and Fox, which is completely paid.

Among Italian TV, RAI, Radio Televisione Italiana, is the public one. It is a radio and television company, which broadcasts services such as entertainment, information, and fiction, movies, sports, music. 

The programs of RAI are transmitted by web, mediumwave, and satellite. 

The second most important Italian TV Group is Mediaset. It has commercial channels such as Canale 5, Italia 1, and Rete 4.