Italian regulator Agcom has approved the first update since 2012 to the country’s list of events considered of major national importance.
The measure requires listed events to remain available free-to-air to at least 80% of the Italian population, even where rights are held by pay-TV or streaming operators.
Rights holders will be required to offer access on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, preventing listed events from being kept exclusively behind a paywall.
The existing list already included events such as the Summer and Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship matches, Italy national football team fixtures, selected Champions League and Europa League matches involving Italian clubs, the Giro d’Italia, Formula 1, MotoGP, the Six Nations, Sanremo, La Scala and La Fenice events.
The updated list adds the Summer and Winter Paralympics, Conference League matches involving Italian teams, the Coppa Italia final and the Supercoppa di Lega.
Tennis is a major addition, with free-to-air protection for United Cup semi-finals and finals involving Italy, Grand Slam matches, ATP and WTA Finals, Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 events involving Italian players.
The list also includes Italian stages of the Tour de France, and World Championship finals in athletics, swimming, gymnastics, fencing, skating and Alpine skiing where staged in Italy or involving Italian athletes.
On the cultural side, Agcom has added the Eurovision Song Contest final.
