Here we are. From Tuesday 2 March to Saturday 6 March it will be on air San Remo 2021. This 71st edition will be one of a kind, especially due to the absence of the public at the Ariston theater, established by the CTS and the Ministry of Culture due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
As per tradition, the interest of Italians does not only concern the songs and singers in the competition, their fashion show dresses or the highly anticipated sketches of Fiorello who, as happened in 2020, will support Amadeus on the 5 evenings of Sanremo 2021. The attention is also on total costs of the Festival which this year will have many difficulties in making ends meet due to the lower receipts due to the pandemic. Despite everything, what is about to begin promises to be another record edition in terms of audience, with millions of Italians glued to the screen, ready to enjoy evenings of music and entertainment.
So here's everything you need to know on the economic side of the Festival, including cachet, advertising revenue and sponsorship.
SANREMO 2021: THE CACHETS OF CONDUCTORS AND GUESTS
Let's start with the landlord. Amadeus, as artistic director and conductor of the Festival should earn between 500 and 600 thousand euros, a fee in line with that of last year which, we emphasize, is calculated not only on the basis of the 5 evenings of conducting, but also for commitments carried out in the last 5 months as artistic director.
"In second place", in terms of cachet, there is Fiorello, which should receive 50 thousand euros per evening, for a total of 250 thousand euros. Same "daily" cachet, but for a total of 4 evenings, for Ibrahimovic, which will receive a total of 200 thousand euros. The Milan striker will be absent on the evening of 3 March, when he will have to join his team that will be playing against Udinese.
However, there is no news on the cachet received by Achille Lauro who, in the wake of what Tiziano Ferro did last year, will be a regular guest on all the evenings of Sanremo 2021.
Let's move on to women. Singer Elodie, who will participate in one of the evenings as co-host, will earn around 25 thousand euros. Similar fees should also go to the actress Matilda De Angelis and the journalist Barbara Palombelli, who will be present on the other evenings.
No certainty even on the cachet of the musical guests who will take turns on the Ariston stage, while i singers in competition they will have a reimbursement of expenses of around 48 thousand euros.
SANREMO 2021: COSTS AND REVENUES
The final accounts will be made at the end, but according to estimates, the total costs of Sanremo 2021 should be around 17 million and 400 thousand euros, 600 thousand less than last year. The figure includes both the fees of conductors and guests and the 5 million annual convention to be paid to the Municipality of Sanremo.
Bad news comes instead on the front of revenues. This year both the income from the Tickets (this year will be the first edition of history without an audience), both i advertising revenue deriving from external events which in the past allowed Rai to increase and diversify advertising sales. Due to Covid-19, there will be no Nutella Stage in the square, to be clear, nor the partnership with Costa Crociere, but the collection will have to be based exclusively on audiences, expected to grow by 2% compared to the record reached last year, when achieved an average share of 54,3%.
The lack of external events and the strict safety rules should therefore bring down revenues by around 10 million euros compared to 37 million (yet another record) in 2020, for a total of around 27 million, in line with the 2017-2018 editions . L'Useful it should in any case be centered.
To try to fill the gap, among other things, Rai Pubblicità revised the advertising price list upwards by approximately 9%. They range from 13.600 euros for a 30-second commercial at 01.15 am 226 thousand euros for an advertisement at 21.45 in the first and last evening. In the evenings of 3-4-5 March however, the time slot of 21.45 (always the most expensive) will cost 176.000 euros.
Finally, we must also consider the commercial agreements signed with the individual sponsors. The only sponsor of the Festival will be Tim for the fifth year “a five-year period in which – said Luca Josi, Tim's Director of Brand Strategy, Media & Multimedia Entertainment – we brought many innovations. This year we have transformed advertising making it an opportunity for the public with a competition related to life that will await us once the health emergency is over".
