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SAT-ITALY 29.11.1996

ITALIAN SATELLITE AND MEDIA NEWS - 29 November 1996

ITALY CELEBRATES LAUNCH OF HOT BIRD 2
The successful launch of the long awaited EUTELSAT HOT BIRD 2 satellite has
been widely reported in the Italian media which is no surprise since Italian
media companies have leased half of the satellite's transponders. The ten
transponders have been leased by the following companies: Telepiu (4), RAI
(2), Mediaset (2), Stream (1) and Nuova Telespazio (1). Currently Italy's
share of EUTELSAT satellite usage amounts to 8,7% which is expected soon to
rise to 10%. EUTELSAT estimates that the new satellite will create a
potential market among TV production companies worth 1,200-1,300 billion
lira a year - with half of this amount coming from the Italian market.
According to some sources in the satellite industry, Italian media companies
may seek even more satellite capacity besides the transponders already booked. 
After the successful launch of HOT BIRD 2, the commercial director of
EUTELSAT, Giuliano Berretta from Italy said that the three week delay in
launching the satellite meant 3 billion lira in lost revenues, they expect
to have profits of around 600 billion lira a year

TELEPIU ANNOUNCES TEN NEW CHANNELS
The only Italian pay-TV network, Telepiu plans to increase its existing
program offer (its digital package DSTV is carried on HOT BIRD 1) by using
transponders it has leased on HOT BIRD 2. There are plans to introduce
pay-per-view services, with viewers paying for single events (sports,
movies, music events). Around ten new foreign channels will be added to the
package - among them Bloomberg Italy, Hallmark Channel and The Weather
Channel. Talks are currently underway with the Disney company which may
result in an Italian version of the The Disney Channel. Telepiu's movie
channel Tele +1 will be able to offer a near-video-on-demand service with
movies starting at different hours.
There will also be a change in subscription charges. Currently subscribers
to Telepiu's digital package DSTV pay around 684 DM a year. Separately,
subscribers to Telecalcio, Telepiu's service which transmits live Italian
Serie A football pay an additional 500 DM a year for all the games of their
favorite team (300 DM for away-only matches). The Telecalcio service will be
additionally boosted with Serie B games from next year as previously
announced. Five digital channels will be used to transmit live Formula 1
races, with viewers at home being able to choose the camera angles from
which to watch the race.

CABLE TV FOR ITALY
It seems that Italy is finally to introduce cable TV thanks to an ambitious
project announced by Stream, a subsidiary of state telecommunications
operator Stet. For the past year, Stream has been running an experimental
video-on-demand service in Milan and Rome with 1,000 pilot households.
Another Stet subsidiary, Telecom Italia has meanwhile been busy laying
cables throughout the country and by the end of the year, 20 local
communities will be connected with fiber-optic cables, making them pioneers
of cable TV in Italy. Recently, Tommaso Tommasi, business director of
Telecom Italia said the number of cabled local communities will rise to 70
by next year, covering 1,5 million inhabitants. Cable subscribers will get a
digital receiver/decoder (costing around 500 DM) which will be able to
decode signals from various satellite operators as well a smart-card. 
Stream will have a difficult task convincing Italians to pay for watching
television. According to recent estimates, there are around 720 local TV
stations (30% of all TV stations in the world) besides the 12 national TV
channels. Viewers in bigger cities such as Rome and Milan can receive up to
40 channels free-of-charge with a simple aerial. 
Stream hopes to attract viewers by offering more sports and
family-orientated programming than is currently available on terrestrial TV
channels. They will offer viewers the chance to subscribe to Telepiu's
digital package with no extra charge. Subscribers will have to pay an
additional 96 DM to watch additional foreign channels such as Eurosport,
Euronews, EBN and 30 digital audio channels.
The next step will be the introduction of pay-per-view and
near-video-on-demand (starting next month) with movies being shown every 15
minutes.
Stream's cable network will potentially be able to offer 460 channels, among
them many new interactive services. For example, there will be a travel
channel offering the possibility to book voyages, many home shopping
channels and a new service called Language Network System (due to start
March 1997). It is expected that some of these new channels will be
broadcast via the transponders Stet has leased on HOT BIRD 2.
UNIVERSITY STUDIES VIA SATELLITE
University studies in Italy are set to become interactive thanks to plans
announced by Consorzio Nettuno. This consortium which includes 26
Universities throughout Italy as its members has announced plans to
broadcast University courses to students via electronic mail using digital
transponders on the EUTELSAT HOT BIRD 2 satellite. This service will be
aimed primarily at persons who work during the day and who cannot attend
courses at the University. Diplomas issued to students following the TV
courses would have the same value as those obtained by "regular" students.
Currently these TV courses are carried by state TV RAI from Monday to Sunday
- on RAI Uno (04:30-06:00 h) and RAI Due (02:45-06:50 h) as well as on RAI
Tre during summer months.
Lessons can be taped and viewed at a later time and viewers can consult
teletext pages (RAI Televideo from 703 to 707) for viewing times, software,
exam calendar and other useful details. During the current phase of the
project, interactive contact with professors is established via fax, phone
and Internet.
The Web pages of Consorzio Nettuno can be found on the following address:
http://www.agora.stm.it/nettuno

RAI TO REFORM RADIO SERVICES
RAI's new director for radio programming Stefano Gigotti has announced plans
for revamping RAI's three existing radio services. Unfortunately, in the
past RAI radio has been treated as a poor brother of the TV service, with
the majority of the funding and license fees going to the later. 
RAI's first network, Radio Uno will continue to offer news and information
programming, but it will broken up with music selections. The biggest
problem will be Radio Due, which has reported a constant fall in audience in
the past years. Although aimed at a young audience, it unsuccessfully tries
to imitate commercial radio stations. The easiest task is at Radio Tre which
successfully broadcasts classical music and cultural programming. 
According to recent estimates, more than 35 million Italians listen daily to
radio, with 17 million tuning into the three RAI stations. The other half
prefers private radio stations, with Radio Dimensione Suono and Radio DeeJay
being the most popular.

PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS ON ITALIAN SAT-TV CHANNELS
DECEMBER 1-7
PRIME-TIME MOVIES
1.XII - CANALE 5, 20:30h - Desideria e l'anello del Drago - Part 1 (ITA)
starring: Franco Nero, Anna Falchi, Stefania Sandrelli
1.XII - RETE 4, 20:40h - The honorary consul (UK-84) starring: Richard Gere,
Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins
1.XII - RAI DUE, 20:50h - A matter of justice (USA-94) starring: Carl
Weathers, Carroll O'Connor
1.XII - RAI UNO, 22:30h - Trois couleurs: Blanc (FRA/SWI/POL-93) starring:
Julie Delpy, Zbigniew Zamachowski
2.XII - RETE 4, 20:40h - Questo e quello (ITA-83) starring: Nino Manfredi,
Renato Pozzetto
2.XII - RAI UNO, 20:50h - Fatherhood (USA-93) starring: Patrick Swayze,
Halle Berry
2.XII - CANALE 5, 20:50h - Far and away (USA-92) starring: Tom Cruise,
Nicole Kidman
2.XII - RETE 4, 22:45h - Cry freedom (UK-87) starring: Kevin Kline, Denzel
Washington
3.XII - RAI DUE, 20:50h - Curly Sue (USA-91) starring: James Belushi,
Allison Porter, Kelly Lynch
3.XII - ITALIA 1, 22:30h - Pentagram (USA-90) starring: Lou Diamond Phillips
3.XII - RETE 4, 23:30h - Assasinio sul Tevere (ITA-79) starring: Tomas
Milian, Marina Lante della Rovere
3.XII - RAI TRE, 01:20h - The king of comedy (USA-82) starring: Robert de
Niro, Jerry Lewis (na engleskom sa italijanskim titlovima)
4.XII - ITALIA 1, 20:30h - The Canterville ghost (USA-95) starring: Donald
Sinden, Joan Simms
4.XII - RETE 4, 20:40h - Coma (USA-78) starring: Genevieve Bujold, Michael
Douglas
4.XII - RAI UNO, 20:50h - Natalie - Endstation Babystrich (GER-94) starring:
Nina Hoger, Anne-Sophie Briest
4.XII - RAI DUE, 20:50h - Ci vediamo in tribunale (ITA-96) starring: Nancy
Brilli, Tullio Solenghi
4.XII - RETE 4, 22:50h - Pretty baby (USA-78) starring: Keith Carradine,
Brooke Shields
5.XII - RETE 4, 20:40h - We're no angels (USA-89) starring: Robert de Niro,
Sean Penn, Demi Moore
5.XII - RAI UNO, 20:50h - Presumed innocent (USA-90) starring: Harrison
Ford, Brian Dennehy, Raul Julia, Greta Scacchi
6.XII - ITALIA 1, 20:30h - Bloodsport II (USA-95) starring: Daniel
Bernhardt, Pat Morita
6.XII - RETE 4, 20:40h - Empty cradle (USA-93) starring: Kate Jackson, Lori
Loughlin
6.XII - RAI UNO, 20:50h - A far off place (USA-92) starring: Reese
Witherspoon, Ethan Randall
6.XII - RETE 4, 22:40h - Blow out (USA-81) starring: John Travolta, Nancy Allen
7.XII - RETE 4, 20:40h - The professionals (USA-66) starring: Lee Marvin,
Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance
7.XII - RAI DUE, 20:50h - Double jeopardy (USA-92) starring: Rachel Ward,
Bruce Boxleitner
7.XII - ITALIA 1, 22:40h - Star Trek II - the wrath of Kahn (USA-82)
starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy
7.XII - CANALE 5, 23:15h - Il prof.dott. Guido Tersilli (ITA-69) starring:
Alberto Sordi, Ida Galli

MUSIC
2.XII - ITALIA 1, 20:30h - Le stelle della musica - Part I 
Two part music extragavanza from Vicenza. Taking part will be 31 famous
Italian and foreign musicans. Among the artists appearing tonight are
Articolo 31, Spagna, Laura Pausini, Pooh, Eros Ramazotti, Ami Stewart,
Sheryl Crow, Incognito. Second part next Monday.
4.XII - RAI DUE, 22:40h - The Beatles - The big adventure
Documentary series about the Fab Four produced by US network ABC. Already
seen by 420 million viewers in 94 countries. 

SPORT
2.XII - RAI TRE, 17:55h - Alpine skiing: World cup, slalom (m) from Breckenridge
2.XII - RAI DUE, 19:00h - Basketball: Italian league  STEFANEL
MILANO-TEAMSYSTEM BOLOGNA
2.XII - RAI TRE, 19:55h - Alpine skiing: World cup, grandslalom (w) from
Lake Louise
3.XII - RAI UNO, 20:40h - Football: UEFA Cup  BOAVISTA-INTER
4.XII - CANALE 5, 20:20h - Football: Champions league  MILAN-ROSENBORG
4.XII - ITALIA 1, 22:30h - Football: Champions league JUVENTUS-FENERBAHCE
6.XII - RAI TRE, 23:00h - Alpine skiing: World cup, downhill (w) from Vail
7.XII - RAI TRE, 15:20h - Waterpolo: Italian league  SAVONA-PESCARA
7.XII - RAI TRE, 17:30h - Volleyball: Italian league  COLMARK-SISLEY TREVISO
7.XII - RAI DUE, 18:55h - Alpine skiing: World cup, grandslalom (w)
7.XII - RAI TRE, 20:30h - Alpine skiing: World cup, downhill (m) from Whistler
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