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SAT-ITALY 09.01.1998
SAT-ITALY - EDITION 2/98 - January 9th 1998 -
Italian Satellite and Media news edited by Branislav Pekic
NEW SATELLITE CHANNELS
The increase in offer of Italian satellite TV channels is expected to
continue all throughout 1998. Already the Italian public broadcaster RAI
has confirmed the launch of 4 new thematic channels which will be
transmitted in digital mode but will not be scrambled. They will include a
24 hour a day news channel, sports channel, regional news channel as well
as a "multiethnic" channel which is supposed to reflect the ethnic
diversity present in Italy. The new channels are set to join the already
existing thematic channels RAISat 1-3 and RAISat Nettuno.
The major Italian private TV broadcaster Mediaset is also preparing to
enter the digital market. On March 8th, they will launch a new service
called the Happy Channel. It will be a thematic channel entirely devoted
(the name says it all!) to humour and the schedule will be made up of
Italian and foreign sitcoms, theater and cabaret. The director of
Mediaset's thematic channels Carlo Vetrugno confirmed that they hard at
work on five new channels, some of which will launch also during 1998.
- E' previsto l'arrivo di molti nuovi canali tematici in 1998. La RAI ha
già annunciato il lancio di quattro nuovi canali (completamente gratuiti) -
un canale news con informazione 24 ore su 24, un canale di sport, uno con
notiziari regionali, e uno sulla dimensione multietnica nel nostro Paese).
Questi nuovi canali si aggiungeranno agli quattro canali già esistenti -
RAISat1, RAISat2, RAISat3 e RAISat Nettuno.
Mediaset scenderà in campo dall'8 marzo prossimo con «Happy Channel», un
canale tematico interamente dedicato alla comicità con sit-com, fiction
italiana ed estera, cabaret e teatro 24 ore al giorno. Carlo Vetrugno,
direttore delle reti tematiche Mediaset ha detto che sono in fase di studio
altri cinque canali, alcuni di quali partiranno nel 1998.
SAT2000
It seems that the new satellite channel financed by the Italian Bishops
Conference (CEI) will finally see the light of the day. The name of the new
channel has not yet been confirmed but it will probably be either Sat2000
or Tele2000. CEI announced the project on September 23rd last year and the
original launch date for the religious channel was November 30th.
Unfortunately due to a misunderstanding with Telepiù over transponder
space, the launch was put back to the end of January or the beginning of
February. An agreement for satellite capacity has been signed with RAI in
the meantime. In order to receive the new channel, viewers in Italy and
throughout Europe will need to buy a satellite dish and a digital receiver.
The principal managers posts have already been assigned: Mons. Francesco
Ceriotti is the president of the Administrative Council, Emmanuele Milano
is the director-general and Pupi Avati is the artistic director.
The channels headquarters will be in Rome but it will also have some of
it's facilities in Milan. Around 15 million DM has been invested in
equipping the studios and offices (a new mobile editing truck has been
bought for one million DM).
Sat2000 will initially broadcast 3 hours a day: one hour will be devoted to
news and information while the remaining 2 hours will be devoted to
cultural programs and TV series. There will be debates on current issues
and a special documentary series on the Seven Sacraments is also in the
pipeline. In regards to the news bulletins, there will be two of them - one
from 19:45-20:00 prepared by the journalists from the Catholic daily
"Avvenire" and a second bulletin called Ecclesia which will be devoted to
religious issues.
- Il nuovo canale TV dei vescovi italiani dovrà partire alla fine di
gennaio o agli inizi di febbraio. E' stato trovato un accordo con la RAI
che cederà una frequenza sul satellite EUTELSAT HOT BIRD 2. Il canale non
ha ufficialmente un nome - i più probabili sono Sat2000 o Tele2000. La TV
della Conferenza Episcopale Italiana inizialmente trasmetterà tre ore al
giorno e il palinsesto comprenderà telegiornali, rubbriche informative,
programmi culturali, dibattiti. Un TG generalista preparato della redazione
di "Avvenire" andrà in onda dalle 19:45-20:00 e ci sarà anche un TG
religioso Ecclesia a cura dell'agenzia giornalistica News Press.
TELEPIÙ FREES TERRESTRIAL FREQUENCIES
As of December 31st, the Italian pay-TV network Telepiù has vacated the
terrestrial frequencies previously used by it's analogue pay-TV channel
Telepiù 3. A press statement from the network announced that this has been
done in compliance with the new Telecommunications bill (the so-called
Maccanico bill) and that the frequencies are now at the disposition of the
relative Authority.
- La pay-TV italiana Telepiù ha liberato dal 31 dicembre scorso le
frequenze di Telepiù 3, mettendole a disposizione dell'Authority.
AUDIENCE FIGURES FOR MOVIES ON TV DOWN
According to a recent survey, the audience for movies on Italian TV
channels has increased by 22% in the past year. In 1996, for example 593
million viewers watched movies while last year that figure fell by 132
million to total 461 million. This is the first time that such a fall in
audience for movies has happened in the past 10 years, because movies,
football and the San Remo music festival have always till now ensured high
ratings. One of the reasons for this fall in audience is that the Italian
TV channels have been showing more repeats of movies than before. The state
broadcaster RAI is especially in a difficult condition because it doesn't
have many new movie titles in it's film archives. The only alternative for
movie fans has been the pay-TV service Telepiù which shows recent movie
hits, but unfortunately it is received by only a very small minority of
Italians.
The above data concerns the prime-time slot, ie. the time frame 20:30-22:30
hours and another factor for the audience drop has been the fact that the
principal channels have been programming less movies in this slot, giving
more airtime to variety and other types of programs. The most watche movies
on Italian TV in 1997 have been: "Bambi", "Jurassic Park", "Mrs.
Doubtfire", "The fugitive", "Four weddings and a funeral", "Sister act",
"The bodyguard". Movies made in the U.S.A. still dominate viewers
preferences, but there also been a in increase in the number of Italian and
European movies transmitted.
- L'audience dei film in TV è calata del 22% in un anno. Nel 1997, i film
trasmessi sulla TV hanno avuto 461 milioni di telespettatori (593 millioni
in 1996). Pare che il pubblico si è stancato di vedere replicati per
l'ennesima volta i stessi titoli. I dati si riferiscono alla fascia oraria
"prime-time", fra le 20:30 e le 22:30. Una delle raggioni del calo è che le
maggiori reti TV hanno ridotto la trasmissione di film proprio in questa
fascia. I film più visti? Bambi, Jurassic Park, Mrs. Doubtfire, Il
fuggitivo..E' aumentata invece la programmazione TV di film europei e
italiani.
NEWS IN BRIEF
- According to a survey conducted among satellite receiver manufacturers
and distributors, only 30% of Italians who buy a digital box subscribe to
the pay-TV service Telepiù. The majority use the digital receivers to
receive free-to-air channels, especially the RAI and Mediaset services.
- A petition has been circulating for including the Slovenian regional TV
channel TV Koper/Capodistria (broadcasts in Italian) in the Slovene-Croat
package on the EUTELSAT HOT BIRD 3 satellite. Give your support by linking
to: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/9086/koper.htm
- The Italian digital service Telepiù D+ will probably send a new version
of software (number 2.234) via satellite for the Nokia Mediamaster 9500S.
This version of software is already present in the 9200 model.
- The Italian music station Radio Italia Solo Musica Italiana has recently
been noticed on the TELECOM 2B/2D(5 West) satellite. The tuning details are
as follows: frequency 12,585 GHz/Hor, Symbol rate 27.500, FEC ¾, AudioPID
4213.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS ON RAI TV CHANNELS FOR WEEK JANUARY 11-17
(All times Central European)
MOVIES
11.01
RAI UNO, 20:45h - Abramo - La Bibbia (Italy/Germany/USA-1993), starring:
Vittorio Gassman, Barbara Hershey
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Scene of the crime (USA-1996), starring: Ben Gazzara
RAI DUE, 00:05h - Echo Park (Austria-1985), starring: Susan Dey, Tom Hulce
12.01
RAI UNO, 20:50h - A perfect world (USA-1993), starring: Kevin Costner,
Clint Eastwood
13.01
RAI UNO, 20:50h - Baby on board (USA-1991), starring: Carol Kane, Judge
Reinhold
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Provincia segreta - Part I (Italy), starring: Isabella
Ferrari, Andrea Giordano
RAI DUE, 00:15h - Young Americans (U.K.-1993), starring: Harvey Keitel,
Viggo Mortensen
14.01
RAI UNO, 20:50h - Overexposed (USA-1992), starring: Marcy Walker, Dan Lauria
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Provincia segreta - Part II (Italy), starring: Isabella
Ferrari, Andrea Giordano
15.01
RAI TRE, 20:45h - Power of attorney (USA-1995), starring: Danny Aiello,
Roger Wilson
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Provincia segreta - Part III (Italy), starring: Isabella
Ferrari, Andrea Giordano
16.01
RAI UNO, 22:50h - Roswell (USA-1994), starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Martin Sheen
RAI DUE, 00:35h - Al di la del Rio Grande (USA-1993), starring: Jurgen
Prochnow, Martin Sheen
17.01
RAI UNO, 20:40h - Pretty woman (USA-1990), starring: Richard Gere, Julia
Roberts
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Gewagtes spiel (Germany-1997), starring: Sebastian Koch,
Dieter Montag
RAI UNO, 00:20h - Anni ribelli (Italy-1994), starring: Leticia Bredice
Note: All movies transmitted in the prime time slot are subtitled on RAI's
teletext pages 777 (Italian) and 778 (English)
SPORT
11.01
RAI TRE, 08:25h - Waterpolo: World Championships, Italy-Yugoslavia
RAI TRE, 11:25h - Alpine skiing: World Cup, super G for men (Schladming)
RAI DUE, 19:00h - Basketball: Italian league
12.01
RAI TRE, 10:55h - World swimming championships (Perth)
RAI TRE, 01:40h - European skating championships (Milano)
RAI TRE, 01:55h - World swimming championships (Perth)
13.01
RAI TRE, 10:10h - Alpine skiing: World cup, super G for men, I run
(Adelboden)
RAI TRE, 11:15h - World swimming championships (Perth)
RAI TRE, 12:55h - Alpine skiing: World cup, super G for men, II spust
(Adelboden)
RAI TRE, 16:10h - European skating championships (Milano)
RAI TRE, 01:15h - European skating championships (Milano)
RAI TRE, 01:55h - World swimming championships (Perth)
14.01
RAI TRE, 10:55h - World swimming championships (Perth)
RAI TRE, 15:40h - World swimming championships (Perth)
RAI TRE, 16:30h - European skating championships (Milano)
RAI TRE, 01:15h - European skating championships (Milano)
RAI TRE, 01:55h - World swimming championships (Perth)
15.01
RAI TRE, 10:55h - World swimming championships (Perth)
RAI TRE, 01:15h - European skating championships (Milano)
RAI TRE, 01:55h - World swimming championships (Perth)
16.01
RAI TRE, 10:55h - World swimming championships (Perth)
RAI TRE, 16:30h - Volleyball (women): Italian league
RAI TRE, 01:15h - European skating championships (Milano)
RAI TRE, 01:55h - World swimming championships (Perth)
17.01
RAI TRE, 10:25h - Alpine skiing: World cup, womens downhill, I run
RAI TRE, 11:45h - World swimming championships (Perth)
RAI TRE, 12:25h - Alpine skiing: World cup, mens downhill (Wengen)
RAI TRE, 13:25h - Alpine skiing: World cup, womens downhill, II run
RAI TRE, 17:30h - Volleyball: Italian league, JUNCKER PADOVA-SISLEY TREVISO
RAI TRE, 00:25h - European skating championships (Milano)
RAI TRE, 01:55h - World swimming championships (Perth)
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