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SAT-ITALY 23.01.1998




SAT-ITALY - EDITION 4/98 - January 23rd 1998 -
Italian Satellite and Media news edited by Branislav Pekic


CANAL PLUS TO INVEST IN ITALIAN CINEMA
After a meeting with the Italian vice-prime minister Walter Veltroni held
in Rome on January 22nd, the president of Canal Plus, Pierre Lescure
announced the signing of an important agreement with the Italian
government. According to the terms of the deal, the Italian pay-TV network
Telepiu (owned 90% by Canal Plus) will invest several tens of millions of
DM into the production of Italian TV fiction. The French company also
promises to support the Italian film industry by broadcasting Italian
movies on it's various premium services throughout Europe. There is also a
possibility that Canal Plus will buy a stake in the famous Italian film
studios Cinecittà which are located in Rome.
The announced deal is just part of Canal Plus's long-term plans for the
Italian market which include the formation of a single Italian digital
platform, together with RAI, Telecom Italia and Cecchi Gori Group which
will also buy a stake in Telepiu. Several days ago, the deal to take over
the 45% stake in Telepiu held by Kirch was finalized, and this quota will
be then passed on to the Italian partners. The CEO of Canal Plus, Michel
Thoulouze had been received in the previous weeks by the Italian President
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro and the Italian and French Prime Ministers Prodi and
Jospin have already congratulated each other for this important agreement
between the two countries in the audiovisual field.
- E' stato firmato un accordo il 22 gennaio a Roma, tra Canal Plus e il
governo italiano. Telepiù, la controllata italiana di Canal Plus, investirà
alcune decine di miliardi nella produzione di fiction italiana. Da parte
francese ci sarà anche un sostegno al cinema italiano attraverso la
diffusione dei suoi prodotti nelle diverse reti di tv a pagamento che il
gruppo ha in Europa. E si profila anche l'ingresso di Canal Plus nella
capitale di Cinecittà servizi, che completerebbe l'integrazione del gruppo
proprietario di Telepiù nel tessuto produttivo del cinema italiano. 


MEDIASET INTERESTED IN TF1 STAKE 
The administrative council of the Italian private TV holding company
Mediaset met several days ago in Milan under the presidency of Fedele
Confalonieri. Several decisions were reached among them the buying back of
10% of it's own stake from commercial banks (who initially bought the
stakes two years ago) as well as the nomination of a new member of the
administrative council, Michele Preda. Some banks that have decreased their
stake include Abn Amro (from 0,6 to 0,02%), San Paolo Torino (from 0,86 to
0,1%), Comit (0,33%) and Imi (from 1,2 to 0,8%). 
Questioned by reporters on the foundation of rumors about possible contacts
with Bouygues, the owner of French private broadcaster TF1 (market share
45%), Confalonieri said there was nothing new to report, but as soon as
there is something new it will be made public. It's no surprise that
Mediaset is keeping a low profile on the TF1 affair, taking in account the
unhappy experience with La Cinq in the not so near past. But, it's no
secret that in the past few months an alliance in the production and
advertising field between Mediaset, TF1 and Pro Sieben has been mentioned
more than once. 
Mediaset is one of the most lucrative titles on the Italian stock market as
well as being on of the major European media groups. It needs to form
international alliances and TF1 would be a natural partner (they already
work together and have coproduced several mini-series)
 - L'assemblea degli azionisti di Mediaset, riunitasi nei giorni scorsi, ha
rinnovato l'autorizzazione ad acquistare sino al 10 per cento di azioni
proprie. Diverse banche azioniste della holding televisiva hanno
approfittato della buona performance del titolo per ridurre la sua
partecipazione azionaria. L'assemblea ha anche nominato consigliere di
amministrazione della società Michele Preda. Su eventuali contatti con il
gruppo Bouygues centrati sull'emittente francese Tf1, il presidente della
Mediaset, Fedele Confalonieri ha risposto "Se ci sarà qualcosa ve lo
diremo". L'idea di un network europeo della tv che metta insieme, nel campo
della produzione e della raccolta pubblicitaria, Mediaset, Tf1 e la tedesca
Pro Sieben era già stato ipotizzato nei mesi scorsi. 


SCT BACK ON HOT BIRD
The Italian porn channel Satisfaction Club Television (SCT) has returned to
the 13 degrees east orbital position. SCT can be found on the EUTELSAT HOT
BIRD 2 satellite, frequency 11,977 GHz/Ver, which is the same transponder,
used by the Polish channel Polonia 1. The Italian porn channel broadcasts
daily from 00:00-04:00 CET. It is still in PAL and coded in Ping-Pong. It
remains to be seen if the channel will also appear in digital mode as
announced previously.
- La TV hard italiana SCT è tornata sul satellite EUTELSAT HOT BIRD. Il
trasponder usato è quello del canale polacco Polonia 1 (11,977 GHz/Ver).
SCT trasmette tutte le notti, dal 00:00 al 04:00, sempre con  codifica Ping
Pong. 


RAI TO INVEST 45 MILLION DM INTO TV FICTION
The Italian state broadcaster RAI has announced its investment plan for
1998 for the production of TV fiction (movies, series and mini-series).
According to Sergio Silva who heads's the RAI Cinemafiction department, RAI
invested 16 million DM in 1996, 40 million DM in 1997 and plans to invest
45 million-DM during this year for Italian and European TV acquisitions and
productions. The list includes 48 Italian movies and 22 European
productions. Among them are: "Sud side story" by Roberta Torre, "La balia"
by Marco Belocchio, "Inferno e Paradiso" by Wim Wenders and "Aprile" by
Nani Moretti as well as a new movie based on a screenplay by Federico Fellini.
- E' stato annunciato il piano d'investimenti RAI per il cinema. Gli
investimenti sul cinema italiano ed europeo dai 16 miliardi del 1996 sono
diventati 40 nel 1997 e 45 nel 1998. Un primo listino comprende 48 film
italiani e 22 film europei. Tra i vari progetti "la realizzazione" di un
film tratto da una sceneggiatura scritta da Fellini.


FREQUENCY PLANS BY END OF JANUARY
The undersecretary of the Ministry of posts and telecommunications,
Vincenzo Vita has confirmed that by January 31st a new TV frequency plan
for Italy will be ready. He added that the TV frequencies would
subsequently be issued from April after the TV licenses are also handed out.
- Il sottosegretario al Ministero della comunicazione, Vincenzo Vita ha
confermato che entro il 31 gennaio sara' pronto il piano di
riorganizzazione delle frequenze di trasmissione televisiva. ''Le frequenze
verranno complessivamente riassegnate - ha detto Vita - con le nuove
concessioni previste da aprile in poi. 


NEWS IN BRIEF
- Update for a news item from last week. It seems that the FTA 1.0 will not
be the new version of software for the Nokia Mediamaster 9500S because
Telepiu does not want to offer its customers software defined "too open". 
- Major personnel changes at RAI and Telecom Italia. The President of the
Italian public broadcaster, Enzo Siciliano has resigned his post and his
successor is yet to be named. In the meantime Gian Mario Rossignolo has
been nominated as President of the state telecoms operator Telecom Italia.
- As of recently, a new software version for the digital free-to-air
receiver PACE DSR 200 has been available. The new version of the software
includes new functions for dual-feed systems.


PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS ON RAI TV CHANNELS FOR WEEK JANUARY 25-31
(All times Central European)
MOVIES
25.I
RAI UNO, 20:45h - La Bibbia: Giuseppe (Italy-1994), starring: Ben Kingsley,
Martin Landau
RAI DUE, 20:50h - The chase (USA-1994), starring: Charlie Sheen, Kristy
Swanson
RAI DUE, 00:10h - Le porte girevoli (Canada-1988), starring:  Monique
Spaziani, Gabriel Arcand
26.I
RAI UNO, 20:50h - Grumpy old men (USA-1993), starring: Jack Lemmon, Walter
Matthau, Ann-Margret
RAI DUE, 00:35h - Il tempo del ritorno (Italy-1993), starring: Barbara Nay,
Stefano Abbati
27.I
RAI UNO, 20:50h - Teo (Italy-1996), starring: Helmut Berger, Renzo Montagnani
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Adrenalin (Germany-1996), starring: Til Schweiger, Geno
Lechner
RAI DUE, 00:25h - Scandal (U.K.-1989), starring: John Hurt, Joanne Whalley
Kilmer
28.I
RAI UNO, 20:50h - Vite blindate (Italy-1997), starring: Angela Molina,
Angelo Infanti
RAI DUE, 23:05h - Broadway Danny Rose (USA-1984), starring: Woody Allen,
Mia Farrow
29.I
RAI TRE, 20:40h - Occhio alla penna (Italy-1981), starring: Bud Spencer,
Amidou
30.I
RAI UNO, 22:40h - La cosa di un altro mondo (USA-1951), starring: Kenneth
Toby, Margaret Sheridan
RAI DUE, 00:35h - I miei primi 40 anni (Italy-1987), starring: Carol Alt,
Pierre Cosso
31.I
RAI DUE, 20:50h - The return of Hunter: Everyone walks in L.A. (USA-1995),
starring: Fred Dryer, Barry Bostwick
RAI UNO, 00:35h - Il lungo silenzio (Italy-1993), starring: Carla Gravina,
Jacques Perrin

Note:	All movies transmitted in the prime time slot are subtitled on RAI's
teletext pages 777 (Italian) and 778 (English)

SPORT 
25.I
RAI TRE, 10:25h - Alpine skiing: World cup, special slalom for men, I run
RAI TRE, 13:25h - Alpine skiing: World cup, special slalom for men, II run
RAI DUE, 19:00h - Basketball: Italian league
28.I
RAI TRE, 16:00h - Alpine skiing: World cup, parallel slalom form men
(Garmisch)
RAI UNO, 17:55h - Football: ITALY-SLOVAKIA 
RAI DUE, 19:10h - Alpine skiing; World cup, parallel slalom for men 
29.I
RAI TRE, 15:40h - Basketball (women): Italian league
30.I
RAI TRE, 15:50h - Basketball: Italian league
RAI TRE, 16:30h - Volleyball (women): Italian league
RAI TRE, 23:50h - Basketball: Italian Cup - Final Four, TEAMSYSTEM
BOLOGNA-KINDER BOLOGNA
31.I
RAI TRE, 11:55h - Alpine skiing: World cup, mens downhill
(Garmisch-Parternkirchen)
RAI TRE, 15:25h - Volleyball: Italian league, SISLEY TREVISO-ALPITOUR TRACO
CUNEO
RAI TRE, 18:00h - Basketball: Italian Cup - Final Four, BENETTON
TREVISO-STEFANEL MILANO


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