[Prev][Next][Index]

SAT-ITALY 30.01.1998




SAT-ITALY - EDITION 5/98 - January 30th 1998 -
Italian Satellite and Media news edited by Branislav Pekic


PACE TO PRODUCE SECA BOX FOR ITALIAN MARKET
The French pay-TV giant Canal Plus which owns a 90% stake in the Italian
pay-TV network Telepiu has  recently signed important contracts with two
major electronics for the production of Seca compatible digital boxes. Back
in December, a deal was signed with the Italian distributor R & R
Electronics from Genoa for sales of a Seca digital receiver produced by
Thundermax. R & R Electronics has already started sales of its box and the
goal is to sell around 10,000 boxes whose retail price is around 899 DM.
From February, the U.K. based manufacturer Pace (which has formed a
joint-venture in Milan) is set to start sales of it's Seca digital box.
- A dicembre, Telepiu ha siglato un accordo con la società di distribuzione
R&R Electronics Spa di Genova per la vendita di decoder digitali prodotti
dalla società Thundermax e dotati di accesso condizionato Seca. R&R
Electronics ha l'obiettivo di piazzare sul mercato italiano circa 10mila
unità. Il prezzo al pubblico del decoder è di 899mila lire. Da febbraio
anche la società inglese Pace dovrebbe essere pronta a mettere in vendita
propri decoder sempre targati Seca. 


SAT2000 TO LAUNCH FEBRUARY 9TH
The long awaited satellite channel backed by the Italian Bishops Conference
(CEI) has finally announced a definite launch date. Sat2000 will start
broadcasting on February 9th at 18:00 hours CET, as part of RAI's digital
bouquet on the EUTELSAT HOT BIRD 2 satellite. The technical details are as
follows: transponder 54, frequency 11,804 GHz/Ver, Symbol rate 27500 Ks/sec
and FEC 2/3. The transponder leased costs around  1,2 million DM a year.
For the first few months the channel will broadcast 15 hours a day of
programming, from 10:00-01:30 hours. The goal for next season is to produce
at least 8 hours of original programming a day. The cost for launching the
new channel is estimated to be around 20 million DM which will be financed
by donations from dioceses and individuals. Sat2000 has been defined as a
"digital thematic cultural channel of Christian values" and will air
programs on social, religious and cultural issues. Major Italian
journalists such as Michele Santoro, Paolo Mieli, Sergio Zavoli and Igor
Man have signed contracts with the new channel. 
- La TV satellitare dei vescovi italiani partirà il 9 febbraio prosssimo
alle ore 18:00. Almeno per i primi mesi Sat2000 avrà una programmazione di
15 ore (dalle 10 del mattino all' 1:30 di notte. L'obiettivo per la
prossima stagione è di arrivare ad 8 ore quotidiane di trasmissione
originale. Il costo complessivo dell'operazione si aggira intorno ai 20
miliardi di lire raccolti attraverso le diocesi e privati. Alcuni tra i più
noti giornalisti italiani (Santoro, Mieli, Zavoli, Man) hanno già aderito
al progetto. Non si parlerà di politica ma di temi sociali, religiosi e
culturali.


RAI ALL NEWS
The administrative council of RAI is examing the possibility of launching
an all news channel which would further compliment the existing digital
offer from the Italian state broadcaster. RAI All News (RAN for short)
would be some sort of an Italian CNN, offering viewers in Italy and
throughout Europe the Italian perspective on the world. RAN would have only
50-60 employees because it would make extensive use of the Internet. RAI
has already signed preliminary cooperation agreements with "Le Monde
Diplomatique", AP TV, BBC World and Herald Tribune Television. The visual
image of RAN would be similar to Bloomberg Television, with the TV screen
divided up into three smaller screens in order to give more space for
several information sources at once (among them the Internet). A new news
bulletin with the latest Italian and world news will be aired every 15
minutes followed by in-depth analysis of the major facts of the day.
Besides broadcasting in digital mode via satellite, part of the programming
of the new channel will probably also be aired via terrestrial transmitters.
- Il progetto del nuovo canale "all-news" della RAI è al esame del CdA. RAI
All News (RAN) offrirebbe agli telespettatori italiani ed europei il punto
di vista italiano sul mondo. La novità assoluta di RAN: lo schermo sarà
diviso in tre per dare più spazio a varie fonti informative (una di quale
sarà Internet). Il palinsesto di RAN si rinnoverà ogni 15 minuti con le
principali notizie dal mondo e dall'Italia. RAN trasmetterà via satellite e
probabilmente anche via etere.


CECCHI GORI GROUP TO RECEIVE LOAN
The second largest private TV company in Italy, Cecchi Gori Group (owner of
the TMC and TMC2 channels) is set to receive a significant cash injection.
A loan worth 500 million DM will soon be approved by the U.K. merchant bank
Merril Lynch. The money loan will be guaranteed with the extensive movie
catalogue owned by Cecchi Gori Group. Also, by January 31st, TMC will
definitely know if it will receive the TV frequencies which were given up
by Telepiu at the beginning of the month.
- Cecchi Gori Group riceverà un prestito di 500 miliardi di lire dalla
banca d'affari inglese Merrill Lynch. Il prestito sarà garantito con i
diritti sui film del catalogo Cecchi Gori. Entro il 31 gennaio TMC saprà
se, come previsto, potrà ottenere le frequenze lasciate vuote da Telepiu. 


ADVERTISING INVESTMENTS ON RADIO AND TV UP
According to official figures released by Audiradio, during 1997
expenditure on radio advertising has reached 370 million DM, which is an
increase of between 7 and 13% on the previous years figures. Out of this
figure, 47% went to the public radio service RAI and the remaining 53% to
private radio stations. TV advertising also reported an increase of between
9-10%. However, Italy still lags behind other EU countries concerning the
total advertising expenditure for radio which amounts to 3,6% of the total
amount. The companies which invest most in radio advertising are those from
the auto, moto, drinks and hi-fi sector.
- La radio è il mezzo di comunicazione che presenta i maggiori tassi di
crescita sul mercato della pubblicità. Nel 1997 la radio ha raccolto, 370
miliardi circa di pubblicità: il 47% su Radio Rai e il restante 53% sulle
antenne private. La TV ha registrato un aumento della raccolta tra il 9 e
il 10% sul 1996. Nei Paesi più evoluti la quota di mercato della radio sul
totale degli investimenti pubblicitari è doppia rispetto a quella italiana,
attualmente pari al 3,6% del totale del mercato. 


NEWS IN BRIEF
- Feeds for the Italian digital TV package Telepiu D+ have been noticed on
the INTELSAT 605 satellite (27,5 degrees West). The frequency is 10,970
GHz/Ver, Symbol rate 27,500 and FEC ¾ and the following channels are
available: CineCinema 1-3, Canal Jimmy, Planete and Season.
- The Vatican TV channel Telepace will soon close it's analogue service on
the EUTELSAT II F3 satellite (16 degrees East) and will be available only
in digital mode on the EUTELSAT HOT BIRD 2 satellite (frequency 11,804
GHz/Ver).


PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS ON RAI TV CHANNELS FOR WEEK FEBRUARY 1-7
(All times Central European)
MOVIES
1.II
RAI UNO, 20:45h - La Bibbia: Mose (Italy-1995), starring: Ben Kingsley,
Christopher Lee
RAI UNO, 20:50h - The asssasin (USA-1992), starring: Bridget Fonda, Gabriel
Byrne, Anne Bancroft
RAI DUE, 00:05h - Che (Italy-1972), starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Sydne Rome
2.II
RAI UNO, 20:50h - The pelican brief (USA-1993), starring: Julia Roberts,
Denzel Washington
RAI DUE, 00:55h - Gioco mortale (USA-1996), starring: Chauncey Leopardi
3.II
RAI UNO, 20:50h - Oscar per due (Italy), starring: Claudio Bisio, Amanda
Sandrelli
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Sketch artist II: Hands that see (USA-1995), starring:
Jeff Fahey, Courtney Cox
RAI DUE, 00:50h - Viaggio clandestino (Italy-1994), starring: Enzo Moscato
4.II
RAI UNO, 20:50h - Trapped and deceived (USA-1994), starring: Jennie Garth,
Jill Eikenberry
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Runaway car (USA-1997), starring: Judge Reinhold, Brian
Hooks
RAI DUE, 00:50h - L'amico imaginario (Italy-1994), starring: Victor
Cavallo, Valeria d'Obici
5.II
RAI TRE, 20:40h - Aspettando Nagano (Italy-1997) - documenary -
6.II
RAI UNO, 22:40h - Invaders from Mars (USA-1953), starring: Helena Carter,
Arthur Franz
RAI DUE, 00:30h - Oltre la notte (Italy-1993), starring: Francesco Prando,
Sergio Rossi
7.II
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Out of the dark (USA-1990), starring: Cameron Dye, Karen
Black
RAI UNO, 00:35h - The killing of a chinese bookie (USA-1976), starring: Ben
Gazzara, Seymour Cassel

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

SPORT 
3.II
RAI TRE, 12:55h - Alpine skiing: World Cup, super G for men (Garmisch
Parternkirchen)
RAI DUE, 19:00h - Basketball: Italian cup, final from Bologna
4.II
RAI TRE, 16:20h - Basketball (women): Italian league, ISAB PRIOLO-BARBERA
MESSINA
5.II
RAI TRE, 15:40h - Football (women): ITALY-GERMANY
6.II
RAI TRE, 16:10h - Volleyball (`ene): Prvenstvo Italije liga A2, MORESCHI
VIGEVANO-VINI SCHIAVO JESI
RAI TRE, 02:55h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - ceremonija otvaranja
7.II
RAI TRE, 07:55h - WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES (Nagano): Hockey, ITALY-KAZAHSTAN
RAI TRE, 15:15h - Volleyball: Italian Cup, Final four, TREVISO-CUNEO
RAI TRE, 00:55h - WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES (Nagano): Nordic skiing
RAI TRE, 01:30h - WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES (Nagano): Snowboard
RAI TRE, 02:15h - WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES (Nagano): Alpine skiing - downhill, men

SAT-ITALY is sponsored by TELE-SATELLITE International
http://www.tele-satellit.com




[Other mailing lists]