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SAT-ITALY 24.04.1998
SAT-ITALY - EDITION 17/98 - April 24th 1998 -
Italian Satellite and Media news/Notizie della TV via satellite in Italia
edited by Branislav Pekic - bpekic@yahoo.com
CABLE & WIRELESS NEW PARTNER FOR TELECOM ITALIA
The Italian telecom operator Telecom Italia has signed a strategic
partnership deal with the U.K. based operator Cable & Wireless. Telecom
Italia's new partner is currently the third largest company in this sector
in the world and is present in 70 countries. The deal, which was announced
on April 15th, will see both companies exchanging stakes worth around 3,600
million DM. The stock market reacted positively to the news, with a rise of
4,5% in the value of Telecom Italia's shares. The CEO of Cable & Wireless,
Richard Brown defined Telecom Italia as an "international partner with whom
we can realise major savings in international operations" and a "key player
on the European continent". However it still remains to be seen if the U.S.
based giant AT&T (through the Unisource consortium) will buy a stake in
Telecom Italia as had previously been announced.
Some of the main points of the deal are as follows: C&W will give Telecom
Italia a stake not bigger than 20% in the C&W Indies company and 5% in C&W
U.S. operations. Telecom Italia will buy a 20% stake (worth around 1,350
million-DM) in Bouygues Telecom in which the Italian company already owns a
10,8% stake.
There is talk that the Bouygues deal may also involve future co-operation
in the digital TV field. Bouygues is in fact the owner of the private
French TV channel TF1 which owns a 25% stake in the digital platform TPS
(Television par satellite) which is in turn the major competitor of Canal
Plus in the French market. The Bouygues holds directly another 10% stake in
TPS. On the other hand, Telecom Italia recently signed an agreement with
RAI for developing a joint Italian digital platform which will directly
compete against Telepiù (owned by Canal Plus). In previous years, RAI has
also realised several cooproduction deals with TF1.
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- Il gruppo inglese Cable & Wireless è il nuovo alleato di Telecom Italia.
L'accordo prevede scambi di partecipazioni per circa 3600 miliardi di lire.
Non si è concretizzata invece l'intesa preliminare che era stata raggiunta
con il colosso americano AT&T. L'amministratore delegato della C&W,
Richard Brown definisce la Telecom il "partner internazionale per
realizzare economie di scala nelle operazioni internazionali", e un
"partner chiave nel continente europeo". La Telecom acquisterà per circa
1350 miliardi il 20% detenuto dalla C&W nella Bouygues Telecom, di cui la
società italiana possiede già il 10,8%. Con Bouygues saranno possibili
sviluppi anche nel campo della TV digitale. La Bouygues è infatti
proprietaria della rete francese TF1 che possiede il 25% della piattaforma
digitale TPS (Television par satellite), concorrente diretto di Canalplus.
La Bouygues detiene direttamente anche un altro 10% della TPS. D'altro
lato, Telecom Italia opera nel TV via cavo con Stream e ha appena siglato
un accordo per una piattaforma digitale con la RAI.
RAI TRE TO BECOME RSP
The administrative council of the Italian public broadcaster is hard at
work at preparing the relaunch of its third TV channel, RAI Tre. The
channel will probably change its name to RSP or Rete Senza Pubblicità (in
English, Network without advertising). It is nearly certain that there will
be three news segments lasting 2 hours each, at 07:00, 12:00 and 19:00
hours while the afternoon slot will be dedicated for younger viewers,
especially those within the age group 7-14. The final date for the
presentation of the relaunched channel is April 30th while the launch date
will probably be January 1st 1999.
In a separate development, the former director of RAI, Claudio Dematte has
suggested that RAI should give up one of its 3 TV channels to private
investors. According to him, RAI should make that decision because the
operating costs are constantly increasing but on the other hand there are
very little possibilities in significantly increasing the license fee or
the amount of advertising.
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- Il consiglio di amministrazione della RAI sta esaminando la nuova
programmazione della Rete Senza Pubblicita' (RSP) che sostituirà RAI Tre.
E' probabile che ci saranno tre fasce di informazione di due ore ciascuna
alle 07:00, alle 12:00 ed alle 19:00 ore. Il pomeriggio sarà dedicato alla
programmazione per i ragazzi, in particolare nella fascia di età 7-14. La
presentazione di un piano organico è prevista entro il 30 aprile e la nuova
RAI Tre partirà il 1 gennaio 1999. In un'intervista, l'ex direttore della
RAI, Claudio Demattè ha suggerito che la TV pubblica dovrebbe cedere una
rete ai privati. Le ragioni per questa scelta? I tre canali hanno costi
crescenti e non c'è molta possibilità di accrescere significativamente il
canone o la pubblicità.
MORE MOVIES ON ITALIAN TV CHANNELS
According to recently released data; the number of movies transmitted on
Italian TV channels has doubled. During the 1997 season, more than 6,000
movies were transmitted by the principal TV networks (RAI, Mediaset and
TMC) compared to 3,267 movies the previous year. Significantly, the number
of Italian films transmitted has also increased, with most of them shown by
the RAI Tre channel followed by Canale 5 and Rete 4. However the downside
is that the Italian movies are usually shown outside peak viewing slots,
i.e. early mornings or late at night.
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- Raddopia la programmazione cinematografica delle reti TV italiane. Nella
stagione 1997 sono stati oltre seimila i film trasmessi (RAI, Mediaset,
TMC) contro i 3,267 del 1996. Aumenta inoltre lo spazio dedicato alla
produzione italiana - il primato delle pellicole italiane spetta a RAI Tre,
seguita da Canale 5 e Rete 4.
ANSA-TV
The Italian news agency Ansa is seriously considering the possibility of
launching it's own satellite TV news service. This initiative comes hot on
the heels after Bloomberg Italia, a joint venture between Ansa and
Bloomberg Television. The Italian business channel is transmitted as part
of Telepiù's digital platform D+. The director of Ansa, Giulio Anselmi is
planning to expand the agency's TV operations, probably in co-operation
with the cable operator Stream which will soon launch it's own digital
bouquet via 13 degrees East orbital position.
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- Grazie al successo ottenutto con il canale di notizie finanziarie
Bloomberg Italia, l'agenzia Ansa sta considerando la possibilità di
allargare le attività sul piano TV. L'ipotesi più concreta riguarda un
notiziario che potrebbe realizzare in collaborazione con la Stream che in
breve debuterà con il suo bouquet digitale.
MAJOR MOVIE DEALS FOR MEDIASET
At the recent International market for programmes (MIPCOM) which was held
in Cannes (France), the private Italian TV network Mediaset signed
important movie deals with nearly all the Hollywood majors. Mediaset which
has at it's disposal around 500 million DM for program acquisitions has
renewed it's exclusive deals with Fox, Columbia, Universal, Paramount and
Dream Works as well as access to Warner's movie catalogue which it divides
equally with the Italian public broadcaster RAI. These deals ensure that
Mediaset will air exclusive TV premieres of nearly all hit movies and TV
series produced by the Los Angeles based studios. The deals signed in
Cannes will add to Mediaset's already rich film catalogue such film titles
such as "Titanic", "Romeo and Juliet", "Full Monty", "Amistad",
"Independence day" and "Broken arrow". Italian viewers will have to wait 30
months to see these movies.
On the other hand, the Italian public broadcaster disposes of only 247
million DM for acquisitions and agreements with Walt Disney, Warner (shared
with Mediaset) as well as a renewed four-year deal with Polygram. Thanks to
the later, RAI will be able to air the Italian TV premieres of such hit
movies as "Mr. Bean", "Con Air", "Airforce One" and "101 Dalmatians". Talks
between RAI and another Hollywood major, MGM, are still going on.
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- Al recente mercato internazionale dei programmi Mipcom di Cannes, la
Mediaset ha rinnovato gli accordi esclusivi con le major americane (Fox,
Columbia, Universal, Paramount, Dream Works). Questi accordi oltre al
catalogo Warner condiviso con la RAI, garantiscono alla TV commerciale
quasi tutti i maggiori titoli cinematografici USA e le migliori serie TV. A
Cannes, Mediaset ha comprato titoli come "Titanic", "Romeo and Juliet",
"Full Monty", "Amistad", "Indipendence day" e "Broken arrow" ma ci vorranno
30 mesi prima di vedere questi film su Canale 5, Italia 1 o Rete 4. La TV
pubblica può offrire solo il suo antico accordo con la Disney, la metà del
catalogo Warner e l'accordo quadriennale con la Polygram. Grazie a
quest'ultimo, la RAI potrà trasmettere in esclusiva titoli come "Mr. Bean",
"Con Air", "Airforce One" e "La carica dei 101".
FIVE COUNTRIES RUNNING FOR TOP EUTELSAT JOB
According to the Italian daily "La Repubblica", five countries will put up
candidates for the job of Director general of the satellite consortium
EUTELSAT. The current director, Jean Grenier will vacate this post during
this year. The candidates so far are Didier Lombard (France), Volker
Steiner (Germany), Richard Vos (U.K.), Kristian Mauer (Switzerland) and
Giuliano Berretta (Italy). Beretta is in fact the only candidate, which
already works for EUTELSAT where he holds the post of commercial director.
Italy is in fact the second largest shareholder in EUTELSAT, with a 16,1%
quota. The new leadership will be responsible for the transformation of
EUTELSAT from an international organisation to a private company.
Currently, EUTELSAT operates 11 satellites, each of them worth around 300
million DM. Five more satellites will be launched during this year.
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- "Cinque paesi sono in corsa per la direzione generale del consorzio
satellitare EUTELSAT" - scrive in un articolo il giornale "La Repubblica".
Per succedere a Jean Grenier sono in partita: Didier Lombard (Francia),
Volker Steiner (Germania), Richard Vos (Gran Bretagna), Kristian Mauer
(Svizzera) e l'italiano Giuliano Berretta. Berretta è attualmente direttore
commerciale di EUTELSAT dove l'Italia è seconda forza con il 16,1% delle
quote. Il nuovo vertice dovrà gestire la trasformazione di EUTELSAT da
organizzazione internazionale a soggetto privato.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS ON RAI TV CHANNELS FOR WEEK APRIL 26-MAY 2
(All times Central European)
MOVIES AND MINI-SERIES
26.IV
RAI DUE, 00:05h - Un minuto per pregare, un istante per morire
(Italy-1968), starring: Alex Cord, Arthur Kennedy
27.IV
RAI UNO, 20:50h - Crimson tide (USA-1995), starring: Gene Hackman, Denzel
Washington
28.IV
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Tombstone (USA-1993), starring: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer
29.IV
RAI UNO, 20:50h - Touch me (USA-1994), starring: Amanda Peet, Michael Vartan
30.IV
RAI TRE, 20:40h - Dead calm (Australia-1988), starring: Nicole Kidman, Sam
Neill
RAI UNO, 20:50h - Schindler's list (USA-1993), starring: Liam Neeson, Ben
Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
01.V
RAI TRE, 20:40h - Blown away (USA-1994), starring: Jeff Bridges, Suzy Amis
02.V
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Crimes of passion (USA-1996), starring: Kevin Dobson,
Megan Ward
RAI DUE, 22:30h - Noises off (USA-1992), starring: Michael Caine, Carol
Burnett, Christopher Reeve
RAI UNO, 00:35h - Suppli (Italy-1994), starring: Fulvio Falzarano, France
Demoulin
Note: All movies transmitted in the prime time slot are subtitled on RAI's
teletext pages 777 (Italian) and 778 (English)
SPORT
26.IV
RAI DUE, 14:00h - Formula 1: GP San Marino - live coverage
RAI TRE, 18:00h - Artistic gymnastics (women): European championships
01.V
RAI TRE, 15:00h - Basketball: Italian league, quarter-finals
RAI TRE, 15:25h - Volleyball (women): Italian league
RAI TRE, 16:35h - Artistic gymnastics (women): European championships
02.V
RAI TRE, 16:00h - Artistic gymnastics (women): European championships
RAI TRE, 16:30h - Volleyball: Italian league, final (3rd game)
MUSIC
01.V
RAI DUE, 16:05h - Concert for May 1st - live from San Giovanni square in
Rome (Part I), taking part: Jon Bon Jovi and Massive Attack among others
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Concert for May 1st - live from San Giovanni square in
Rome (Part II), taking part: Julian Lennon, Nathalie Imbruglia, Robbie
Robertson and Simple Minds among others
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