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TS News - Italy's Mediaset To Launch International Channel
TELE-satellit News, 11 November 1997
Italy's Mediaset To Launch International Channel
ROME, Italy, 97/11/11 (TS) -- Following on the footsteps of Italian state
television RAI which has it's own international satellite channel called
RAI International, the private TV holding company Mediaset plans to start
it's own global satellite channel. At a recent press conference the
president of Mediaset (which operates 3 TV channels - Rete 4, Italia 1 and
Canale 5), Fedele Confalonieri, openly criticized RAI International saying
that besides Italian football it offers very little else to expatriates.
Confalonieri used this opportunity to announce that Mediaset will start
transmitting a selection of programs from its three TV station to viewers
in North America. The Mediaset International channel will start
broadcasting at the beginning of 1998, as part of the DirecTV bouquet
(currently has around 9 million subscribers) and will initially be on air 8
hours a day (repeated 3 times a day).
The program schedule will be made up of news programs, live football
(European Champions League games) and popular variety programs such as
"Striscia la Notizia", "Maurizio Costanzo Show" and "Pressing". The
director of RAI International, Roberto Morrione flatly denied
Confalonieri's accusations. "We are on the air 24 hours a day with 10% of
original programming. We also promote Italian cinema abroad, produce 3,000
hours of radio and are present on the Internet". Morrione concluded by
saying that only when Mediaset starts producing 10% of its programming
especially for a foreign audience, he will be ready to discuss with
Confalonieri.
RAI International currently transmits via 5 satellites to North and Latin
America, Australia and from November to Asia and has over 6 million
subscribers.
(c)TELE-satellit 1997. All rights reserved.
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