News Corp's New TV Channel Eyes 1% Of Italy's Ad Market
ROME -(Dow Jones)- News Corp.'s (NWS) new digital free-to-air TV channel is
targeting a 1% share of Italian viewers and at least 1% of the country's EUR4
billion advertising market after its first year, the new channel's top executive
said Thursday.
The launch of Cielo, which will go on air at 1100 GMTDec. 1 with a potential
reach of 12 million viewers, is a way for media firm News Corp. to extend its
audience beyond its core pay-TV satellite business Sky Italia, bringing it into
direct competition with Italy's largest private broadcaster Mediaset SpA (MS.MI)
and state-owned RAI.
"With Cielo, we aim at launching a new brand and target a younger, upscale
audience than our competitors Mediaset and RAI," said Gary Davey, general
manager of Cielo and senior executive of News Corporation Station Europe, the
News Corp. unit that operates the channel.
Davey said Cielo will start with "moderate targets," eyeing a share of 1% of
the Italian viewers' market at the end of its first year.
"If we're really good, that would turn into at least 1% of Italy's free-to-air
advertising market, estimated at EUR4 billion a year," he said.
Cielo will use leased capacity from Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (ES.MI) on
one of the country's digital terrestrial multiplexes and will be available to
viewers with digital terrestrial decoders.
News Corp. expects Cielo's reach to be extended to all viewers after the
analog-to-digital terrestrial switch is completed in 2012.
News Corp. owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of Dow Jones Newswires.
-By Giada Zampano, Dow Jones Newswires; 39 06 69766920; giada.zampano@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-26-091112ET
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