AOL TW eyes piece of Italo TV pie
Conglom may join plan for new channels
FBG, led by Bernabe, prexy of the Venice Biennale and former CEO of telco giant Telecom Italia, wants to bow a terrestrial TV channel as well as a pay TV satellite station. Talks reportedly have begun with AOL TW, and execs want to see the final business plan before committing. However, the new channel will need a large number of TV frequencies, which are difficult to find in Italy's closed market.
On Saturday, daily La Repubblica published what it said was a detailed draft of the project.
It claimed the new operator would invest $15 million in the pay TV service and $230 million in the terrestrial channel in the first year, with the target of reaching a joint 6% share in three years. This would provide a strong rival to Berlusconi's Mediaset and pubcaster RAI, which is controlled by his right-wing government.
Sharing the load
A 40% stake in the new company would be held by Italian industrial partners; 30% by a U.S. group; 15% by the eight First League soccer clubs, who have yet to sign TV rights contracts for this season; 10% by financial investors; and 5% by the top managers of the new company.
Bernabe is said to be in talks with personalities not currently on air, including political talkshow host Michele Santoro and comedian Fabio Fazio. However, neither Bernabe nor any of the personalities confirmed the rumors.
Some of them, as well as many media observers, pointed out that previous attempts to launch a third TV player in Italy have failed and this project would face strong opposition in political circles and from existing TV broadcasters.
