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Chris Forrester 28-06-2010
Italy_soccerItaly has two suppliers of pay-TV soccer: Rupert Murdoch’s satellite platform Sky Italia, and Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset’s pay-DTT operation. Yesterday, June 28, saw war declared as far as pricing is concerned.
While most of the world is still sat in front of their TV sets watching the ‘summer’ World Cup soccer tournament, pay-TV operators are gearing up for the autumn season kick-off for the national leagues. And winning the hearts, minds and wallets of Italian soccer fans is top of Sky Italia’s objectives.
Hence the start of this price war. Sky Italia unveiled its latest price bundle: a bargain-basement €29 a month ($36) entry point, which represents a 25% discount, for viewers happy to stay with the top Italian ‘Serie A’ league. This matches the prices already on offer from Mediaset, but is seen as being crucial to reverse this past year’s subscriber losses at Sky Italia.
CEO Tom Mockridge told the Financial Times: “This is our response to having gone backwards in the last two quarters of the year and although we are expecting good growth in subscribers, boosted by the World Cup, we want to drive momentum forward. It will send out a powerful message in the marketplace, particularly in contrast to our competitors, which have much more rudimentary technologies.”
His comment is a sly dig at Mediaset’s terrestrial-bound signals, while Sky’s DTH package is seen as supplying not just improved pictures but also HDTV. But the squabble is more than just price. Mediaset has grown this past year by some 800,000 subs, to 4.2m. Sky Italia is also suffering a 10% rise in VAT on its subscriptions forced on it by the Italian government, headed by prime minister Berlusconi.
The final clue as to News Corp’s longer term intentions will also see fresh on-screen rebranding taking place, as ‘Sky’, matching precisely the look and feel of Murdoch’s British operation. It may not be that far away when James Murdoch, already running News Corp’s European business, might see one combined Italian and British operation brought together, with synergy savings across the board.
Italy_soccerItaly has two suppliers of pay-TV soccer: Rupert Murdoch’s satellite platform Sky Italia, and Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset’s pay-DTT operation. Yesterday, June 28, saw war declared as far as pricing is concerned.
While most of the world is still sat in front of their TV sets watching the ‘summer’ World Cup soccer tournament, pay-TV operators are gearing up for the autumn season kick-off for the national leagues. And winning the hearts, minds and wallets of Italian soccer fans is top of Sky Italia’s objectives.
Hence the start of this price war. Sky Italia unveiled its latest price bundle: a bargain-basement €29 a month ($36) entry point, which represents a 25% discount, for viewers happy to stay with the top Italian ‘Serie A’ league. This matches the prices already on offer from Mediaset, but is seen as being crucial to reverse this past year’s subscriber losses at Sky Italia.
CEO Tom Mockridge told the Financial Times: “This is our response to having gone backwards in the last two quarters of the year and although we are expecting good growth in subscribers, boosted by the World Cup, we want to drive momentum forward. It will send out a powerful message in the marketplace, particularly in contrast to our competitors, which have much more rudimentary technologies.”
His comment is a sly dig at Mediaset’s terrestrial-bound signals, while Sky’s DTH package is seen as supplying not just improved pictures but also HDTV. But the squabble is more than just price. Mediaset has grown this past year by some 800,000 subs, to 4.2m. Sky Italia is also suffering a 10% rise in VAT on its subscriptions forced on it by the Italian government, headed by prime minister Berlusconi.
The final clue as to News Corp’s longer term intentions will also see fresh on-screen rebranding taking place, as ‘Sky’, matching precisely the look and feel of Murdoch’s British operation. It may not be that far away when James Murdoch, already running News Corp’s European business, might see one combined Italian and British operation brought together, with synergy savings across the board.