28/07/2003

Italy’s new digital pay-TV platform is ready for take off on 31 July. Born of the merger between Stream and Tele+, Sky Italia was officially presented by David Bouchier, DG for Content, at a press conference in Rome.
“We will provide a daily package of 130 hours of airtime with premieres and important Italian and international titles on the six channels dedicated to cinema,” said Bouchier. "Every month we will air over 200 different films, without advertising breaks, with a preliminary annual package of 700 titles.” Partners include Studio Universal, RaiSat Cinema World and the Disney Channel, bringing Sky Cinema to 9 premium channels.

The basic subscription to Sky Cinema costs €32 (and includes Primo Sky) and those who decide to make a credit card payment or via a standing order at the bank will receive a €2-per-month discount. The 2.2m Tele+ and Stream subscribers don’t need to change decoders to access Sky Italia – one phone call is enough.

There follows a detailed list of the 6 channels on offer from Rupert Murdoch’s digital pay-TV:

Sky Cinema 1 (21.00), the family channel that airs the hit films of the season with the self-explanatory “Monday” and "Friday Premieres". After the Sunday soccer, “Family Format” will showcase great films for a family audience.
Sky Cinema 2 (22.00), the Sky Cinema 1 line up only one hour later, to give people a chance to see what they may otherwise miss.
Sky Cinema 3 (21.00), great films and thematic series of films that counterbalance the Sky Cinema 1 offer: ie., when one airs a thriller, the other will broadcast a romantic comedy.
Sky Cinema Autore (21.30), the films that made film history.
Sky Cinema Max (21.00), action movies, thrillers, horror, spy-stories and regular slots like “Scary Friday Night”.
Sky Cinema 16:9 (21.15), the panoramic 16:9 screen is an opportunity for visually spectacular films, presented by Vanessa Incontrada.

(Translated from Italian)