Mediaset

{{Infobox company | company_name = Mediaset S.p.A. | company_logo = | company_type = Società per azioni | traded_as = | foundation = 1978 (as TeleMilano) | location = Milan, Italy | key_people = Giuliano Adreani (CEO), Fedele Confalonieri (Chairman), Pier Silvio Berlusconi (Vice-Chairman) | industry = Media | products = Free-to-air and subscription television broadcasting, television production | revenue = €4.292 billion (2010) | operating_income = €815.5 million (2010)

Due to their proximity to (or encirclement by) Italy, Croatia, Switzerland, Malta, San Marino, the Vatican City and Slovenia also receive Mediaset broadcasts.

In addition to its domestic television interests, Mediaset also operates a series of news, entertainment and sport websites; holds 50.1% of the Spanish broadcasting firm Mediaset España Comunicación; and heads a consortium which owns the television production house Endemol.

Holdings

Holdings in Spain are through Mediaset's 50.1% stake in Mediaset España Comunicación.

National channels

Mediaset controls five free-to-air generalist terrestrial channels (three in Italy and two in Spain):

Canale 5 (Italy)

Italia 1 (Italy)

Rete 4 (Italy)

Telecinco (Spain)

Cuatro (Spain)

and

Nessma TV (Maghreb) 25%

China Sport Network (China) 49%

Digital terrestrial television channels

Satellite platforms

Digital+ (Spain) (Telecinco holds 22%)

Satellite channels

Mediaset Plus: pay TV on Sky Italia pay TV platform

Mediaset Italia: international pay TV channel also available through Cable TV, and IPTV

Until 31 December 2005, there were four other encrypted satellite channels owned by Mediaset on SKY Italia: Duel TV, Happy Channel, IT Italia Teen Television, and MT Channel.

Endemol

A consortium headed by Mediaset, and also consisting of Goldman Sachs and John de Mol's Cyrte Group, acquired Dutch television production company Endemol in 2007.

Europa 7 lawsuit

In January 2008, the European Court of Justice ruled that the TV frequencies used by Mediaset to broadcast Rete 4 were shared out unfairly. They should have been given to Europa 7, a competitor channel, the judges maintain, and Rete 4 should be broadcast via satellite instead. Although the Italian Council of State, the highest court on administrative matters, has confirmed that the Italian government should abide by this European ruling, Rete 4 continues its operation on analog frequencies and on DVB-T.

Google lawsuit

In 30 July 2008, Mediaset filed a lawsuit against Google for €500 million (US$779 million dollars) with the charges of copyright infringement. The company stated that 325 hours worth of material was uploaded to YouTube and the result was the loss of 315,672 viewing days and ad revenue.

SKY Italia lawsuit

On September 16, 2009, SKY Italia (fully owned by News Corporation) filed a lawsuit to the Court of Milan, Italy, against Reti Televisive Italiane and Publitalia '80 (both owned by Mediaset) for a violation of Article 82 of European Treaty that regulates free economic competition between companies, in particular for refusing to allow SKY Italia to purchase advertising on the three main Mediaset television channels (Canale 5, Italia 1 and Rete 4), exercising Article 700 of the Italian Civil Procedural Code who permit to require an urgent action. Mediaset has rejected the charge of antitrust violations, stating that in 2009 it had broadcast SKY Italia commercials 3107 times on its channels, whereas SKY Italia has always refused to broadcast Mediaset commercials.

References

See also

TGCOM, an Italian news website owned by Mediaset

External links

Category:Italian brands Category:Companies established in 1992 Category:Italian-language television networks Category:Media companies of Italy