Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), a division of Viacom, has acquired Italian free-to-air channel LCN 49 from Scripps Networks Interactive, on which it plans to launch an Italian version of the Spike TV network. Viacom has also formed a joint venture with Italian publisher De Agostini Editore (DeA), through which it has taken a 50% stake in terrestrial kids’ channel Super! The new ventures come on top of the two free-to-air channels Viacom already owns in Italy: Paramount Channel and VH1.
The company announced the deals Thursday amid a turnaround effort to counter declining ad revenue in the U.S. Italy is Europe’s third-largest market for ad sales, which have shown stable growth in recent years. Unlike in other European markets such as France, foreign companies are legally able to purchase Italian free-to-air channel space.
Viacom already has a portfolio of 11 channels on pay-TV platform Sky Italia, including Nickelodeon, TeenNick, MTV and Comedy Central, and has seen major growth in free TV distribution since launching Paramount Channel in Italy in February 2016. It claims to be close to reaching 30 million viewers each month. They are now trying to build up operations in the FTA space with the stated goal of becoming Italy’s fifth-largest media company in terms of combined free and pay-TV ratings.
“Our pay-TV partnerships remain the priority for Viacom,” David Lynn, CEO of Viacom International Media Networks, said in a statement. “But free-to-air distribution is helping us grow ratings and revenues in TV markets, like Italy, where free-to-air networks are predominant.”
“Free-to-air channel launches have helped us significantly expand our reach among Italian TV viewers, and we’re ambitious for future share growth in this valuable and important TV market,” Lynn added.
“I’m pleased to confirm this latest step in our ongoing strategy to scale-up our business in Italy, which has the highest number of free-to-air channels of any European TV market and is the third biggest in terms of advertising revenues,” said Raffaele Annecchino, VIMN’s president and managing director for Southern and Western Europe, Africa and the Middle East, adding that this will be “latest step in our ongoing strategy to scale-up our business in Italy”.
“These new free-to-air channels, combined with our strong distribution relationship with Sky, give us a great balance between free-to-air and pay TV in this market and allow us to reach all demographics with distinct and competitive offers.”
Even though Viacom’s Spike channel is being re-branded Paramount Channel in the U.S., “in Italy we saw an opportunity to use the Spike brand,” Annecchino said in an interview with Variety.
“It’s growing fast in other European markets, including the Netherlands and the U.K., and we’re excited by its potential in Italy,” he added. Spike also rolled out in Russia in March.
Spike TV Italy (Italia) will launch in Italy on Sunday 22nd October 2017, and will target the channel’s customary male audience, though not exclusively, with a mix of Viacom’s global TV hits alongside international acquisitions and local productions. Content will include a mix of factual shows such as reality show Ink Master, docu-reality series Bar Rescue, home improvement show Catch a Contractor, action movies, and product purchased from Scripps as part of a content deal built into Viacom’s acquisition of the LCN 49 channel.
Viacom had already been selling a large portion of its Nickelodeon product to De Agostini for kids’ channel Super!, including the netorks popular animated series SpongeBob SquarePants. Joint management and buying a 50% stake in the channel takes the relationship a step further.
De Agostini Editore is part of Gruppo De Agostini, which holds about a third of Paris-based production and distribution giant Banijay Group.
Annecchino said that the company has developed a two-pronged strategy in Italy. “We have a leading position in the pay-TV market with Sky on which we distribute 11 channels, and now this is a nice evolution of our free-to-air business, where we will either operate or represent a total of nine channels,” he said.
Viacom’s audience penetration in Italy now “covers kids, millennials, adults and music lovers in both pay and free [TV],” Annecchino said, adding: “Our goal is to become the fifth largest media company in Italy within a year thanks to our increased scale.”
The conglomerate has also expanded its local advertising sales options with VIMN Pubblicita and Brand Solutions, signing deals to represent TV channels owned by Scripps Networks Interactive (including Food Network), De Agostini Editore, and Sony (including Pop), along with its own channels distributed on Italy’s pay-TV platform Sky–Nickelodeon and Nick Jr., MTV and Comedy Central.
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Sources: Variety, C21Media, TBI Vision, Advanced Television, TVEUROPE, Digital TV Europe, Kidscreen, The Hollywood Reporter.
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