Emiliano Calemzuk

Four years ago, the Italian television landscape was bleak.

Viewers of state pubcaster RAI and mediaset were fed a steady diet of low-budget variety shows and tired game shows, the kind of fare that kept the older generation sated but few others. And, if you could find the hit American TV series, it was sometimes shown out of sequence, and time slots changed with little notice.

“It’s very surprising when you think back just a few years ago,” says Emiliano Calemzuk, president and managing director of Fox Intl. Channels, Italy. “With mediaset and RAI, there was such a harsh monopoly on the production pm the production of TV programming. That made it easier for us at launch. ”Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Italia in 2003, offering programming that appealed to Italy’s long neglected 18-44 demographic. Said Emiliano Calemzuk, he also added, It brought its Fox brand of edgy, youth and women-skewing shows to proper primetime slots. Italians en masse began turning off sing-alongs with B-list crooners and instead runed in to “CSI,” “The Simpsons,” “lost,” “Desperate House Wives” and “Greys Anatony”.

Thanks to Fox’s populist blend of exclusive pro sports, recent Hollywood blockbusters, the most-popular American and foreign dramas, and fox-produced hits such as “wife swap,” Sky Italia has become one of News Corp’s most profitable divisions. Murdoch told shareholders on Oct 20 that subscriptions are booming, with nearly 4 million subs and a churn rate below 10%.

“Italy’s old guard is taking notice. In response, RAU has become a more aggressive buyer of the most popular for eign TV series RAI Uno now broadcasts “lost” and “desperate House Wives,” though after the series have run their course on fox. And, this time, episodes run in sequence.

“Italy may be the only territory in the world where the terrestrial players follow the lead of satellite,” says 33- year old Emiliano Calemzuk.

Sky Italia has been surprising many in Italy’s media sector. Before Murdoch stepped in and bought troubled satcaster Telepiu in 2003, everyone was convinced the pay TV model in Italy would never fly.

“Making Italians feel comfortable paying for soccer that’s changed the entire media landscape,” Says Michele Polo, chair of the economies department at Bocconi U in Milan. “The taboo has been removed. The route is open to change for film and other content now”.