FOX Italy

World Screen Weekly, November 20 2008

CHANNEL: FOX

COUNTRY: Italy

YEAR IT LAUNCHED: 2003

OWNERSHIP: FOX is part of a bouquet of channels operated by Fox Channels Italy (FCI), a division of Fox International Channels, part of the Fox Entertainment Group, owned by News Corporation. The portfolio also includes FoxLife, FoxCrime, FX, National Geographic Channel, National Geographic HD, Nat Geo Adventure, Nat Geo Music, Nat Geo Wild, Next:HD, History Channel, Cult and two mobile DVB-H channels.

NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS: FOX is Channel 110 on the SKY Italia satellite platform, which has 4.6 million subscribers.

DESCRIPTION: A general-entertainment service, FOX aims to provide viewers with the best in a wide range of TV series, from mainstream to eclectic, including House, Lost, Dirty Sexy Money, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate Atlantis, The Simpsons and Futurama, as well as original productions, such as the Italian series Boris.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT:

Managing Director, Fox Channels Italy: Diego Londono

VP, Entertainment, Fox Channels Italy: Fabrizio Salini

VP, Factual, Fox Channels Italy: Sherin Salvetti

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: FOX was the first service launched by Fox Channels Italy (FCI) and it made its debut in conjunction with the launch of the SKY Italia platform. Both FCI and SKY Italia are owned by News Corporation.

"The goal from the beginning was to build a channel completely dedicated to series, one that could offer the best in international scripted series, and in particular, American series, many in their first window in the Italian market," says Fabrizio Salini, the VP of entertainment at Fox Channels Italy. "This allowed us to go after an audience group that was not at all targeted by the free-TV networks, because the offering of TV series was really limited on free TV. We built the schedule around the series, created a destination and targeted youth and young adults. This was a complete innovation for the Italian market."

FCI management quickly took note of the positive reception FOX was getting from viewers. "Over the course of the next three years, we launched three more channels: FOXLife, FOXCrime and FX," continues Salini. "We identified the crime genre and we built a channel around it. We identified a target audience group for FOXLife, which is for a mainly female audience. And finally FX is completely dedicated to a male audience. These four channels have allowed us to cover the main target groups in the Italian satellite-TV audience."

FOX remains the core channel and some of its most popular series to date have been The Simpsons, 24, Family Guy, Futurama, Battlestar Galactica, Charmed, According to Jim, The X Files, House, The O.C., Lost and Dirty Sexy Money.

Another novelty that FOX has brought to the Italian market is that series are offered in their original language or dubbed into Italian and some are subtitled. This had never been done before in Italy. Series had traditionally been dubbed into Italian. While the Italian dubbing industry is one of the best in the world, there was usually a time lag of six months to a full year from the U.S. airdate of a given episode to the Italian airdate.

FCI drastically reduced that time lag to between six weeks and three months, especially for hit series like Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy. Salini is quick to note that FOX and its sister channels have shortened the amount of time it takes to dub episodes, but they have not sacrificed quality, precisely because the Italian audience is so used to excellent dubbing.

FOX’s success and its ability to attract a loyal audience led management to start production on some original shows. The quirky comedy Boris, a series of 14 fast-paced and satirical 30-minute episodes about a TV crew busy shooting the second season of an Italian soap opera, was the channel’s first commissioned series. Besides being a ratings success—the second season is airing and a third is in the works—Boris has also been met with critical acclaim, winning the prize of best international long-running series at the Roma Fiction Fest.

Another original series, Taglia e Cuci, a more traditional sitcom, premieres next month, and a cutting-edge comedy will air next spring. While scripted comedies are the mainstay of the original productions on FOX, sister-channel FOXLife airs several unscripted reality and magazine shows as well as docusoaps. And FOXCrime recently premiered the drama Donne Assassine.

This bulk of original shows represent a huge innovation for the independent production sector in Italy, one that previously had only two outlets for programming—RAI and Mediaset.

"The FOX channels have represented huge novelty for the Italian market," explains Salini. "SKY has revolutionized viewing habits, brought a wave of new product with new and different original productions and a new way of promoting them. Marketing together with on-air and off-air promotion is another area where we represented a distinctive break from the rest of the Italian TV market. We were the first to invest heavily in off-air marketing and advertising for both the FOX brand and its individual programs. Our program suppliers continue to appreciate our efforts, because we don’t stop at on-air promos for single episodes. Our goal is to broaden as much as possible the reach of the channel."

WHAT’S NEW: FCI is looking well beyond Italian borders for compelling content. "As part of Fox International Channels, we have started doing some pre-[buys]," explains Salini. "With FOX we will have The Listener, a series produced by CTV in Canada that will air in spring in Italy. We are also doing international co-productions. With Fox TV Studios, Fox International Channels has co-produced Mental, a medical series that will air in Italy next spring."

Among acquired series, the highlights for 2009 include 24, Lost, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Eureka, Secret Life of an American Teenager, Kyle XY, Reaper and Las Vegas.

WEBSITE: www.foxtv.it