Next:HD

World Screen Weekly, April 24, 2008

COUNTRY: Italy

LAUNCH DATE: July 2006

OWNERSHIP: Fox Channels Italy

DESCRIPTION: The Italian high-definition entertainment channel Next:HD, available on SKY Italia, includes a mix of music, lifestyle programs and series aimed at a discerning, cosmopolitan audience with international tastes.

VP, FACTUAL, FOX CHANNELS ITALY: Sherin Salvetti

DIRECTOR, PROGRAMMING & PRODUCTION: Jan Ronca

ON-AIR CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Elena Frova

PROGRAMMING MANAGER: Alessandra Scudella

MARKETING MANAGER: Riccardo Russo

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: The channel aims to provide viewers with an original point of view, with a highly varied schedule, from pop/rock concerts to top international series, lifestyle and travel offerings.

“Since the very beginning, we decided to offer our viewers a kind of product that [would make the most] out of HD and Dolby surround [sound] quality,” says Sherin Salvetti, the VP of factual at Fox Channels Italy. “In addition, we obviously wanted to reach as many viewers as possible. Therefore we focused on live concerts, lifestyle, travel and IMAX films.”

With its emphasis in Dolby surround sound quality, it is no surprise that music is a strong point of the channel’s schedule. The channel has featured concerts and other music shows featuring the likes of Phil Collins, Elton John, U2, Coldplay, Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney, Santana, The Cure and the Gorillaz. Last month, Next featured Ricky Martin’s Black & White Concert 2007 and this month, Abba: The Movie, a film about the group’s 1977 Australian tour, is on the schedule.

The channel is also a pioneer in broadcasting IMAX movies, and the schedule is rounded out with U.S. imports like Medium with Patricia Arquette, the Stanley Tucci medical drama 3 Lbs and the sci-fi thriller The 4400.

The majority of the network’s schedule is imported programming, with some 65 percent coming from the U.S., Canada and Australia and 35 percent from Europe. However, Next:HD is also “working on the possibility of producing fillers and we’re evaluating projects for local production,” says Salvetti. Key providers to the channel include 3DD Entertainment, iD Distribution, FremantleMedia and BBC Worldwide, among others.

While there are several HD offerings in the Italian market—including Sky Cinema HD, Sky Sport HD and National Geographic Channel HD—Salvetti notes that the network “has no competitors,” as it is the only HD entertainment channel on the landscape. “Next’s schedule offers totally original material in our country, that no other Italian channel in standard definition has broadcast.”

WHAT’S NEW: The channel is currently working on developing a website to complement its TV offering. “We strongly believe that the web is an important source of support for television,” says Salvetti, who also notes that new-media elements such as mobile and broadband are among its “current and future projects.”

Salvetti has a positive outlook on what’s ahead for HD in the marketplace, noting that because of the “incredibly strong improvement in HD productions in recent years, we strongly believe we’ll find European HD programs at the upcoming markets.”

—By Kristin Brzoznowski