Mediaset Group VP Pier Silvio Berlusconi has expressed concern that paycaster Mediaset Premium may come under subscriber pressure in June, when a number of cards that have been active for a two-year period are due to expire. Around 50% of the cards currently in circulation will fall due for renewal.
Speaking after a Shareholders Assembly in Milan, Berlusconi said the company’s pay-TV activities were currently performing “above expectations”, with an annual growth rate of 20%. Mediaset Premium has reached a figure of 3.3 million registrations for its terrestrially delivered pay-TV service; with an average of 1,000-2,000 cards sold a day.
Berlusconi also highlighted an expansion of Mediaset premium’s content offering with an expansion in its movie portfolio. This includes the debut of Studio Universal, the NBC movie channel previously carried by the DTH platform Sky Italia, before being dropped in favour of MGM.