Mipcom 2009 – Cannes. NewCo Rai International, the newly formed international sales arm of the Italian state broadcaster, has expanded its international bouquet with one more channel.
Salute is not a Rai channel but produced by Eurodigital, with NewCo taking on international distribution. Programming on the new channel is around health, personal care and wellness. It is in Italian, but Spanish and English subtitles are planned for the near future.
Yes Italia is also available with English and Spanish subtitles and distributed via Astra and Eurobird. Salute will in addition be available on these two satellites. Both channels are ‘self supporting’, with advertising and sponsorship footing the bill.
The complete international offer now comprises Raitalia (a ‘best of’ channel of the three national networks), RaiNews24 (a 24 hour news channel), RaiMed (a channel to promote the dialogue between Italy and North Africa), Yes Italia (a channel promoting Italian culture and lifestyle) and the new Salute.
NewCo is also looking at developing more channels, including ones about food and Italian youth culture.
