Sky Italia and Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset are in exploratory talks to establish a joint pay TV venture, according to Corriere della Sera.
In late April a meeting took place between Silvio Berlusconi and Rupert Murdoch, with Rupert’s son Lachlan and Silvio’s son Pier also being present. The plan is to establish a new company, with Murdoch’s Sky holding a majority interest, in which the activities of Mediaset Premium and Sky Italia will be combined. The two pay TV operators currently have around 7.2 million subscribers.
Should the deal be finalised, the Italian competition authority will have to clear the new venture. In a related development, the authority has just begun a probe into the sale of Serie A football rights to Mediaset and Sky Italia.
