Italy’s Mediaset is prepared to consider a strategy for its pay-TV unit Premium that relies less on securing expensive sports rights.
Speaking at a presentation of the company’s new programming schedule and reported by Reuters, chief executive Pier Silvio Berlusconi said he was open to selling Premium’s final season of Champions League matches, for 2017-18, to Sky. “We must ask them. There are no on-going talks. But if they make an offer”.
Berlusconi added: “With football you always lose. If you don’t buy it, you lose subscribers; if you do, you lose money for the investment you have to make”.
Mediaset paid just under €700 million in 2014 for Champions League rights for three seasons but has failed to add enough customers to make up for the investment.
It holds the rights until mid-2018, when they will be taken over by Sky, which has secured them for three seasons beginning 2018-19.
Berlusconi confirmed Mediaset was on track with its business plan and that it would return to profit this year.
He also said the group’s ad sales were 2% up in the first six months of this year.
