Mediaset sees pay-TV revenue increase

Italian broadcaster Mediaset said pay-TV revenue increased by 41% to €379.9m during the nine months ending September 30, compared with €269.5m a year earlier.

The broadcaster said there were 2.9 million active Mediaset Premium smart cards at the end of September, despite more than two million cards expiring at the end of June. Mediaset said it was confident its pay-TV service, which launched in 2007, will break even next year.

The broadcaster’s overall nine-month net profit fell to €184.2m from €355.8m a year earlier as ad spending continued to fall in its Italian and Spanish markets. Chief financial officer Marco Giordani said that News Corp’s recent announcement that it will launch a free-to-air DTT channel in Italy was “no big news” for Mediaset.