Mediaset increases pay TV base but ad woes continue
Mediasets pay TV platform Mediaset Premium ended March with 4.2 million users, up from 3.9 million at the end of 2010.
First quarter revenues were up 19.6% year-on-year to Â157.6 million and the Italian broadcaster confirmed its target of a 20% rise in pay TV revenues this year.
First quarter revenues from MediasetÂs operations in Italy were down 6.7% year-on-year, however, as a result in falling ad sales on its free-to-air channels. Despite this, Medisaet said it was confident of a recovery in the second half of the year, and still expects to meet its forecast for higher ad revenues in 2011.
The broadcaster reported total first quarter revenue of Â1.112 billion against a forecast of Â1.137 billion. Net profit was Â68.4 million compared with Â92.9 million for the same period last year. Â