ANNUAL REPORT

2008 Group’s Consolidated Annual Report – Directors’ Report on Operations
In particular, Joi, for the entire family, will be dedicated to blockbuster films, the most popular
TV series and classics. Mya will mainly address to a female target, presenting sentimental films,
romances and intriguing plots. Lastly, Steel, designed for young male viewers aged twenty to
fourty, broadcasts high-adrenaline action content, thrillers, horror and science fiction films.
These 3 universes are also accompanied by the relevant versions broadcast one hour later: Joi
+1, Mya+1 and Steel+1, giving users the option of making six different simultaneous choices.
The Premium Gallery offering includes 3000 hours of Cinema and Series in preview in a year.
The programme schedule of Joi, Mya and Steel includes content produced by the two main US
Majors - Universal and Warner -, the very best of the US products exclusively broadcast in
Italy. In addition, it also relies on Mediaset and Medusa libraries of rights, which mainly
concentrate on local content. For the first time in Italy, Premium Gallery also broadcasts SciFi
produced content, primarily regarding thrillers and science fiction.
In July 2008, Disney Channel (along with the version broadcast one hour later, Disney Channel
+1) joined Premium Gallery. Disney Channel is the mostly watched channel by children and
teenagers aged 8-14 years. Concurrently, Premium Gallery also improved the offering for
football fans through the launch of Premium Calcio 24, a 24-hour channel entirely dedicated to
the universe of football.
In July 2008, Mediaset Premium also introduced “Easypay”, a new payment method which
complements the pre-paid card system, reinforcing customer loyalty by offering increasingly
flexible payment solutions. Easypay is the result of a thorough analysis of the customer base,
which at the very beginning was essentially unknown, in order to improve the quality of
customer care and simultaneously be in a position to carry out marketing and promotionoriented
actions addressed to specific commercial targets.
At year end, the Premium Gallery offering further improved with the launch of Premium
Fantasy, including four proposals dedicated to children and teenagers.
In addition to Disney Channel and Disney Channel +1, the expanded offering includes:
Playhouse Disney, the channel most watched by pre-school children; Cartoon Network,
dedicated to the commercial target aged 8-14 years, boasting the largest cartoons library; and
Hiro, a channel produced by Mediaset with the very best of Italia Uno, dedicated to children
and teenagers aged 8-14 years.
Lastly, for the purpose of providing a better quality television service, the development of 16:9
format broadcasting has continued, including both football events and entertainment
programmes.
In line with the publishing policy adopted in 2008, Mediaset Premium will continue to focus on
the improvement of the programme schedule it offers, both in linear and non-linear format,
addressing all the specific commercial targets. The transition to 16:9 format broadcasting is
expected to be completed along with the launch of high definition broadcasting.
Mediaset Premium growth, which outperformed expectations, confirmed the validity of the
strategic decisions made in the year, closing with more than 2.9 million active customers, of
which approximately 340,000 on Easy Pay.
In addition to improved content offering, 2008 success is also due to the strong emphasis on
commercial and distribution activities, trade marketing and customer care.
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