2007 Annual Report

2007 Annual Report –Report on Operations
Among the numerous agreements stipulated and projects developed are:
• the acquisition, in line with existing long-term agreement with American majors, for: Spider Man 2, Il
codice da Vinci, Closer, The Terminal, Pirati dei Carabi-La maledizione del forziere fantasma, Hitch, lui si
che capisce le donne, Shrek 2, Shark Tale, The Ring 2, Mi presenti i tuoi, Mission Impossible 3 and Io,
Robot ;
• the acquisition of rights for first-run TV series: Ugly Betty, Shark, Heros, Eli Stone, Psych, Dirty Sexy
Money, Tudors, Saved, Damages, Kyle XY and October Road;
• the acquisition of rights for the new seasons of successful TV series such as: Dr House, Grey’s Anatomy,
24, Missing, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Simpson, American
Dad, My Name is Earl;
• the acquisition of the following films from Medusa Film S.p.A. for the current season: Ti amo in tutte le
lingue del mondo, Oliver Twist, Giorni dell’abbandono, Cuore Sacro, Quo vadis, baby? and The Crusades;
• the production tendency in favour of long series led to the development of sequels of successful series such
as Distretto di Polizia, Carabinieri, R.I.S, and I Cesaroni, which in the last series proved particularly popular
with viewers;
• the development of a number of high-profile productions in terms of subject, cast and authors, including:
Capo dei capi, Chirurgia d’urgenza, I liceali, Crimini bianchi, Mogli a pezzi, Il sangue e la rosa, Anna e i
cinque, Aldo Moro, Io non dimentico and Fuga per la libertà;
• of particular relevance was the production of the seventh series of Centovetrine, the Italian Soap Opera
comprising 230 episodes which, along with the new episodes of the sit-coms Camera Cafè , Belli Dentro
and Buona la Prima have consistenly achieved high ratings.
Digital terrestrial technology
In 2007, R.T.I. S.p.A. confirmed its commitment to the development of in-house and outsourced television
programmes for digital technology on terrestrial frequencies. The digital terrestrial television (DTT) represents an
innovative TV broadcasting system using digital technology that can be received through a normal antenna, without
satellite dishes or special aerials.
In order to access the new service, viewers receiving the signal need only a decoder or digital “set top box” that
must be connected to the antenna cable input.
The main advantages of digital terrestrial television compared to analogue television are:
• higher image quality, free of the noise typical of analogue broadcasting and uniform in any area of coverage;
• possibility of viewing programmes in 4/3 or 16/9 video formats, with double stereo sound (for example, in
order to watch films in the original language) and audio Dolby Digital 5.1;
• increase in the number of channels at equally available transmission capacity: digital technology allows to
broadcast up to seven programmes in one single frequency as compared to one only for analogue
technology;
• possibility of channelling interactive applications through which a viewer may actively participate in the
content of a programme or receive correlated and additional information;
• possibility of channelling contents, both paid and free, thanks to the possibility of encrypting the signal.
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