'TivùSat' DTH to launch in Italy on July 31st

ROME — Tivù, the company owned by RAI (48.25%), Mediaset (48.25%) and Telecom Italia Media (3.5%), has announced that the launch of TivùSat will be on July 31st. TivùSat is Italy’s first free-to-air satellite TV service. The signal is on Eutelsat at 13° East.

Set-top boxes, made by Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB), Humax and Telesystem, will be available at time of launch, with others from Auriga, Digiquest, Emme Esse, Fracarro, FTE, Global, Melchioni and Topfield to follow. TivùSat IDTVs from LG Electronics, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, and Vestel are expected within a year of the launch.

Although the service is free-to-air a smart card is required to prevent reception outside Italy.