TivùSat “doubles” growth objectives

Italian free-to-air DTH service TivùSat says it has doubled its growth objectives, with sales of smartcards to TV and set-top manufacturers to date amounting to 570,000.

The service, which carries the channels of public broadcaster Rai and commercial broadcaster Mediaset, and is backed by both broadcasters along with Telecom Italia, had earlier set a target of 300,000 cards.

TivùSat says it is now selling about 1,500 cards a day, testifying to strong market demand for the service.

The controversial decision of Rai to withdraw its thematic channels from the Sky Italia platform earlier this year in favour of the new satellite platform prompted strong criticism on the grounds that few people would be able to view the services.