Italy’s Telecom Italia Media is in advanced negotiations for a new DTT channel as part of a joint venture with an unnamed partner, according to CEO, Giovanni Stella.

During the conference call to present the preliminary results for 2011, Stella said that Telecom Italia Media will have a 30 per cent stake in the joint venture, adding that negotiations are at the final stage. The new channel will be carried on the digital multiplex that was previously used for the Dahlia pay-TV service.

Stella also announced that Telecom Italia Media has reached an agreement with Viacom to transform MTV Italia from a music to a general entertainment channel. MTV Italia ended 2011 with a 24.5 per cent drop in revenue to €73.8 million, while advertising was also down by 16.1 per cent, from €67.1 million to €56.3 million.

In a related development, Screen Service has announced that its Tivuitalia digital multiplex will continue broadcasting the three Sportitalia channels (produced by Interactive Group), at least until September 30th, with a possibility of renewing the contract for another two years.

The announcement follows press speculation that the Sportitalia channels would move to the Telecom Italia Media multiplex.

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