BARCELONA - Private Media Group Inc. has entered into a strategic partnership with Glamour Plus, the first nationwide adult pay channel in Italy's fast growing Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) market.
With analog TV signals scheduled to cease in 2012, a growing number of Western Europeans are opting for DTT as a replacement. The agreement makes Private the first major adult entertainment company to be broadcast via nationwide DTT in Italy.
Market research predicts DTT will be the primary TV service in 44 percent of Western European households by 2012. Italy is expected to show the strongest growth in DTT over the next five years, with pay-DTT a main factor in that growth.
"This launch represents a new and compelling platform to distribute Private content to a large incremental audience in Italy," said Private COO Peter Cohen. "This is the beginning of what is expected to be a proliferation of DTT launches across the EU, and Private has taken an aggressive approach to maximizing its distribution as the leading adult content provider on this exciting new platform."
More than 5 million DTT set-top boxes have been sold in Italy to date, according to Allessandro Rossi of Target Communications, which represents Glamour Plus.
"As we inevitably move closer to the analog switch off in 2012, the DTT market in Italy is set to explode," said Rossi. "Glamour Plus uses the Nagravison Encryption System and it is broadcast over the Pangea platform. We expect Glamour Plus to be the leader in adult content distribution in Italy, so it stands to reason that we would want to partner with Private, the leading name in adult entertainment."
