Elettronica Industriale, a subsidiary of the Italian group Mediaset, has signed a multi-year capacity agreement with satellite operator Eutelsat to accelerate its transition to HD.

Thanks to this contract, the three flagship channels of the Mediaset Group (Canale 5, Italia 1 and Rete 4) will be broadcast simultaneously in SD and HD on the free tivùsat television package operating from HOTBIRD, Eutelsat’s satellite hotspot for the Italian market.


Located at 13° East, the HOTBIRD position is a reference video neighbourhood in Italy, particularly suited to DTH. Out of a thousand channels being broadcast from this position, more than 300 are in HD.

“The signing of this new contract reinforces the commercial links with two of our historic Italian partners, Mediaset and tivùsat,” commented Michel Azibert, Chief Commercial and Development Officer at Eutelsat. “The switchover of several Mediaset channels to HD is part of the image quality enhancement trend currently sweeping the broadcasting community who want to provide viewers with the best visual experience available.”