News Corp appoints BSkyB's Zappia as Sky Italia CEO

News Corp. Monday appointed British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC executive Andrea Zappia as chief executive of its Italian satellite television unit, Sky Italia, thrusting him back into a highly-politicized media landscape dominated by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Zappia, who joins from BSkyB, previously spent seven years at Sky Italia and played "a key role in the team that has laid the foundations for its success," according to News Corp. Deputy Chief Operating Officer James Murdoch. Zappia, 48, faces an ongoing battle against Italy's largest commercial broadcaster Mediaset SpA (MS.MI), owned by Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, for dominance in the fast-growing Italian pay-TV market.
Berlusconi's Mediaset SpA is Italy's biggest private broadcaster, raking in most of the country's TV advertising revenue. When Sky Italia launched in 2003, it was the only satellite TV offering in Italy, allowing the company to garner millions of subscribers who pay premium fees to watch soccer matches and Hollywood TV shows over the platform.
In recent years, however, Mediaset has expanded into pay-TV by buying up digital frequencies and introducing a slew of new channels. In addition, Berlusconi's role as prime minister and leader of Italy's ruling political party allows him to influence the leadership of Italian state-broadcaster RAI and drive legislative and regulatory debates that are reshaping Italy's media industry.In 2009, Berlusconi's government doubled taxes on pay-TV services, drawing strong protest from Sky Italia. In July, Sky Italia dropped Mediaset from its menu of pay-TV channels. Sky Italia has also extended its reach outside of its traditional satellite TV business by launching a free-to-air channel over digital frequencies, directly challenging Mediaset's grip on free commercial TV. Zappia, who is currently BSkyB's customer group managing director, wasn't available to comment on his appointment, a London-based News Corp. spokeswoman said. He joined BSkyB in February 2010 to oversee the company's sales, marketing and customer operations teams, with responsibility for customer acquisition and retention across BSkyB's range of pay-TV, broadband and home telephony products. Zappia takes on the CEO role at Sky Italia with immediate effect after the departure last month of Tom Mockridge, 56, who left to become CEO of News.

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