Sky Italia, Mediaset forge Italy Pay-TV alliance in blow to Bollore's plan

This will allow Sky Italia to create its own pay-TV offer on DTT, combining Sky, Fox and nine Mediaset channels

Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Italia unit forged a surprise pay-TV alliance with Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset SpA, dealing another potential blow to French billionaire Vincent Bollore’s expansion in the country.
 
Sky Italia and Mediaset announced a content and distribution deal late Friday that opens the way to collaboration between the two media groups. Bollore’s Vivendi SA is locked in a legal battle with Mediaset, Italy’s biggest commercial broadcaster, after the French conglomerate pulled out of a 2016 deal to buy Mediaset Premium for about 800 million euros ($986 million).
 
Under Friday’s agreement, Sky Italia’s satellite customers will have access to