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It's hard times for Rupert Murdoch: the daily struggle led by Australian magnate against the Italian Prime Minister, today sees Murdoch as a loser. This because in any way you want to see it, the digital terrestrial TV (which just recently saw the shutdown of analogue signal in Campania) is simply a way to eliminate Sky from the Italian habits.

Thanks to digital terrestrial the Italians will have, in the end, many more TV channels, not only generalists. But it would be necessary to buy a decoder or a digital television to watch tv, and so we will have to spend money. In the end the Italians won't have any reason for a new subscription to Sky. And who already has one, probably, won't feel the need to renew it. So Rupert Murdoch decided to create a new free channel on digital terrestrial, Sky Cielo (the italian word for "sky"), that today, at noon, should have begin its broadcasts.
But the baptism is postponed. The Ministry of Economic Development, through its Department of Communications, has not yet granted permission for transmission on DTT.
The news was greeted with surprise by the Director of Cielo, Gary Devey, who is sure the permit will arrive in "brief time even considering the fact that Agcom sent us the permission to transmit: this because we are in good standing from a legally point of view." The ministry will then make the "unexpected insights" mentioned in the letter to the editorial group L'Espresso, which leases the repeaters to Sky, becuase Murdoch can't invest in media market until 31 December 2011 because of constraints in EU antitrust.
So the Italians who were preparing to push the button 10 on the remote and look at Sky Cielo, will now have to wait. But not only them, even subscribers to the Sky satellite, because the editorial director of channel Riccardo Chiappelli says that "Sky will stop also on satellite, pending authorization on digital terrestrial".
So we have to wait for a while before seeing again Lorella Cuccarini who was ready with his "Will you dance with me", as Natasha Stefanenko that would lead the other talent show on the network. No long edition of SKYtg24 and no start for the new program "Real Danger". It is hoped that after the initial stonewalling the government will give the right to broadcast. So the challenge will move on audience.

Marianna Lepore