“They're good but I'm not worried: you describe it as the most extraordinary innovation in the history of TV, but in Italy it's already a bit old-fashioned”. They are the words of Andrea Zappia, managing director of Sky Italia, which thus welcomes the debut in the boot of Netflix, a web TV that will compete with the similar service of Murdoch's TV, Sky Online.
Sky therefore, which is already in a period of bitter rivalry with Mediaset over football rights (the Alfa Romeo has blown the Champions League, one of the most valuable products, for the next three seasons), does not seem too afraid of the advent of the streaming service online and on demand born in the United States in 1997, which has also been active in Italy since midnight yesterday.
“I have an extraordinary respect for their work – added Zappia -. They are not good, very good. But it's a bit old in Italy. Us today we have 2 million 800 thousand families who use content via the Internet, which is what Netflix does too. With the difference that we have much fresher, richer content. So welcome to Netflix. It is present in all countries where Sky competes and will do well here as well. But it certainly isn't a revolution, nor does it worry us. If anything, the fact that it enters at such low prices is further confirmation that the stakes set by many on the free and pay markets are more than outdated”.
However, the fact remains that the advent of the US competitor has forced Sky to change its strategy: the online streaming service is officially trying to stem Netflix proposing one promotion valid for new customers. By subscribing to Sky Online from today you will in fact be entitled to a one month free trial, just like the trial period offered for new Netflix customers. The same rules also apply for any deactivation.
