Italy: HGTV going FTA on DTT
December 20, 2019
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Discovery Italia will expand its channel portfolio in Italy with the launch of Home & Garden TV (HGTV) on February 2nd 2020. The broadcaster’s ninth TV channel will be available free-to-air, on the national DTT network (channel position 56).
The programme schedule will be focused on world of home, from buying and selling to second homes, from furniture to renovations.
HGTV will also be available in streaming via Discovery Italia’s Dplay service.
The new channel is also expected to be available via Tivusat, as all the other channels are already distributed via the Italian DTH platform.
The launch of HGTV has been made possible as Italian broadcaster De Agostini Editore will cease broadcasting its FTA channel Alpha on December 21st, selling the frequency to Discovery Italia.
De Agostini Editore has decided to focus its activities in the pay-TV segment, with its remaining two channels (DeAKids and DeAJunior) being distributed by Sky Italia.