MTV Italy

Infobox TV channel
name = MTV Italia
logofile = MTV Logo.svg
logosize = 200px
launch = 1997
picture format= 576i (SDTV)
owner = Telecom Italia Media 51% Viacom 49%
former names on Italian terrestrial television = Rete A/MTV (1997-2001), MTV/TMC2 (2001)
country= flagcountry|Italy
web = [http://www.mtv.it www.mtv.it]
terr serv 1=Analogue
terr chan 1=PAL, in Italy. "Normally tuned on channel 8 or 9".
terr serv 2=Mux "LA7 B" (DVB-T)
terr chan 2=LCN 8, only in Italy
sat serv 1=Atlantic Bird 1
sat chan 1=Free-To-Air, located at 12°.5 West
sat serv 2=SKY Italia
sat chan 2=Channel 108
cable serv 1=Alice Home TV
cable chan 1=Channel 008
mob serv 1=TIM TV
mob chan 1=(DVB-H) only in Italy|

MTV Italia, the Italian branch of MTV, is a national channel in Italy.

It was officially launched in London on September 1st, 1997, the day when its transmissions entered into the TV programmings of Rete A. On May 1st, 2001, after having been acquired by Telecom Italia Media, MTV Italia moved to the frequencies of the late TMC2 (formerly known as Videomusic) thus becoming a standalone channel and getting more and more like every other "big" network in Italy, showing news, movie trailers and other things which would never have fit into the former schedules of the channel. The handover and the whole changing process was advertised with the name of "MTV Regeneration". In early 2002 the channel moved from London to Milan.

MTV Italia is currently controlled by Telecom Italia Media (51%) and Viacom (49%), and its main offices are located in Milan. Several shows are made up locally, featuring Italian music and artists. Some of the most popular shows on the channel are the Italian version of Total Request Live, LoveLine, Brand New, Very Victoria, Italo (Francese), Avere Ventanni, Hitlist Italia.

MTV Italia also shows a variety of reality shows (mainly imported from MTV US) and tv series such as Scrubs, Less Than Perfect and The Office. Since 1999, the channel has shown several Japanese anime on a regular basis.

However, the best music videos and programs are mainly shown through the night, as in the old MTV Europe days. Several classic shows are still on after many years: Chill Out Zone, Party Zone, Superock, Yo! among others.

In the Summer of 2003 MTV Italia launched two satellite channels: MTV Hits Italia, mainly dedicated to showing chart hits and classic clips from the MTV archives and MTV Brand New, devoted to showing all the best cutting-edge, indie, electronic, metal, experimental music out there. In 2006, a fourth channel was launched: Flux, now known as QOOB, creating a whole new concept of television consisting of showing eclectic / alternative music videos 24/7 along with some artistic footages sent in by the viewers through the channel's website and other bits taken from the MTV2 US programming.

On 30 November the Italian version of Flux, was rebranded into QOOB and on April an international website was launched. QOOB shows no commercials at all and is distributed through DVB-T in Italy. On the 1st of October 2007, two new satellite channels were born:
*MTV Gold (hosting music from the 70s 80s and 90s)
*MTV Pulse (for commercial music)

Main Italian hosts for MTV Italia are Victoria Cabello, Camila Raznovich, Giorgia Surina, Alessandro Cattelan, Marco Maccarini, Paola Maugeri and Marco Lufraglia. Some of the former hosts of the channel are Andrea Pezzi, Enrico Silvestrin (who is also a former MTV Europe vj), Kris Grove, Kris Reichert and Daniele Bossari.

External links

* [http://www.mtv.it MTV Italy Official Site]
* [http://www.telecomitaliamedia.it/en/piattaforme/index.shtml?freetoair&prodottieservizi&mtv MTV Italy on Telecom Italia Media corporate page]