Araimo (Discovery): «We don’t stop at Amadeus. Fiorello? There are no plans for him today. Free-to-air TV is still central in Italy”

«We don’t stop at Amadeus. Ours is a thoughtful and hard-earned strategic path, made up of important investments, which does not have as its objective the construction of the third television hub, which I find to be a frankly anachronistic concept, which could have been fine 25 years ago. Linear television continues to be central to the Italian media system, but the world around it has completely changed in the meantime. My job is to demonstrate every day that Italy is a market where our group can invest profitably. We are an ambitious group that has always interpreted its position in the media world in an ambitious way.”
Alessandro Araimo, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, Bocconi school (he likes to define himself as a “publishing manager”), is the one who managed to snatch from Rai the host who – like no one today – knows how to attract advertising in his programs (227 million euros with only the five-year anniversary of Sanremo).

The third pole may have been overcome, but you are investing in entertainment and aiming to take away ratings from Rai and Mediaset. Or not?
“Certain. The Wdb system, however, is made up of three legs: linear TV (where we are already the third publisher), cinema distribution (where we are the leader in Italy), the streaming platform – Discovery+ (which from 2026 will be called Max as in rest of the world) — which has the ambition to compete with Netflix and Disney+. Investing in linear TV also makes sense because it is organic with the growth that we also want to achieve in the other two assets. We think in terms of a system, not a single product.”

Is it true that you will invest 100 million euros in Amadeus?
«I can’t give the number, but we’re talking about four years with two prime times and access broadcast all year round: some might even say that it’s not that many. And then the number doesn’t matter: the quality of the investment is judged by the hourly cost compared to the share – and revenues – it generates”.

Will he lead the «Soliti ignoti»?
«We are evaluating various hypotheses both in access and in prime time on formats that already exist or are to be developed».

There are those who say that Amadeus is also strong by virtue of the formats it hosts.
«It’s not so true. Although he works on formats that he does not own, unlike Fazio or Crozza, Amadeus has always left his very strong mark on these programs. He brought the packages to 28%, they are the Amadeus packages. In this sense he is number one in leaving a mark: he is a creative talent because he has a magic touch in giving a soul to international formats. Even the Sanremo Festival was ultimately the Amadeus Festival, you can see his creative touch everywhere.”

The share objective?
«It comes from 28%, if I said 27% I would be a bit ambitious…. We are super conservative when we ground our plans. Today we fluctuate around 4% in that range, if we double that figure it is already a great result even if the network has shown it can do more. But beyond the first feedback, growth over time will be important.”

Yes or no: Fiorello?
«Never met. But who wouldn’t want to work with him? But we would need a precise project which we don’t have today.”

Barbara D’Urso and Belen?
«There is great movement on the market and we have not finished our development plans. Laura Carafoli (our editorial manager) works every day on further projects for Nove and the other channels of the group. There is no a priori no to any project, but it must make both editorial and economic sense. In general, however, we don’t stop at Amadeus.”

You had the “beast” Fagnani. Do you regret losing her?
«I would be lying to say no. We too sometimes make mistakes.”

Gabriele Corsi has a program in Access: what happens to the arrival of Amadeus?
«He is a fundamental face of Nove and we foresee his own daily space for him in a prime time slot as well as prime time programs».

Will you be able to make it clear that they say Nine and not Nine?
He laughs. «We had chosen the masculine article to distinguish ourselves, but who knows why it doesn’t enter the minds of many».

April 19, 2024 (modified April 19, 2024 | 2:46 pm)

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED