«We don’t stop at Amadeus». Alessandro Araimo, CEO of Warner Bros. DISCOVERY, al Corriere della Sera he admits that the ambition of the “Third television pole” was not satisfied with the move from Rai to Amadeus. Even if Terzo Polo considers this definition to be inaccurate: «We aim to take away ratings from Rai and Mediaset and invest in entertainment, of course. But our system is based on three pillars: linear TV – where we are already the third largest publisher – cinema distribution, which sees us as a leader in Italy, a streaming platform that wants to compete with Netflix and Disney+”, explains the 53-year-old, a Bocconi graduate, «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.” The fact is Discovery has managed to snatch one of its most successful hosts from Rai, who will join his former colleagues from public television, Fabio Fazio and Maurizio Crozza, on Nove. On the contract figures circulated in recent days – “100 million euros” – he neither confirms nor denies, as they say in these cases: “I cannot give the number, but we are talking about four years with two prime times and an access in broadcast all year round: some might even say that there aren’t many. And then he doesn’t count the number: the quality of the investment is judged by the hourly cost compared to the share, and the revenues, it generates.” Instead, he unbuttons a little more on the network objectives with the new “purchase”. «It comes from 28%, if I said 27% I would be a bit ambitious», he replies to Renato Franco on the Courier“today we fluctuate around 4% in that range, if we double that figure it is already a great result even if the network has demonstrated that it knows how to do more”.
The other faces
Many names have been linked to Discovery in recent days, treated a bit like those Arab football owners with almost infinite wallets who stock up on players across Europe. Fiorello, D’Urso, Belen. Presenters who are very different from each other but who however have years of career and high numbers in common, loyal to a certain type of audience. «There is great movement on the market and we have not finished our development plans», admits Araimo, «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.” A joke also about the faces already present on the Nine, and who – he assures – will not be crushed by the new ones big: «Gabriele Corsi is a fundamental face for the network and we expect him to have his own daily space in a prime time slot as well as prime time programs». In addition to the purchases, however, there were some sales which, in retrospect, can be considered a mistake. One above all, that of Francesca Fagnani who brought the program to Rai2 Beasts: “I would be telling a lie if I answered that we didn’t regret it, we too make mistakes sometimes.”
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Tags: Amadeus Discovery doesnt stop started strategic path DUrso Belen Fiorello
