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Pay TV services on Sky Italia are encrypted in NDS Videoguard. The Videoguard set-top boxes that have been provided since July 2010 are the MySky HD ones, identical to the Sky+ HD boxes used in the UK. PACE, Amstrad and Thomson, all Digibox licencsors, have been producing Sky Italia boxes (SKYBOX, Sky HD, MySky and MySky HD) identical to their Sky Digital's Digibox, Sky+ and Sky+ HD offerings, albeit with the potential removal of the second card slot and UHF modulator. Since July 2010 Sky Italia has given the 'Sky Digital Key' together with the MySky HD box free to every new customer. The 'Sky Digital Key' is a USB device which has to be connected to the 'MySky HD' box and to the aerial cable, allowing the customer to receive every DTT free channel on the Sky box. The 'MySky' boxes launched on the 22 November 2005 - based on a new digital receiver with HDD recording capabilities and surround sound output (not previously available on the normal box). Subsequently, the 'MySky HD' boxes (High Definition with HDD recorder) were added. The 'MySky HD' service had been provided with an extra charge until July 2010, when it became a base-line service. The service is functionally identical to the BSkyB Sky+ HD. On 28 June 2010 Sky Italia changed its brands and logos, making them becoming identical to the BSkyB ones. Sky Italia offers eight packages of channels: five base-level 'Channel Packs' and three optional 'Sky Packs' enhancements. The 'Channel Packs' are: 'Entertainment' with 28 variety, series and semi-generalist channels (3 of them in HD); 'Documentaries and Lifestyle' with 17 channels (2 of them in HD); 'Music' with 17 channels and 25 audio channels; 'Kids' with 20 channels; 'News' with 8 national and international news channels and 6 basic sport channels. The 'Sky Packs' are the following: 'Cinema' with 12 movie channels (10 of them in HD) (PPV Sky Primafila movies are 50% off for 'Cinema' subscribers); 'Sport' with 9 channels (6 of them in HD); 'Calcio' with 15 channels (9 of them in HD) covering Italian and international football, the most popular sport in Italy, and Sky Sport 24 (sport all-news channel) as bonus channel for 'Calcio' subscribers. The 'Sky Primafila' service offers pay-per-view movies, sport events and adult content (at night); the pay-per-view movies and some non-sport events are disseminated in 28 'Primafila' channels (7 of them in HD). This service is similar to BSkyB's Sky Box Office. The HD service has been offered without any extra charge since 2009. There are 36 HDTV channels so far broadcasting on Sky. Rai HD - available on satellite only with TivùSat (the Italian Freesat) viewing cards - can be received via the 'Sky Digital Key', bringing to householders a total of 37 HDTV channels. On October 1 2010 Sky activated its first 3D channel, Sky Sport 3D, available without any extra cost to the Sport pack subscribers. The very first event being broadcasted is the 2010 Ryder Cup. On some channels, foreign-sourced content is broadcast either with an option to choose between Italian and English or original language soundtracks, or with Italian subtitles. Sky Italia uses the Hot Bird 6/8/9 satellites at 13.0°E, the same satellite fleet used by Rai, TivùSat, Cyfra+ and Cyfrowy Polsat. |
