Switchover Media

Switchover Media (SOM) was an Italian broadcaster of television channels. The company first operated as a subsidiary of Netherlands-based broadcaster Jetix Europe to being purchased out by its management and rebranding to Switchover Media in June 2009, to its purchase and folding by Discovery Communications in January 2013.

Switchover Media
Fox Kids Italy S.r.l. (2000-2004)
Jetix Italy S.r.l. (2005-2009)
IndustryMedia
FateFolded
Founded2000, Rome, Italy
DefunctJanuary 14, 2013 (2013-01-14)
HeadquartersVia Salaria 222, 00198 Roma
Key people
Francesco Nespega
ProductsTelevision channels
ParentJetix Europe N.V. (2000-2009)
Independent (2009-2013)
Websiteswitchovermedia.it

History

Fox Kids Italy S.r.l. was originally founded as a subsidiary of Fox Kids Europe N.V. in 2000 to help control the Italian Fox Kids feed. A syndicated Fox Kids analogue block was launched in 2001, airing programmes for a few hours a day. A one-hour-timeshift of Fox Kids would later launch, being one of only 2 Fox Kids timeshift channels in the world (the other being in the United Kingdom).

In 2004, as part of a worldwide partnership between Fox Kids Europe, Fox Kids Latin America and ABC Family Worldwide that would rebrand their operations under a single brand name titled Jetix, the company was renamed to Jetix Italia S.r.l. The rebrand began with the syndicated Fox Kids block being renamed to K-2 on October 1, while the channel's rebrand to Jetix happened in March 2005.

In May 2005, a sister channel titled GXT launched, which focused on a teenage to young-adult audience. A 1-hour-timeshift of GXT launched on June 1, 2008, exclusively on Sky Italia.

On December 8, 2008, Disney made an agreement to increase ownership in Jetix Italy's parent company Jetix Europe to 96%, and eventually purchased the remainder of the company and had them delisted from Euronext.[1] After this buyout, Disney confirmed that most of the Jetix channels would be rebranded under the Disney XD brand umbrella, including the Italian channel and its timeshift, leaving out GXT and K2 in the process. During the rebrand, Jetix Italy S.r.l., purchased the Italian Jetix network, renamed itself as Switchover Media and agreed to control Jetix Italy and its timeshift until the Disney XD rebrand, in-which the channel would then be placed under control of Disney. Switchover fully purchased K-2 and GXT from Jetix Europe in June 2009,[2][3] with K-2 eventually launching as its own free-to-air channel on June 15, 2009.

In June 2010, Switchover launched a channel aimed at a young male audience, titled Frisbee, which was broadcast on Sky Italia and Digital terrestrial television.[4]

In 2012, Switchover moved out of the youth market with the launch of two specialized adult skewing channels. On May 14, the company launched Giallo, a female focused channel with crime drama, thrillers and whodunits programming from the US and Europe.[5] In the Summer, the company under an agreement with Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori launched Focus on Italian digital terrestrial television, based on the popular science magazine of the same name. The channel is aimed at a male audience and factual based programming.[6]

In January 2013, Switchover was acquired by Discovery Communications.[7] GXT and its timeshift both ceased broadcasting on December 31, 2014.

Channels
  • Jetix, Kids channel (Rebranded as Disney XD on September 28, 2009, owned by Disney until it closed down on October 1, 2019)
  • Jetix +1, 1-hour timeshift service (Rebranded as Disney XD +1 on September 28, 2009, owned by Disney until it closed down on October 1, 2019)
  • GXT, male focused pay channel (Closed in December 2014)
  • GXT +1, 1-hour timeshift service (Closed in December 2014)
  • K2, general kids channel
  • Frisbee, general kids channel
  • Giallo, free to air investigation-themed channel
  • Focus, a male-skewed factual entertainment channel[7]

Notes
  1. "Disney moves for Jetix Europe takeover". Media Week UK. December 8, 2008. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  2. "Jetix Italy bosses buy GXT and K2 channels". digitaltveurope.net. July 16, 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  3. Moody, Annemarie (July 15, 2009). "Jetix Italy Announces Management Buyout". AWN News. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  4. Calder, Kate (October 22, 2010). "New Italian kids channels bank on digital switchover". Kidscreen. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  5. "Switchover launches new Italian DTT channel". Digital TV Europe. May 8, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  6. "Focus science on DTT Italy this summer". advanced-television.com. June 28, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  7. "Discovery buys Italian broadcaster Switchover". January 15, 2013. January 15, 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
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