On this episode of Inside Content, I sat down with Cristina Sala, Country Lead for Samsung TV Plus in Italy — and asked her what it takes to win in a FAST market where “more” isn’t automatically “better.”
Cristina joined Samsung in January 2020, when the service in Italy had “about… 10 channels.” Today it’s at 177 channels, but the real story is the strategy behind that scale: curation, quality, and variety. Cristina put it simply: “you have to have strong content… the focus is really on quality… and on the variety of the content.”
We talked about how that plays out through major local partnerships. RAI (Italy’s public broadcaster) is a key one — including a rebroadcast of Rai News and a newer Rai Fiction single-IP channel built around a standout title. Samsung TV Plus also carries several Discovery free-to-air channels and La Sette, which leans into news and politics — genres that hold attention in Italy.
Sports is another growth engine. Cristina described work with Sport Italia, including football properties like the Africa Cup of Nations and Campionato Primavera, and highlighted a newer push into tennis with the launch of Super Tennis, with attention on events like the Davis Cup. She called Italy’s current wave of tennis fandom a “tennis miracle,” driven in part by what a star like Sinner has sparked nationally.
One of the most interesting parts of our conversation was localisation and innovation. Cristina shared an example of a WWII documentary channel built with Ixmedia and SpiegelTV, where the Italian voiceover used AI — a proof point that AI dubbing can work well for factual content.
And in terms of what’s working right now? Beyond sports, Cristina was clear: Turkish soap operas are performing strongly —especially when programmed as a single-series “spine,” rather than mixed together.
Key topics covered
● Samsung TV Plus Italy growth
● Positioning FAST through quality, variety, and curation vs. unfiltered HbbTV abundance
● RAI, Discovery free-to-air channels, La Sette, Sport Italia
● Football and the rise of tennis
● Single-IP channels and “easy watch” programming
● Film strength in Italy + pop-up / themed channels tied to calendar moments
● Localisation priorities and AI voiceover success in factual/documentary
● Turkish soaps and single-series scheduling strategy
● O&O roadmap and plans for another Italy-focused O&O
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