T.Italia sends signals to investors

MILAN: Shares in Telecom Italia Media rallied strongly on Tuesday, fuelled by speculation of a possible stake sale and expectations a popular talk-show host could help boost advertising sales. Traded volume in the media unit of Telecom Italia was more than 30 times the daily average of the past month and the shares ended up almost 17.6 percent.

"What's pushing the stock is a mix of speculation on changes in ownership and the idea they may land some famous names for their shows", an analyst said, asking to remain anonymous.

On Saturday, Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano quoted Telecom Italia Media's Chief Executive Giovanni Stella as saying an investor would buy a 40 percent stake in the company by year-end, becoming the majority shareowner.

The stock ended flat on Monday, erasing earlier gains after Telecom Italia said in a statement possible extraordinary operations on its media unit were "mere working hypotheses".

"The statement didn't sound at all like a denial," the analyst said.

Italy's former telecom incumbent owns 77 percent of Telecom Italia Media according to market regulator Consob's website.

Italian newspapers said on Tuesday that Michele Santoro a talkshow host famous for playing up the scandals of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was heading for Telecom Italia Media's La7 TV channel from state broadcaster RAI.

"The arrival of Santoro could feed expectations advertising sales may increase further," the analyst said.

Advertising sales at La7 rose 21.9 percent in the first quarter, and the channel's average daily audience hit a record 3.4 percent.

Italy's free-to-air television is dominated by RAI and Media-set the country's biggest private broadcaster which is controlled by Berlusconi's family.

The audience share of La7 has been rising steadily since the arrival of Enrico Mentana last year, an experienced anchorman who left Mediaset after a dispute.

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