Focus is an Italian free television channel operated by Mediaset and owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. Focusing on a mixture of factual and entertainment programming, the network deals with topics of natural sciences, pseudoscience and history, in partnership with the homonymous magazine.

Focus
CountryItaly
Broadcast areaNational
Programming
Language(s)Italian
Picture format576i SDTV
Ownership
OwnerSwitchover Media (2012-2013)
Discovery Italia (2013-2018)
Mediaset (2018-present)
ParentMediaset
(MFE - MediaForEurope)
Sister channelsRete 4
Canale 5
Italia 1
20
Iris
27 Twentyseven
La5
Cine34
Top Crime
Boing
Boing Plus
Cartoonito
Italia 2
TGcom24
Mediaset Extra
History
LaunchedJuly 28, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-07-28) (original)
May 17, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-05-17) (relaunch)
ReplacedDoc-U
ClosedApril 29, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-04-29)
Replaced byMotor Trend (original)
Availability
Terrestrial
Digital terrestrial televisionChannel 35
Streaming media
Mediaset InfinityFocus

History

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Switchover Media management (2012–2013)

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The channel appears at midnight on July 13, 2012 in the form of a promotional sign, replacing Doc-U: broadcasts officially begin at 8:00 on July 28.[1]

The birth of this channel is a license agreement between Switchover Media and Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori, editors of the magazine Focus.

Discovery Italia management (2013–2018)

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With the takeover of Switchover Media, on January 14, 2013 the channel goes to Discovery Italia[2] as well as the other channels published by the same company. Among the effects of this passage are the more popular programs broadcast by other group channels such as Extreme Engineering and How It's Made. From September 15, 2013 the channel will renew its logo and graphics, while from April 9, 2014 it will land on the platform Sky Italia on channel 418.[3]

 
The old logo.

From January 29, 2015 the channel logo will pass to the top left, being surrounded by a red rectangle with the writing in white and the title of the program will be added to the top right only when it airs, from February 6 of same year, the Discovery logo is added, the same also applies to the other free channels. From July 23 of the same year, he also joined the platform Tivùsat on channel 56.[4]

Mediaset management (from 2018)

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After the end of the agreement between Discovery Italia and Mondadori, on 29 April 2018, Focus ended under the Discovery management and it was replaced by Motor Trend on channel 56,[5] a channel dedicated to engines. In addition, the programs of the old Discovery branded Focus move to DMAX.

On 14 May 2018, the channel was relaunched on channel 35 under the management of Mediaset,[5] with the various promos and previews, instead of Italia 2 (which moved to number 120 and subsequently to 66) and the next day also returns to Tivùsat at number 60. The new Mediaset Focus officially started on May 17 at 9.15 pm with the documentary Un anno nello spazio and from January 2, 2019 it became available again also within the platform Sky Italia to channel 414.[6]

Programming

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References

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  1. ^ "TIMB MUX 2: Va via Doc-U, arriva Focus" (in Italian). Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  2. ^ "Discovery acquisisce Switchover Media" (in Italian). January 14, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  3. ^ "Tv, su Sky debuttano nuovi canali di Discovery Italia e laeffe" (in Italian). Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  4. ^ "Discovery su tivùsat con Focus e Giallo" (in Italian). July 23, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Dal 29 aprile arriva Motor Trend sul canale 56 del digitale terrestre. Focus sul 35 dal 17 maggio" (in Italian). Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  6. ^ "I canali Mediaset tornano su Sky dopo tre anni e mezzo, pace definitiva tra le compagnie" (in Italian). January 3, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
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