I don't watch the channel much, but this morning noticed a bluescreen
message on the FTA channel.   (maybe it's been there for some time)
FTA progammes seem to be available and uninterrupted by the message so I
assume it's used only when the FTA screen is blanked out for premium
content.
Screen message:  (Caps on the screen)

PER EVITARE CHE GIUNGA ANCHE AL DI LA DEI CONFINI NAZIONALI.

PER VEDERLO HAI DUE DIVERSE POSSIBILITA':
1)  E' REGOLARMENTE VISIBILE SIA IN ANALOGICO SIA SUL DIGITALE
    TERRESTRE

2)  SE INVECE PUOI VEDERE LA TV SOLO VIA SATELLITE, C'E UN NUOVO
    MODO PER RICEVERE TUTTI I PROGRAMMI GRATUITI DI MEDIASET,
    RAI E LA7 SENZA ALCUNA LIMITAZIONE: BASTA DOTARSI
    DEL DECODER TIVUSAT.
    IL DECODER TIVUSAT SI COLLEGA ALLA TUA PARABOLA E TI CONSENTE
    DI VEDERE NON SOLO TUTTA LA TV TRADIZIONALE MA ANCHE
    I TANTI NUOVI CANALI GRATUITI PRESENTI SUL DIGITALE TERRESTRE.
    PER INFORMAZIONI: WWW.TIVU.TV

GRAZIE PER L'ATTENZIONE E BUONA VISIONE.
----------------

THIS PROGRAMME NOW COMES ENCRYPTED IN SATELLITE TRANSMISSION
IN ORDER TO PREVENT VIEWING BEYOND THE NATIONAL BOUNDARIES.

IN ORDER TO VIEW IT YOU HAVE TWO DIFFERENT POSSIBILITIES:
1)  IT IS NORMALLY VISIBLE BOTH IN ANALOG AND ON DIGITAL
    TERRESTRIAL.

2)  IF INSTEAD YOU CAN ONLY SEE TV VIA THE SATELLITE, THERE IS A NEW
    WAY TO RECEIVE FREE ALL THE PROGRAMS OF MEDIASET,
    RAI AND LA7 WITHOUT LIMITATION: YOU NEED TO EQUIP YOURSELF
    WITH A TIVUSAT DECODER.
    THE DECODER TIVUSAT CONNECTS TO YOUR SATELLITE DISH AND ALLOWS
    YOU TO SEE NOT ONLY ALL THE TRADITIONAL TV CHANNELS BUT ALSO
    THE MANY NEW CHANNELS AVAILABLE WITHOUT CHARGE ON THE DIGITAL
TERRESTRIAL.
    FOR INFORMATION: WWW.TIVU.TV

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND ENJOY VIEWING.
-----------------
(Hopefully translation is ok.)

The criteria for premium content could gradually become lower with the
message appearing more frequently as an increasing encouragement for viewers
to purchase the TIVU kit.

The days of many diverse FTA channels on sats like Hotbird appear to be
numbered.

The road ahead for Sat TV viewing seems to be one of 'packages' each with
its own decoder box, giving viewers better quality, perhaps at significantly
increased cost, but restricting their choice, but most importantly
protecting content rights.

The French language TV services appear to be taking that route, how long I
wonder, before the German channels on Astra 1 and the BBC on Astra 2 become
encrypted packages with free viewing cards to nationals?