By Manuela Mesco MILAN--Telecom Italia Media Spa (TME.MI), the broadcasting company owned by Italian telecommunications incumbent Telecom Italia (TIT.MI), on Friday posted an increase in first-half advertising revenue for one of its TV channels, bucking the trend of declining revenue at other channels. The company said total advertising revenue for the free-to-air TV channel La7 rose 10.1% from a year earlier, to 67.7 million euros ($83.4 million), while gross advertising revenue for the other TV channel owned by the company, MTV, declined 16.2% to EUR24.3 million. No net data was available. Total TV advertising revenue in Italy in 2012 is estimated to be down 10-15%, analysts said. Telecom Italia Media also said that it forecasts a further increase over the rest of the year, driven by the rising La7 audience share. The company posted a net loss of EUR35 million for the first half, compared with EUR16.5 million a year earlier. The broadcasting company has also officially approved the transfer of the television business unit La7 to a new entity, which will leave Telecom Italia Media only with the frequencies to broadcast. Telecom Italia had previously said it is looking to sell its 77% stake in the broadcasting unit, in a move to cut their debt to their 2012 target of EUR27.5 billion. With the TV channels and the frequencies split in two companies, Telecom Italia might decide to sell them separately. Some buyers have expressed interest to Italy's telecommunications incumbent for both the frequencies and the channels, Mediobanca (MB.MI) and Citigroup Inc (C) advisers to the sale said. While Italian media reported that Al Jazeera was among the interested buyers, a source familiar with the matter said the company isn't on the list for now. Write to Manuela Mesco at Manuela.Mesco@dowjones.com Order free Annual Report for Telecom Italia SpA Visit http://djnweurope.ar.wilink.com/?ticker=IT0003497168 or call +44 (0)208 391 6028 Order free Annual Report for Telecom Italia SpA Visit http://djnweurope.ar.wilink.com/?ticker=US87927Y1029 or call +44 (0)208 391 6028 Order free Annual Report for Telecom Italia SpA Visit http://djnweurope.ar.wilink.com/?ticker=US87927Y2019 or call +44 (0)208 391 6028 Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
