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Category Archives: mediaset

Debate on the TV of the future at the Festa Democratica

To the Festa Democratica this evening to hear Giovanna Melandri [Partito Democratico], Claudio Petruccioli [Rai], Tom Mockridge [Sky Italia], Gina Nieri [Mediaset] and Giovanni Stella [La7] talk about the television of the future.
Petruccioli had two suggestions for Rai, but refused to go any further, pointedly noting that he’s already gone over his term as […]

Posted 05 September 2008 † Chris § mockridge § marketing § melandri § petruccioli § partito democratico § italy ‡ Comments (0)

Countries that need to fix their media systems

I’ve been doing some research for a term paper on comparing democracies. Using Coppedge and Reinicke’s Polyarchy and Contestation data-set, I’ve identified those countries which would be perfect polyarchies were it not for their media systems, where government information is privileged. They are:

Albania
Botswana
Cape Verde
Croatia
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Guyana
Honduras
Israel and the occupied territories
Kiribati
Mauritius
Mexico
Namibia
Panama
Ukraine

These countries are doing something right. That’s […]

Posted 28 December 2006 † Chris § freedom of information § panama § polyarchy § democracy § coppedge § croatia § reinicke § albania § ukraine ‡ Comments (0)

Mediaset fails to buy ProSiebenSat

Mediaset has been excluded from the short-list of companies competing to buy German TV group ProSiebenSat. Reuters, citing an anonymous source, claims that the exclusion was made on political grounds.
It is not uncommon to argue that Berlusconi’s business success is built on political connections rather than business acumen. The contrast between Berlusconi’s failure to make […]

Posted 09 November 2006 † Chris § ‡ Comments (0)

New Italian media law announced

Event:The Prodi government has agreed changes to Italy’s framework media law, reducing generous antri-trust limits set by the previous Berlusconi government.
Significance:Public broadcaster Rai and private corporation Mediaset - owned by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi - enjoy a de facto duopoly over Italian television. Each has three of seven national terrestrial channels, and their advertising […]

Posted 12 October 2006 † Chris § gentiloni § gasparri § rai § law ‡ Comments (0)

Italy govt mulling 3 options on curbing Mediaset, RAI power - report - Forbes.com

Italy govt mulling 3 options on curbing Mediaset, RAI power - report - Forbes.com: “MILAN (AFX) - Italy’s government is expected to consider three options to curb the market power of Mediaset SpA and state broadcaster RAI, said a report in Corriere della Sera, citing sector experts.”

Posted 06 June 2006 † Chris § italy § rai ‡ Comments (0)

Changeover in Mediaset’s flagship news bulletin

Interesting article from Repubblica.it on Lamberto Sposini leaving Tg5. The article is interesting not for Sposini’s departure, but rather for more evidence on the politico-electoral cycle which afflicts Italian news media. 3rd paragraph down:
‘The editorial assembly “made clear the concerns raised during the meeting, amongst which the clear knowledge that a historic period for this […]

Posted 26 April 2006 † Chris § italy ‡ Comments (0)

The Gasparri law and the SIC - or why normal anti-trust rules don’t work here

Following on from yesterday’s post, there seems no third way to resolve the tremendous conflict of interest posed by Berlusconi’s control of the media. Whilst in many other countries, existing anti-trust or media legislation would be used to break up or otherwise ameliorate Mediaset’s dominant position in the Italian media, that doesn’t seem possible in […]

Posted 25 April 2006 † Chris § italy § berlusconi ‡ Comments (0)

Revisit Gasparri or introduce conflict-of-interest legislation

FT.com / Lex - Lex: Silvio lining: FT notes three options for the Prodi government in dealing with mediaset: (a) revisit Gasparri, (b) introduce conflict-of-interest legislation, (c) beef up Rai. I wonder whether there’s a third option - using antitrust legislation to attack Mediaset? I’m guessing that Rai and Mediaset enjoy (at least) duopoly status […]

Posted 24 April 2006 † Chris § ft § italy § rai ‡ Comments (0)