Last night I did a panel debate with Angelo Petroni of Italy’s public broadcaster RAI, moderated by Endemol’s Andy Ward on the future of mass media in Europe. The setting was the genteel and fading grandeur of a house in Belgrave Square, which suited the theme perfectly.
So what did I learn about Italian telly?
- The board of RAI is more like an executive — it meets weekly.
- RAI has a 40+% audience share with less revenue and half the employees of the BBC.
- Regional legislatures are challenging the authority of a central public broadcaster.
- For public service broadcasting in Europe, the only growth opportunities are pan-European, and to stand still is actually to retreat.
- There is not even the faintest possibility of Europe’s public service broadcasters consolidating.
- A free-market conservative like Petroni appreciates the irony of being cast as a defender of state intervention in entertainment.
- It is a funny old world.
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So basically it is on a par with Napoli refuse collection?
On the plus side, it’s not run by the Camorra…