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18 July 2012


Media in Italy and the digital challenge

Part 2
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly
and Digital Television
by Davide Morisi
and Gianluca Martelliano


With the support of
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   The Mapping Digital Media project
   In early 2011 the Open Society Foundation (OSF)
   launched the Mapping Digital Media project to examine
   the global opportunities and risks created by the
   transition from traditional to digital media.

   Among the 60 countries in the study, the situation in
   Italy was analysed in a detailed report published in
   October 2011.

   Thanks to funding from OSF quattrogatti.info has
   developed a series of slide-shows and videos
   highlighting key aspects of this report as well as new
   data and analysis.
             In this second presentation we concentrate on the Italian
              broadcasting duopoly and digital terrestrial television.
                                                                                     www.quattrogatti.info
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   Key legislation in the Italian TV sector
       „Mammì‟ Law
          (1990)
    Regulates the media
     system by defining                                  „Maccanico‟
     principles valid for                                 Law (1997)
   the first time also for                         Sets fixed limits for
                                                     TV operators (a
                                                                                        „Gasparri‟ Law (2004)
       private media                                                                      Confirms the „Mammì‟
    companies – such as                              single company
                                                   cannot control more                     Law‟s principles, but
   fairness and accuracy                                                                changes market regulation.
      of information1.                               than 30% of the
                                                  revenues of the entire
                                                       TV market).


1. The Mammì Law has often
                                                               Let’s focus on the ‘Gasparri’       „Romani‟
   been criticised, because it did
   not affect the situation of                                    Law and the ‘Romani’            Legislative
   Italian television. On the                                                                    Decree (2010)
   contrary, it confirmed the                                            Decree…
   rising power of the new
   commercial TV stations owned
                                                                                                  www.quattrogatti.info
   by Berlusconi‟s Fininvest.
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   The ‘Gasparri’ law
   With the „Gasparri‟ law a single media                                                                        Revenue limit for a
   company is allowed to control up to 20%                                                          2.577
                                                                                                   (mln €)
                                                                                                                  single company:
   of the revenues of the so-called                                                                 = 30%
                                                                                                                    ‘Maccanico’ Law
   Integrated System of Communications                                               Television                  (not in force anymore)
                                                                                     Total Revenue (2009):
   (SIC), which includes a wide range of                                             8.589 (mln €)                    ‘Gasparri’ Law
   sectors (television, press, radio, internet,
   publishing, cinema and advertising).
                                                                                                              4.599
   Taken all together, these sectors form a                                                                  (mln €)
   huge market, almost three time as big                                                                      = 20%
   as the market defined by the previous
   „Maccanico‟ Law. In 2009, a single media
   company could control up to almost €4.6                                                   Integrated System of
   billions without infringing the law2.                                                     Communications (SIC)

                                                                                             Total Revenues (2009):
                                                                                             22.993 (mln €)                        Source:
2. This is also one of the reasons why the „Gasparri‟ Law has been severely                                               Agcom, Relazione
questioned. By the defining the market in such a broad way, the law paved                                                     annuale 2011
the way for strengthening the power of both Rai and Mediaset (see for
                                                                                                                 www.quattrogatti.info
example Cassese on Il Corriere della Sera, 7 April 2004).
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   The ‘Decreto Romani’
   The Legislative Decree no. 44/2010 (the so-




                                                                                                        Foto di itBox24
   called Decreto Romani) confirms the
   progressive deregulation of the radio and
   television sectors, and introduces new limits to
   TV advertisements:
   • for pay-per-view broadcasting (a sector in
   which Sky Italia is dominant), the decree
   foresees the drastic reduction of the amount of
   advertising permissible per hour;
   • on the contrary, the decree raises the ceiling
   for free-to-air commercial television, where
   Mediaset dominates.
   As stressed by the OSF, these rules seem “unjustified as regards competition,
   and difficult to understand except in purely political terms”3.

                                                                                     www.quattrogatti.info
3. See Open Society Foundations, “Mapping Digital Media – Italy”, page 83.
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




                         Three leading groups
Partially as a consequence of this legislation, the Italian media landscape is still
dominated by three corporations: Fininvest (owned by the former premier Silvio
Berlusconi, Rai (the public service broadcaster), and Sky Italia (owned by Rupert
Murdoch‟s News Corporation). As the chart shows, these companies outpace all other
Italian media groups in terms of revenues.
                               3500
                                           3266.89

                               3000
                                                              2724.42                                              Main Italian media companies by revenues (2010)
                                                                                 2630.76
Revenues (millions of euors)




                               2500                                                                                Sum of the revenues for the TV, radio, press, magazine and
                                                                                                                   online publishing markets (revenues deriving by other
                               2000                                                                                sectors, such as telecoms, are not included).

                                                                                                                   Source: author’s calculations based on Agcom data.
                               1500

                                                                                                    1008.76
                               1000                                                                                    834.67


                                500                                                                                                       367.74
                                                                                                                                                             241.64            193.31             160.17

                                   0
                                           FININVEST            RCS (Corriere della CORPORATION compartecipazione RCSL'ESPRESSO
                                                                  RAI      NEWS Sera) + FINELCO,            GRUPPO (Radio 105, GRUPPO 24 ORE CALTAGIRONE
                                                                                                                                    RMC, Virgin)                                MONRIF          TELECOM ITALIA
                                (Mediaset + Mondadori + Monradio) + radio)
                                                              (tv                  (Sky Italia)   (La Repubblica, Radio Capital, Radio 24 Ore + Radio Messaggero, Il Mattino)
                                                                                                                              (Il Sole Deejay)     (Il 24)   (Il Resto del Carlino, Il Giorno, La Nazione) Mtv)
                                                                                                                                                                                                   (La7 +

                                                                                                                                                                                 www.quattrogatti.info
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   Duopoly or oligopoly?
                                                                                                                                  Audience
                                                                                                Others;                            share by
   The recent rise of Sky Italia‟s revenues                                                     25,5%                                    TV
   has been seen as the end of the long-                                             La7;                         Rai, 38.3      companies
                                                                                      4%                              %
   lasting Rai-Mediaset duopoly. However,
   if we look at audience shares, Sky                                                Sky;
                                                                                      5%
   reaches only 5% of the entire TV                                                                   Mediaset
                                                                                                       35,2%
   audience.
                                                                                                                                 Audience
   In addition, audience shares are a                                                                             Rai 1;
                                                                                                                               share by TV
                                                                                                                  21,6%           channels
   more effective indicator of media‟s                                                           Others;
                                                                                                 30,50%
   capacity to reach TV viewers and
                                                                                     La7;                                            Rai2, 7%
   influence public opinion. Therefore,                                              3,3%
   the Rai-Mediaset duopoly still
                                                                                     Rete 4;                                       Rai3; 7,9%
   appears as a distinctive feature of                                                5,9%                  Canale 5;
                                                                                                             16,7%
   Italian television, notwithstanding                                                    Italia 1;
                                                                                           7,10%
   Sky‟s quick rise.                                                                                             Source: Auditel, February 2012
                                                                                                                     www.quattrogatti.info
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   What changes with digital terrestrial tv
   Nevertheless, the shift to digital
   terrestrial television - which is expected
   to be completed by the end of 2012 - has
   been changing Italian television.

   Digital technology allows to have more Tv
   channels – thanks to the “multiplexing”
   technology – and, as a consequence, more
   content available.




                                                                                                        Clipart by johnpwarren
   In 2010, 35 new TV channels - including
   news outlets such as Rai News, Class News
   eand Repubblica TV – have added up to the
   existing 11 national channels.


                                                                                     www.quattrogatti.info
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   Who benefits from digital tv?
   However, the same two companies have profited from the increase in
   channels, because Rai and Mediaset continue to control more than half of
   the channels. Therefore, as underlined by the OSF, digital terrestrial
   television has not managed to break the Italian broadcasting duopoly yet.

            Number of analogic tv channels
                                                                                     Number of analogic + digital channels


                  Other                          Rai                                              Other         Rai
                 analogic                         3                                               digital       15
                 channels                                                                        channels
                    3                                                                               15

                                                                                      Other
                                                                                     analogic
                 Telecom                                                             channels
                  Italia                                                                3
                                          Mediaset                                                          Mediaset
                  Media
                                             3                                         Telecom                 9
                    2
                                                                                        Italia
                                                                                        Media
                                                                                                             www.quattrogatti.info
                                                                                          4
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   Frequencies for the same players
   The way frequencies have been allocated has
   contributed to mantaining this situation.

   Spectrum policy has favoured TV leaders,
   as denounced by:




                                                                                                         Rielaborazione su foto di Arenagroove
   • The infringement procedure against Italy for
   violation of the EU rules on electronic
   communications opened, opened by the
   European Commission in 2006,

   • And two rulings on Centro Europa 7 by the
   European Court of Justice (2008) and the
   European Court of Human Rights (2012).


                                                                                     www.quattrogatti.info
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   A ‘beauty contest’ for frequencies
   The latest example of these spectrum policies is
   the so-called “beauty contest”, declared by
   the former Minister Romani in July 2011.
   According to this procedure, six new




                                                                                                                     Clipart di secretlondon
   frequencies would have been allocated for free
   to TV operators on the basis of specific
   requirements.

   Once again, the beauty contest was designed in
   a way which was extremely likely to favour the
   existing leading companies6. Moreover, this
   procedure would have gifted a very few players a
   resource which the European Parliament has
   defined as a “scarce public resource that has
   an important public and market value”7.

6. On the beauty contest see Open Society Foundation, “Mapping Digital Media – Italy”, pag. 85
                                                                                                 www.quattrogatti.info
7. EU's telecoms package, DIRECTIVE 2009/140/EC , 25 November 2009.
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   Frequencies at auction
   The heated debate which followed the approval of the beauty
   contest led the current Government to drop it and auction off
   all the frequencies.

   The call for bids will be published by the end
   of August and will be regulated by the
   Italian Communication Authority (Agcom)8.




                                                                                                         Clipart di Raffaella Biscuso
   In particular, the auction foresees the
   separation between network
   operators and content operators, with
   the aim to facilitate new operators‟ access to
   the market9.



8. Legge 26 aprile 2012 n. 44 (art. 3 –quinquies).
                                                                                     www.quattrogatti.info
9. See Open Society Foundations, “Mapping Digital Media – Italy”.
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   Auction: risks and benefits
   Auctioning the frequencies means that now media companies will have to
   purchase them. According to different estimates, the auction could earn the
   State from 1-1.2 billion to 2.4 billion euros10.

   There is, however, the risk that not all the
   frequencies will be auctioned off, because
   some companies may not participate - such
   as telecom companies which have just
   bought the expensive new 4G frequencies11.




                                                                                                        Clipart di johnny_automatic
   In addition, Mediaset and Centro Europa 7
   have both appealed against the
   Government‟s decision to stop the beauty
   contest12.

10. See estimates by Mediobanca (as reported by Repubblica) and by la Voce.
11. See Linkiesta, 18 April 2012.                                                    www.quattrogatti.info
12. See il Sole 24 Ore, 28 April 2012 and il Corriere della Sera, 21 June 2012.
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   The final chance to open the market?
   Finally, the auction will be particularly




                                                                                                         Rielaborazione su foto di Nicola Caranti
   relevant in relation to recent
   Government‟s decisions on spectrum
   policy.

   In July 2012, the Minister of Economy
   allocated 19 frequencies to
   television companies for a period
   of 20 years.
   This decision has been severely contested, because it continues to allocate
   scarce public resources for free, without stimulating the entrance of new
   operators13.

   The auction, therefore, is likely to be the final chance to open up the
   Italian TV market, before the transition to digital television is completed.

                                                                                     www.quattrogatti.info
13. See il Fatto Quotidiano, 11 July 2012 and l‟Espresso, 12 July 2012.
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   The need for a new regulation
   It is clear that the Government needs to
   urgently adopt “neutral” spectrum
   policies. This would favour the entrance of
   new operators in the TV market, in addition to
   protecting local television, which is currently
   threatened by the transition to digital
   television.

   Finally, as recommended by the OSF, “the
   legislature should adopt clear and solid
   regulation for the progressive removal of the
   duopoly and to enable competition in the




                                                                                                        Rielaborazione da rg1024
   audiovisual services market”14.



                                                                                     www.quattrogatti.info
14. See Open Society Foundations, “Mapping Digital Media – Italy”.
The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012




   Useful links
   Open Society Foundation, Mapping Digital Media – Italy
   • Report in inglese / Report in italiano, versione non aggiornata

   On the beauty contest:
   • Beauty Contest, call for bids, Ministero dello Sviluppo economico, 12 August 2011
   • “Frequenze, ecco il piano pro B”, l’Espresso, 11 July 2011
   • "Un'asta per le frequenze del digitale tv", la Repubblica, 16 April 2012
   • "Frequenze, ecco perché Mediaset preferisce il beauty contest", Linkiesta, 18 April 2012
   • New call for bids: Legge 26 aprile 2012 n. 44

   Regulation:
   • Law 223, 6 August 1990 („Mammì‟ Law)
   • Law 177, 31 July 1997 („Maccanico‟ Law)
   • Law 112/2004 („Gasparri‟ Law)
   • Legislative Decree 44/2010 („Romani‟ Decree)




                                                                                     www.quattrogatti.info
Thanks!
If you appreciated the presentation forward it to your friends
                    and support our project!




                        www.quattrogatti.info

                                 We thank
         Flavia Barca (IEM), Iginio Gagliardone (Oxford University),
          Giulio Enea Vigevani (University of Milan) for comments.

               To contact the authors : info@quattrogatti.info

                 To participate: partecipa@quattrogatti.info

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The Italian Broadcastin Duopoly and Digital Television (part 2)

  • 1. 18 July 2012 Media in Italy and the digital challenge Part 2 The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Television by Davide Morisi and Gianluca Martelliano With the support of
  • 2. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 The Mapping Digital Media project In early 2011 the Open Society Foundation (OSF) launched the Mapping Digital Media project to examine the global opportunities and risks created by the transition from traditional to digital media. Among the 60 countries in the study, the situation in Italy was analysed in a detailed report published in October 2011. Thanks to funding from OSF quattrogatti.info has developed a series of slide-shows and videos highlighting key aspects of this report as well as new data and analysis. In this second presentation we concentrate on the Italian broadcasting duopoly and digital terrestrial television. www.quattrogatti.info
  • 3. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 Key legislation in the Italian TV sector „Mammì‟ Law (1990) Regulates the media system by defining „Maccanico‟ principles valid for Law (1997) the first time also for Sets fixed limits for TV operators (a „Gasparri‟ Law (2004) private media Confirms the „Mammì‟ companies – such as single company cannot control more Law‟s principles, but fairness and accuracy changes market regulation. of information1. than 30% of the revenues of the entire TV market). 1. The Mammì Law has often Let’s focus on the ‘Gasparri’ „Romani‟ been criticised, because it did not affect the situation of Law and the ‘Romani’ Legislative Italian television. On the Decree (2010) contrary, it confirmed the Decree… rising power of the new commercial TV stations owned www.quattrogatti.info by Berlusconi‟s Fininvest.
  • 4. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 The ‘Gasparri’ law With the „Gasparri‟ law a single media Revenue limit for a company is allowed to control up to 20% 2.577 (mln €) single company: of the revenues of the so-called = 30% ‘Maccanico’ Law Integrated System of Communications Television (not in force anymore) Total Revenue (2009): (SIC), which includes a wide range of 8.589 (mln €) ‘Gasparri’ Law sectors (television, press, radio, internet, publishing, cinema and advertising). 4.599 Taken all together, these sectors form a (mln €) huge market, almost three time as big = 20% as the market defined by the previous „Maccanico‟ Law. In 2009, a single media company could control up to almost €4.6 Integrated System of billions without infringing the law2. Communications (SIC) Total Revenues (2009): 22.993 (mln €) Source: 2. This is also one of the reasons why the „Gasparri‟ Law has been severely Agcom, Relazione questioned. By the defining the market in such a broad way, the law paved annuale 2011 the way for strengthening the power of both Rai and Mediaset (see for www.quattrogatti.info example Cassese on Il Corriere della Sera, 7 April 2004).
  • 5. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 The ‘Decreto Romani’ The Legislative Decree no. 44/2010 (the so- Foto di itBox24 called Decreto Romani) confirms the progressive deregulation of the radio and television sectors, and introduces new limits to TV advertisements: • for pay-per-view broadcasting (a sector in which Sky Italia is dominant), the decree foresees the drastic reduction of the amount of advertising permissible per hour; • on the contrary, the decree raises the ceiling for free-to-air commercial television, where Mediaset dominates. As stressed by the OSF, these rules seem “unjustified as regards competition, and difficult to understand except in purely political terms”3. www.quattrogatti.info 3. See Open Society Foundations, “Mapping Digital Media – Italy”, page 83.
  • 6. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 Three leading groups Partially as a consequence of this legislation, the Italian media landscape is still dominated by three corporations: Fininvest (owned by the former premier Silvio Berlusconi, Rai (the public service broadcaster), and Sky Italia (owned by Rupert Murdoch‟s News Corporation). As the chart shows, these companies outpace all other Italian media groups in terms of revenues. 3500 3266.89 3000 2724.42 Main Italian media companies by revenues (2010) 2630.76 Revenues (millions of euors) 2500 Sum of the revenues for the TV, radio, press, magazine and online publishing markets (revenues deriving by other 2000 sectors, such as telecoms, are not included). Source: author’s calculations based on Agcom data. 1500 1008.76 1000 834.67 500 367.74 241.64 193.31 160.17 0 FININVEST RCS (Corriere della CORPORATION compartecipazione RCSL'ESPRESSO RAI NEWS Sera) + FINELCO, GRUPPO (Radio 105, GRUPPO 24 ORE CALTAGIRONE RMC, Virgin) MONRIF TELECOM ITALIA (Mediaset + Mondadori + Monradio) + radio) (tv (Sky Italia) (La Repubblica, Radio Capital, Radio 24 Ore + Radio Messaggero, Il Mattino) (Il Sole Deejay) (Il 24) (Il Resto del Carlino, Il Giorno, La Nazione) Mtv) (La7 + www.quattrogatti.info
  • 7. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 Duopoly or oligopoly? Audience Others; share by The recent rise of Sky Italia‟s revenues 25,5% TV has been seen as the end of the long- La7; Rai, 38.3 companies 4% % lasting Rai-Mediaset duopoly. However, if we look at audience shares, Sky Sky; 5% reaches only 5% of the entire TV Mediaset 35,2% audience. Audience In addition, audience shares are a Rai 1; share by TV 21,6% channels more effective indicator of media‟s Others; 30,50% capacity to reach TV viewers and La7; Rai2, 7% influence public opinion. Therefore, 3,3% the Rai-Mediaset duopoly still Rete 4; Rai3; 7,9% appears as a distinctive feature of 5,9% Canale 5; 16,7% Italian television, notwithstanding Italia 1; 7,10% Sky‟s quick rise. Source: Auditel, February 2012 www.quattrogatti.info
  • 8. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 What changes with digital terrestrial tv Nevertheless, the shift to digital terrestrial television - which is expected to be completed by the end of 2012 - has been changing Italian television. Digital technology allows to have more Tv channels – thanks to the “multiplexing” technology – and, as a consequence, more content available. Clipart by johnpwarren In 2010, 35 new TV channels - including news outlets such as Rai News, Class News eand Repubblica TV – have added up to the existing 11 national channels. www.quattrogatti.info
  • 9. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 Who benefits from digital tv? However, the same two companies have profited from the increase in channels, because Rai and Mediaset continue to control more than half of the channels. Therefore, as underlined by the OSF, digital terrestrial television has not managed to break the Italian broadcasting duopoly yet. Number of analogic tv channels Number of analogic + digital channels Other Rai Other Rai analogic 3 digital 15 channels channels 3 15 Other analogic Telecom channels Italia 3 Mediaset Mediaset Media 3 Telecom 9 2 Italia Media www.quattrogatti.info 4
  • 10. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 Frequencies for the same players The way frequencies have been allocated has contributed to mantaining this situation. Spectrum policy has favoured TV leaders, as denounced by: Rielaborazione su foto di Arenagroove • The infringement procedure against Italy for violation of the EU rules on electronic communications opened, opened by the European Commission in 2006, • And two rulings on Centro Europa 7 by the European Court of Justice (2008) and the European Court of Human Rights (2012). www.quattrogatti.info
  • 11. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 A ‘beauty contest’ for frequencies The latest example of these spectrum policies is the so-called “beauty contest”, declared by the former Minister Romani in July 2011. According to this procedure, six new Clipart di secretlondon frequencies would have been allocated for free to TV operators on the basis of specific requirements. Once again, the beauty contest was designed in a way which was extremely likely to favour the existing leading companies6. Moreover, this procedure would have gifted a very few players a resource which the European Parliament has defined as a “scarce public resource that has an important public and market value”7. 6. On the beauty contest see Open Society Foundation, “Mapping Digital Media – Italy”, pag. 85 www.quattrogatti.info 7. EU's telecoms package, DIRECTIVE 2009/140/EC , 25 November 2009.
  • 12. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 Frequencies at auction The heated debate which followed the approval of the beauty contest led the current Government to drop it and auction off all the frequencies. The call for bids will be published by the end of August and will be regulated by the Italian Communication Authority (Agcom)8. Clipart di Raffaella Biscuso In particular, the auction foresees the separation between network operators and content operators, with the aim to facilitate new operators‟ access to the market9. 8. Legge 26 aprile 2012 n. 44 (art. 3 –quinquies). www.quattrogatti.info 9. See Open Society Foundations, “Mapping Digital Media – Italy”.
  • 13. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 Auction: risks and benefits Auctioning the frequencies means that now media companies will have to purchase them. According to different estimates, the auction could earn the State from 1-1.2 billion to 2.4 billion euros10. There is, however, the risk that not all the frequencies will be auctioned off, because some companies may not participate - such as telecom companies which have just bought the expensive new 4G frequencies11. Clipart di johnny_automatic In addition, Mediaset and Centro Europa 7 have both appealed against the Government‟s decision to stop the beauty contest12. 10. See estimates by Mediobanca (as reported by Repubblica) and by la Voce. 11. See Linkiesta, 18 April 2012. www.quattrogatti.info 12. See il Sole 24 Ore, 28 April 2012 and il Corriere della Sera, 21 June 2012.
  • 14. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 The final chance to open the market? Finally, the auction will be particularly Rielaborazione su foto di Nicola Caranti relevant in relation to recent Government‟s decisions on spectrum policy. In July 2012, the Minister of Economy allocated 19 frequencies to television companies for a period of 20 years. This decision has been severely contested, because it continues to allocate scarce public resources for free, without stimulating the entrance of new operators13. The auction, therefore, is likely to be the final chance to open up the Italian TV market, before the transition to digital television is completed. www.quattrogatti.info 13. See il Fatto Quotidiano, 11 July 2012 and l‟Espresso, 12 July 2012.
  • 15. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 The need for a new regulation It is clear that the Government needs to urgently adopt “neutral” spectrum policies. This would favour the entrance of new operators in the TV market, in addition to protecting local television, which is currently threatened by the transition to digital television. Finally, as recommended by the OSF, “the legislature should adopt clear and solid regulation for the progressive removal of the duopoly and to enable competition in the Rielaborazione da rg1024 audiovisual services market”14. www.quattrogatti.info 14. See Open Society Foundations, “Mapping Digital Media – Italy”.
  • 16. The Italian Broadcasting Duopoly and Digital Terrestrial Television – 18 July 2012 Useful links Open Society Foundation, Mapping Digital Media – Italy • Report in inglese / Report in italiano, versione non aggiornata On the beauty contest: • Beauty Contest, call for bids, Ministero dello Sviluppo economico, 12 August 2011 • “Frequenze, ecco il piano pro B”, l’Espresso, 11 July 2011 • "Un'asta per le frequenze del digitale tv", la Repubblica, 16 April 2012 • "Frequenze, ecco perché Mediaset preferisce il beauty contest", Linkiesta, 18 April 2012 • New call for bids: Legge 26 aprile 2012 n. 44 Regulation: • Law 223, 6 August 1990 („Mammì‟ Law) • Law 177, 31 July 1997 („Maccanico‟ Law) • Law 112/2004 („Gasparri‟ Law) • Legislative Decree 44/2010 („Romani‟ Decree) www.quattrogatti.info
  • 17. Thanks! If you appreciated the presentation forward it to your friends and support our project! www.quattrogatti.info We thank Flavia Barca (IEM), Iginio Gagliardone (Oxford University), Giulio Enea Vigevani (University of Milan) for comments. To contact the authors : info@quattrogatti.info To participate: partecipa@quattrogatti.info