Media+and+communication



**Fact File**
Media and communications


 * After a relatively slow start, Italy is now the third-largest and fastest-growing Internet market in Europe: the number of home PC owners has hit 58%. The largest Internet service provider is Telecom Italia, or TI , one of Italy's leading companies. However newer companies such as FastWeb and Tiscali are now mounting a significant challenge to its dominance.


 * The Italian government established the new Ministry of Technology and Innovation, MTI, to boost Italy's Web renaissance. They are investing 400 million euros to provide most government services online to at least 80% of the population. They also aim to build a broadband network, specifically designed to link rural areas with cities.


 * Nine in every ten Italians own a mobile phone, il cellulare or il telefonino . Telecom Italia Mobile, TIM , leads the national mobile market and is among Europe's largest mobile phone operators.


 * Two giants dominate Italian broadcasting: Radiotelevisione Italia, or RAI , and Mediaset . RAI is the state broadcaster, affectionately known as ' mamma RAI ' by many Italians. It started off small in the early 1950s, with just one channel, but today it operates the three terrestrial TV channels Raiuno ( R1 ), Raidue ( R2 ), Raitre ( R3 ), plus others satellite channels, several radio networks and an extensive website.


 * Rival company Mediaset owns Italia 1, Rete 4 and Canale 5 . The market is, however, in crisis. The election of Mediaset owner Silvio Berlusconi as Prime Minister generated concerns about the editorial balance in the broadcast media. His three channels have a 45% audience share and over 60% of total advertising sales, and a major presence in advertising and publishing. There have also recently been demands to make RAI more accountable to public scrutiny.


 * Thanks to the de-regulation of the airwaves in the 1970s, Italy has a plethora of smaller, local channels that carry local news and features. In mid-2001 there were more than 700 local and regional TV broadcasters and over 2,000 local radio stations. In addition, there are two main satellite channels Stream and Telepiù, offering pay-TV.


 * All public channels carry adverts as well as sponsorship in some of their shows. Despite this, Italians are still required to pay a TV licence, il canone alla televisione.


 * Italian TV screens are dominated by lengthy variety shows that remain an extremely popular format. One of the most-watched programme is il Festivale di Sanremo, the Sanremo Song Contest, the blueprint for the Eurovision Song Contest. Held over a number of nights in the coastal resort of the same name, it's been running strong for over 50 years and has given the world classics such as " Volare (Nel blu di pinto di blu) ".


 *  I telefilm, TV series produced in Italy, are also a very popular genre, mainly drawing from the country's well-established cinema tradition. By law, Italian TV is also required to promote cinema actively. You can often catch 5 minutes worth of trailers as a schedule filler, or a whole night of trailers on smaller channels. On RAI this is called Appuntamento al cinema , 'appointment with cinema'.


 * News programmes for all channels are known as il TG, short for il telegiornale . They are an incredibly important part of TV viewing, as research shows that 82% of Italians depend only on television for news, the highest percentage in the EU. Newspaper readership figures in Italy are relatively low. Only 60% of the population read a newspaper at least once a week, with more than a third admitting to never picking up a paper at all.

Links:


 * RAI International **- the international arm of the Italian state broadcaster. In English and Italian.


 * RAI **- the website of the state broadcaster, with schedules and information on its various channels. In Italian.


 * Mediaset **- links to all Mediaset channels, including its satellite offerings. In Italian.


 * Sanremo Music Festival **- a guide to the town that hosts the annual song competition.