MUMBAI: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has got a reprieve. Italy’s government approved an emergency measure yesterday. This will save one of his TV channels from being forced off free TV and onto satellite. The move would have drastically cut earnings from advertising.
A BBC News report stated that the station, Rete 4, is one of three owned by Berlusconi’s Mediaset group. It fell foul of a court ruling that is aimed at ensuring wide ownership of media services and preventing monopolies. Critics have said the proposed media law would have allowed Berlusconi to strengthen his grip on Italy’s media.
If the Italian Parliament passes it unchanged for a second time, the President would be obliged to sign it into law. The country’s President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi had ordered the media bill to be reconsidered by Parliament fearing concentration of media in the hands of one individual..
The media bill contains a number of different provisions, including the creation of multi-channel digital broadcasting. It also lifts the ban on cross-ownership of broadcast and print media in 2009 and increases the amount of advertising that one single company can have. Crucially for Berlusconi, the bill removes a previous restriction on one person owning more than two national broadcasting stations.
Berlusconi is Italy’s richest man. His other two television channels are Italia 1 and Canale 5. An AP report adds that the decree also blocked the state-run RAI 3 channel from having to eliminate all advertising. A few days ago Berlusconi defended the proposed media bill saying that it was necessary to modernise the country’s media.
Tag: BBC News report
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Berlusconi gets breather for TV channel with decree
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Reality TV shows are a matter of concern for UK viewers
LONDON: TV viewers in the UK are expressing concern about reality TV shows which “humiliate and exploit” contestants.
The UK’s Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) interviewed more than 2,000 members of the public and had discussions with 14 different groups to gauge their views. Dramatic Licence: Fact or Fiction, centred on audience’s attitude to TV drama.
A BBC News report suggests that viewers were concerned that the public perception of contestants could be manipulated through slick editing. Reality TV has become a phenomenon in the last four or five years with programmes such as Big Brother and Survivor drawing huge audiences across the world. In the UK, however, the fourth edition of Big Brother showed a reduction in viewership.
In India, AXN has experienced success in the genre with shows like Fear factor and Who Dares Wins. The latter was localised last year. Auditions for the local version of Are You Hot are currently taking place.
BSC’s report states “Although viewers question the realism of reality TV, its overall appeal is the sensationalist content which viewers recognise can be heightened by the use of selective editing.” It also adds that audiences are concerned about whether the participant wanted the footage to be aired in its entirety.
As far as television dramas are concerned, viewers felt there was a general lack of quality programming and there was criticism for cliched themes that are continously recycled. The absence of originality is increasingly being felt in the storylines. The viewers called for realism in the storylines and should be based on some element of factual accuracy.