RAI, the Italian state broadcaster faces the prospect of privatisation in a new set of proposals revealed by the country’s communications minister, Maurizio Gasparri.
Gasparri is planning to introduce a bill into the Italian parliament that will result in the step-by-step privatisation of RAI, which broadcasts across three TV and eight radio networks. Silvio Berlusconi’s administration will hold a controlling stake until the broadcaster is ready to be sold off.
“I am thinking of a progressive reduction that would mean that the state would continue to defend the place of public broadcasting,” Gasparri said. “There would be safeguards to prevent abuses.”
Many observers view this development as the latest attempt by the ruling administration to reduce the influence of RAI. The state-owned broadcaster is the only credible rival to Berlusconi’s Mediaset group. The government has already abolished the tax paid by Italians specifically to fund RAI and the broadcaster has been forced to seek new revenues.
