The Ad Business Is Eye Popping - September 28, 2010
Advertising people are used to taking knocks. Their ads are too loud or too long. Some are too rude, more than a few just dumb. Mostly media people complain that ad people aren’t spending enough.

Thumbs Down For Roman Internet Circus - January 25, 2010
Internet access, rights to and fro, is a hot topic, the cyberwar between China and Google grabbing recent attention. Leaders of governments with a particular orientation have become obsessed with internet because of its wealth and its power. It’s all about money and control.

Local Media Groans and Adapts - January 5, 2010
Local media gets short changed in almost every way. Advertisers and other funders ignore them. Politicians and measurement services can’t find them. Odd, though, audiences get excited about them.

Here’s Why Newspapers Are Essential For Democracy To Flourish - November 26, 2009
Carlo de Benedetti, the chairman of the Italian Gruppo Editoriale L’Expresso gave the Reuters Memorial Lecture at Oxford University this week and what he had to say about newspapers and democracy deserves a wider audience.

De Benedetti Takes Aim At Berlusconi At Oxford University Speech While Murdoch’s Sky Italia Nips Away At Mediaset’s Digital Dominance - November 25, 2009
Carlo de Benedetti chose the very public foreign forum of an Oxford University lecture to let Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi have It, verbally speaking, right between the eyes while at home Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Italia, after announcing it will launch a free digital terrestrial station in December, is distributing a USB key that will allow Sky desktops to access Mediaset’s free digital terrestrial channels – and without those Sky subscribers having a Mediaset desktop how can it sell its pay platforms?

Remember That Old Saying, “Don’t Get Mad, Get Even” – Well, Watch Murdoch and De Benedetti Do Just That To Their Joint Foe Berlusconi - October 15, 2009
Suddenly it’s not all going Silvio Berlusconi’s way. He lost immunity from prosecution when Italy’s highest court ruled his own law protecting him wasn’t valid; his Finninvest company lost big-time in a civil suit to arch-foe Carlo de Benedetti (Finninvest order to pay up €750 million), and there are reports that de Benedetti may be a key to get Rupert Murdoch, Berlusconi’s public villain number 1, into terrestrial digital broadcasting which is the last place that Berlusconi wants him. The war is still very much on.

It’s A Battle Royal Between Media Titans Berlusconi and Murdoch And They’re Not Taking Any Prisoners - June 10, 2009
One of life’s great joys is watching two media barons battle it out using all the weapons at their command (Murdoch is getting real close to the waistline on personal issues; Berlusconi got too close to the waistline on business issues) but at the end of the day while Murdoch may be embarrassing Berlusconi outside of Italy inside the country the prime minister is doing just fine.

See also in ftm Knowledge

Media in Italy

The Italian media market is totally unique and very competitive. Italian consumers are quickly embracing new media and the advertising community is quickly changing. And hovering close is Italy's richest person - Silvio Berlusconi. 75 pages, includes Resources, PDF (January 2010)

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Europe’s Media Rules – From Television Without Frontiers to the Future

The Television Without Frontiers Directive is all but a memory, soon to be replaced by the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. This ftm Knowledge file details the issues, the debates and the outcome. Also included are articles on competition, product placement and cinema. 51 pages PDF (June 2007)

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