Why so many TV channels in Italy?

[zeebre12]

Why does Italy have so many TV channels? They have an insane amount. I looked through a TV Guide for Sky Italia/Tivu. They have like 18 kids channels. Even companies like Fox/Mediaset/Discovery operate lots of channels. They have some really good quality free to air channels. New channels like Blaze (A&E) Cine Sony, POP (Sony), Alpha (De Agostini) Spike (Viacom) have opened recently. Why is Italy so lucrative for TV channels.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_channels_in_Italy

 

[Francisque]

We have a lot of kids channels, but many channels in general?

I don't think so..OK DTT+Sky together make together a lot of channels, but in general, the UK (and maybe even France) easily beats us
However, we have a lot of (often cheap) local TV channels

Also, quantity is often not quality, and a country like the UK beats us easily in the quality field
Channels like AB Channel are just awful

 

[RandomMe]

I think that a bit of a history lesson is needed.

Back in the 70s, due to a loophole in Italian law, dozens of local television channels opened in Italy. They were the so-called "televisione libere" (free TVs, though accurately it would be "free channels"). They broke Rai's dual-channel monopoly up and down the country. One such channel, Telemilano 58, became Canale 5 and expanded to a national scope.

With lots and lots of local television channels, they needed to ration themselves, and thus a few syndication networks were born here and there. Italia 1 started as one of them. Iconic networks included Rete A (which in 1982 was a relayer of Italia 1 before becoming a national network), Euro TV (later shut down and replaced by Odeon), Junior TV, Supersix, Italia 7 and so on. These days, the syndication networks have been losing relevance, even K-2 which used to be a syndication network has since stopped doing so because of the DTT channel, and even the local channels started airing more local channels on their multiplexes.

 

[Checkerboard]

I would agree that Italy has probably more channels than most European countries.

 

[RandomMe]

I would agree that Italy has probably more channels than most European countries.

Especially because it might have the most channels on their DTT offer because there are quite a lot of local channels. Most of these local channels are cheap to run and air a lot of live teleshopping. It's a tradition that has been around since the 80s, and by my knowledge, are known for being a farce.

EDIT: Take a look at this:
This series spoofs those "empty" shopping channels and that other spoof at the end spoofs similar cheap channels, right down to the simple wordmark of the channel's name patterned after the Italian flag!

 

[Red Arrow]

We have a lot of kids channels, but many channels in general?

I don't think so..OK DTT+Sky together make together a lot of channels, but in general, the UK (and maybe even France) easily beats us
However, we have a lot of (often cheap) local TV channels

Also, quantity is often not quality, and a country like the UK beats us easily in the quality field
Channels like AB Channel are just awful

Italy has got waaay more channels than France. All those Discovery channels.

 

[sasq]

The problem is much worse than simple teleshopping, companies like Canale Italia have a billion channels dedicated to airing teleshopping, they're even using LCN (logical channel number) 53 besides not having a national multiplex and the fact that LCN such as 53 are dedicated to news and information, not teleshopping, and it also seems that they've been using the LCN abusively.

Canale Italia isn't the only problem, Retecapri used to be on channel 20 (and they even wanted to be on channel 8 or 9!), a japanese-themed channel they ''owned'' (Neko TV) was even on channel 45, and channels 40 to 47 should be dedicated to kids programming! and what about Capri Gourmet? it was on channel 55 and should have been dedicated to cooking, but in reality it aired teleshopping and movies, thankfully these LCN have been sold, only LCN 66 remains in Retecapri's hands, and the other channels they still have are on a more close LCN position to the teleshopping channels, where they should stay.

And what about Gold TV/GM Communicazione? they have an infinite number of teleshopping channels, some are local and some are national, and much like Retecapri, they formely owned LCN 61 and they still own LCN 69 (i'm not making this up).

And speaking of stations that have Gold in their name, 7 Gold is a syndication airing on multiple local channels that air many famous movies and tv series, unfortunatley their attempt at becoming a national channel (7 Gold Plus) failed, their attempt at niche channels (Anime Gold) failed due to low viewership (it was on a regional LCN) and advertisers not being interested, plus some of their O&Os have had financial difficulties and layoffs, and 7 Gold can't even become a national channel because of being a syndication, while garbage like Canale Italia and Retecapri who can't even reach all of Italy can have national multiplexes and LCN.

Don't even get me started on the cartomancy channels, how they still exist is a mistery, and what about the time when a conspiracy theory channel was supposed to take the place of Rete 4 on analog television?

It's sad the Italian goverment allows these garbage channels to stay on the air.

 

[RandomMe]

I recall seeing a channel which shut down on the first few minutes of the new year (2014? 2015?). It was one of those endless shopping channels selling paintings and the like and the last few minutes on air were empty, the staff was kind of "neutral" yet they were aware that the channel was shutting down. I don't recall the name.

 

[sasq]

I recall seeing a channel which shut down on the first few minutes of the new year (2014? 2015?). It was one of those endless shopping channels selling paintings and the like and the last few minutes on air were empty, the staff was kind of "neutral" yet they were aware that the channel was shutting down. I don't recall the name.

Telemarket?

 

[RandomMe]

Yes, it was Telemarket! Thought that the video was shorter. What an empty shutdown, but at least it was slightly ceremonial.