Following a year of shifting viewership and strategic programming decisions, Mediaset CEO Pier Silvio Berlusconi offered a comprehensive assessment of Canale 5‘s performance and future direction on December 11th. Berlusconi’s remarks covered everything from the success of “The Wheel of Fortune” and the future of “Big Brother” to broader ambitions for primetime television and competition with RAI. The wide-ranging discussion,reported by Corriere,provides insight into the network’s strategy as it aims to maintain its position as a leading broadcaster in Italy.
Canale 5’s Year-End Assessment from CEO Pier Silvio Berlusconi
“The Wheel of Fortune is an extraordinary killer application. Striscia should not return to primetime access – that would be a mistake. Big Brother is not a flop.”
Pier Silvio Berlusconi summarized the current state of Canale 5, which has found success with Gerry Scotti’s quiz show, delivering a significant ratings boost in a timeslot that had been struggling (over 5 million viewers each evening in December). The CEO of MFE (MediaForEurope) isn’t worried about the show becoming stale with overexposure: “The Wheel of Fortune is doing very well, so we won’t stop it: when a product is successful, you have to capitalize on it. And I think it will regularly air during the Sanremo Music Festival, although we may consider its duration.”
In effect, Gerry Scotti has overtaken Antonio Ricci, who for over 30 years dominated the 8:30-9:30 PM slot. “It would have been a mistake to bring the satirical news program back to primetime access; Striscia will return to the air in primetime in January, with a new look for that timeslot. Ricci himself is aware that this is the right path.”
Pier Silvio Berlusconi also dismissed criticism of Big Brother, which hasn’t consistently delivered ratings with a 2-digit share. “A 14% share isn’t a flop; only programs that still manage to achieve 30% can claim that. Big Brother guarantees us 50 evenings a year with decent ratings – it’s not easy to find alternatives to a product like that.” He acknowledged a misstep, however: “The version with only non-celebrity contestants was my idea, but it didn’t work. The best solution is a mix of celebrities and non-celebrities,” which could arrive in the spring, potentially delaying the launch of Island of the Famous to the next season. He expressed satisfaction with this edition: “In this edition, I didn’t see anything to criticize; the format should be revised to evolve and innovate, bringing new writers onto the team.”
Alongside Mauro Crippa, Director General of Information, and Federico Di Chio, Director of Strategic Marketing, Pier Silvio Berlusconi expanded on his vision for the future: “Many people say that primetime starts too late, but perhaps the right model is this one, designed around the new habits of Italians: extending access primetime and creating shorter products to air in a new late-night slot.”
His television dream? “Actually, there are two. The first is a local news program; I always watch TGR Liguria: I envy the regional news programs on RAI and recognize their role as a Public Service. The other dream would be to have a Serie A soccer game broadcast in clear on Sunday evenings.” The MFE CEO isn’t considering new additions (“Amadeus joining Canale 5 is pure fantasy”), while the numbers continue to perform well: for the third consecutive year, Mediaset has surpassed RAI with a 37.5% share compared to 35.8% throughout the day, a gap that widens to 10 points in the commercial target audience (15-64 years) with 40.2% versus 30.2%.
He briefly addressed the imitation of Ubaldo Pantani: “Every parody is always welcome, but I don’t think it resembles me at all.” A polite way of saying he didn’t find the imitation amusing (Pantani is capable of better), unlike the one of his partner, Silvia Toffanin (“Brenda Lodigiani made us laugh”).
