Silvio Berlusconi's attack on Rupert Murdoch group comes as state broadcaster RAI threatens to pull channels from Sky ItaliaSilvio Berlusconi's account of why he thinks Rupert Murdoch's media outlets are out to get him came as a surprise to observers of the broadcasting scene in Italy. The VAT row he mentioned was resolved at the end of last year, to the detriment of Murdoch's Sky Italia.The Australian-born media magnate now has another bone to pick with Berlusconi. But Italy's prime minister has good reason for not citing it.Critics argue that the two media tycoons' latest dispute offers the most blatant example yet of something Berlusconi has always vigorously denied - that, when he is in power, Italy's public broadcaster RAI acts in his personal interests, providing him a virtual monopoly of what voters see on their screens.RAI and Berlusconi's Mediaset together operate six of the country's seven terrestrial TV channels. The only serious competition facing this "duopolio", as Italians call it, is Sky Italia, which has carved out an 11% share of the overall Italian TV market.
Silvio Berlusconi's account of why he thinks Rupert Murdoch's media outlets are out to get him came as a surprise to observers of the broadcasting scene in Italy. The VAT row he mentioned was resolved at the end of last year, to the detriment of Murdoch's Sky Italia.
The Australian-born media magnate now has another bone to pick with Berlusconi. But Italy's prime minister has good reason for not citing it.
Critics argue that the two media tycoons' latest dispute offers the most blatant example yet of something Berlusconi has always vigorously denied - that, when he is in power, Italy's public broadcaster RAI acts in his personal interests, providing him a virtual monopoly of what voters see on their screens.
RAI and Berlusconi's Mediaset together operate six of the country's seven terrestrial TV channels. The only serious competition facing this "duopolio", as Italians call it, is Sky Italia, which has carved out an 11% share of the overall Italian TV market.
