Video Age International October 2016

54 October 2016 V I D E O A G E was a special event. Next year, Prix Italia will return to its traditional schedule and format. Editor’s Note : Currently, RAI broadcasts three Finally, if Campo Dall’Orto attends MIPCOM, as he used to do when he was at Viacom, and as he indicated he would during this VideoAge interview, he will be the first RAI director general to participate in an industry event since the 1982-1990 period, when legendary RAI director general the late Biagio Agnes was seen at NATAS’ International Council and other trade shows. Indeed, ever since the departure of Agnes, RAI and the Italian TV sector in general has been declining in its international presence. In the past, Italians had been pioneers in creating film and TV-related international events, such as the Venice Film Festival (1932), Prix Italia TV Festival (1948), Advertising Film Festival, now Cannes Lions (1954), MIFED film-TV market (1960) and the International Council (1968). By Dom Serafini TV channels outside Europe: Rai Italia, Rai Premium and Rai News 24. However, while distribution is under RaiCom, programming is under three different divisions. Campo Dall’Orto seemed to agree that the current structure is too fragmented and each sector is too small to compete on an international level. When TV channel distribution was handled by RAI executive Giovanni Celsi, there was an attempt to create a Rai World modeled after BBC World, however politicians imposed fragmented international operations in order to make more executive positions available for patronage. For Rai Italia (which can transmit only outside Europe), the previous management made drastic changes and it is unclear how Campo Dall’Orto plans to improve it. Cover Story: A Bigger RAI Antonio Campo Dall’Orto, RAI’s CEO and director general, with VideoAge ’s Dom Serafini (Continued from Page 52) Other Connections Antonio Campo Dall’Orto served as deputy director of Mediaset’s Canale 5 under Giorgio Gori, who ran the channel from 1991 to 1997. In 2001 Gori co-founded format company Magnolia with Ilaria Dallatana, a former Mediaset executive who is now RAI-2 TV Network director (Magnolia was sold to Zodiak in 2010). In 2012, Gori became a media consultant for the political campaign of Italy’s current Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to win control (the secretariat) of the center-left PD political party. The position allowed Renzi tobecomePrimeMinister without running in a general election (the PD coalition is the majority in Parliament). In 2015, as Prime Minister, Renzi selectedCampoDall’Orto as RAI’s director general and later had him named CEO as well, the first in RAI’s history. Other current RAI executives that worked at Mediaset include Daria Bignardi, who was at Canale 5 under Gori in 1995- 2004, Cinzia Squadrone andGian Paolo Tagliavia (from Publitalia). Currently, Gori is the mayor of his native city of Bergamo.