Abstract

The paper provides a broad description of the development of television industry in the last 25 years. When in 1975 a sentence of Corte Costituzionale provided the frame for the birth of private stations, television industry was vertically integrated, highly regulated and with a supply of programs and advertising space largely below market demands. As in other industries a phase of strong consolidation followed a first flourish of stations and programmes and drove to the present duopoly. Public policy followed market developments and commercial TV sector lasted for almost fifteen years without any rules, while later many interventions and policy reviews were characterized by inconsistency between instruments and objectives.