Italian Council of Ministers officially approved the new decree on cinema developed by Minister Dario Franceschini, which faced the opposition of the main broadcasters in the country.
New regulations will be applied since 2018, with a period of “adjustment” that will last until 2021, and they will regard the programming and investment shares of the main broadcasters operating in Italy, including giant as Netflix and Amazon, workers’ tutelage and a new films’ classification.
The decree aims to promote Italian and European operas through the imposition of a minimal share of programming: 53% in 2019, 56% 2020 and 60% in 2021. For RAI, the half of this percentage (on annual base) must be reserved to Italian films, tv shows, docs and animated features. Same for the other broadcasters, but the percentage is 1/3 of the total amount. For the prime time (6-11pm), the share will be 12% for RAI and 6% for other broadcasters, calculated on weekly base.
Investments for private broadcasters will be at 10% of annual incomes in 2018, 12,5% in 2019, 15% in 2020. For RAI, 15% in 2018, 18,5% in 2019 and 20% in 2020.
Thanks to a new film category, PG-6, the censorship of a film is practically abolished. I twill be implemented a regulation also for audiovisual projects for the web and for the videogames.
