RAI Head of Film and Drama on Dedicating More Space to European Series: U.S. Strikes Are ‘Creating a Gap, and I Want to Make My Mark’
Veteran RAI exec Adriano De Maio has been trying to shake things up at the Italian state broadcaster since last May, when he was appointed head of film and drama.
To contend with the unstoppable disruption caused by digital and streaming in Italy’s TV landscape, De Maio is trying to steer RAI toward programming that provides more cultural enrichment, while also catering to the youth demographic that drives traffic on the pubcaster’s RAI Play streaming platform — which has more than 23 million subscribers, way more than Netflix’s Italian customer base.
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As RAI faces possible budget cuts due to the government’s decision to lower its license fee [RAI’s current allocation for film and TV series was not immediately available], De Maio sat down with Variety in Rome to discuss his vision for the scripted content he’d like RAI to acquire for its viewers. If he has his way, they will probably be getting less Hollywood shows and more movies, some by U.S. directors.
According to the Italian press your credo is: Less Hollywood TV shows, more space for European content and more support for Italian cinema. Does that sum it up?
Yes. But that doesn’t mean I have anything against U.S. product. What I am against is a type of entertainment that grabs audiences but has no substance. I grew up with U.S. series like “Star Trek” where you have a captain [Captain Kirk] who has values. The U.S. strikes now are creating a gap, and I want to make my mark. I want to try something new. That means European series, but also U.S. shows of different types from those we’ve had in the past. We have to cater to what the audience loves, but also strike the right balance between U.S. and European product.
What’s a U.S. show that you like?
We are hoping to renew “The Good Doctor,” that has done well on both [flagship station] RAI 1 and RAI 2 and to buy the spinoff [“The Good Lawyer”] — but due to the strike I’m not sure that is happening.
How important are U.S. movies for RAI?
They are still key. “Bohemian Rhapsody” did really great [ratings] for us. I would love more Hollywood movies about pop culture history of this type. That said, a small Dutch movie “The Conductor,” about the first female conductor of a large symphony orchestra, also performed nicely. Lots of women identified with the protagonist. We will always want Hollywood action movies and some blockbusters on RAI, but we have to dedicate more space to European series. They are really strong and I want to push for more of them.
What are the European shows that have been performing well?
French series “Haut Potentiel Intellectuel” has been running for three seasons on RAI-1 and performing well, as have French-Belgian miniseries “Jugée coupable” and “Enquête à cœur ouvert.”
What type of product is RAI looking for at Mipcom?
Our priority is to find new series and youth product. We need to bring the youth demographic back into the RAI linear TV fold. We are looking for shows with young people as protagonists with constructive storylines. But also biographical pieces, female-audience skewed melodramas and U.S. action movies for RAI 2. We have lots of slots and need plenty of product.
Simply put: how is RAI programming changing and how are these changes affecting ratings?
My approach as head of film and drama is to try to replace shows for which rights are expiring with other types of product that have more substance, greater gravitas. As for ratings, there is a re-education process underway. U.S. TV series work because they have regular slots and people are used to that, like with our “Montalbano” [the Italian show that is a regular ratings winner]. But now we have also started programming lots of first-run movies. We are conquering new slots for scripted content. Movies still have to gain regular primetime slots, but we have secured Wednesdays as an almost regular movie slot on RAI 1 and on Tuesdays we now have a regular slot on RAI 1 for TV series. And we are going to have a slot for first features on RAI 1 after “Dancing With the Stars.” RAI has a great library of first features, but due to the ratings race we have always been forced to chose more competitive product. But in that slot they can work. It’s an opportunity. We are also going to have a slot for shorts. And I want to program movies in black-and-white to remind audiences what the roots of cinema are, even it’s tough since audiences aren’t used to that. For Christmas, I want to air Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” on RAI 3.
Regarding ratings, my impression is there is less pressure on RAI to deliver the same type of ratings as in the past, when there was this frantic competition with Mediaset within a different TV landscape.
During the RAI/Mediaset duopoly in the late ’80s and ’90s, there was a massive ratings race that also involved snapping up top stars. That’s a thing of the past. One key thing that’s changed today is that RAI and Mediaset at the time only had a total of six channels [three each]. But today, we all have more outlets. The audience is much more fragmented and you can’t always score massive ratings. In this scenario, what we need to do is go back to quality [content]. Quality is first and foremost. Ratings have to be a consequence of that. It’s the audience that has to become elevated, it’s not us who have to dumb down and lower our [quality] level in order to attract eyeballs. RAI is where the audience should turn to for cultural enrichment.
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