Rome, November 20 (Adnkronos) – “The Italian advertising system is characterized by a very complex balance. The first victims of the possible abolition of license fees, a theme that periodically reappears, are newspapers. Currently Rai’s advertising revenues are limited compared to commercial television, since most of its revenues come from license fees. In the absence of these resources, it is clear that Rai will have to compete with newspapers in the field of advertising”. Thus Forza Italia senator president Maurizio Gasparri, member of the Rai Monitoring, spoke at the conference ”What is digital sovereignty for European audiovisual?”.
“We support the need to refinance the publishing fund – he continued – which has also been increased this year by 200 million euros for newspapers in crisis, 125 million euros for all Italian newspapers, and 60 million euros to support paper purchases, to provide special assistance to the sector”.
“Advertising today is increasingly moving to online platforms, which are often controlled by large global giants that pay little tax, which contributes to the creation of a very delicate balance. The problem therefore does not only concern television, but also involves other sectors. Fieg is also worried, because newspapers are experiencing a deep crisis, which is exacerbated by the transition to digital and the disappearance of many paper copies”, he concludes.
