AUDIOVISUAL: ITALIAN COMPETITION AUTHORITY RECOMMENDS RAI SPLIT.

• Position: Radio Televisione Italiana - Brief Article

The Italian government plans to sell at least 20% of RAIs capital in early 2005, with future shareholders owning no more than a 1% stake. According to an Antitrust press release, the RAI break-up "should take place shortly, before the sale of a minority share of the capital planned for the spring of 2005".

The recommendation is part of the conclusions of an inquiry by the Italian competition authority into the television advertising market which it considers to be "highly concentrated". The market is characterised by "a level of concentration that is not matched in any other European country and is determined by the dominant position of the Fininvest group, due to its 65% share of the advertising income market and the share held by RAI which, with 29%, constitutes almost all of rest of the market", says Antitrust. Fininvest is the holding...