Bruno Somalvico
General Secretary of Infocivica
 Real-time summary:
At this point Bruno Somalvico intervened, by drawing attention to the unseen work of those who are putting the contents of the seminar and discussions onto the Net as they gradually develop during this conference, and he pointed out that this is a way to ensure that the seminar can be more widely shared.
He then went straight into the details of his intervention , by reminding us of the decline of mainstream (or generalist) television , the beginning of the fragmentation of television audiences and the growing role of TV viewers in the construction of their media diets. The components of the system are changing, with the questioning of traditional models and the entry of new operators into the market. New hybrid platforms are emerging designed to convey radio and television from circular broadcasting to the new broadband networks. We are now going through a new phase in which the future of radio and television is linked to the world of the Net and the fragmentation of audiences along with the proliferation of the offer are accelerating the end of the centrality of mainstream television and mass communications , with a need for active participation by users and, above all, new forms of social cohesion and the creation of a “sensus communis”, or a new shared sense of identity.
In this context Somalvico believes that public services can a ttain an important if not decisive role at this stage of hybrid cohabitation between linear media and new participatory media , contributing decisively towards passing beyond the present atomized and fragmented society.
That is why the RAI of the Third Millennium – on the eve of the expiry of its Convention with the Italian State in 2015 – must rediscover the reforming spirit of the series of congresses held (stagione dei congressi) in the early seventies. The 150 year anniversary of the unification of Italy could certainly be a d ecisive moment to catalyze discussion on these themes. Understanding the new scenario of cross-media communication means giving back to politics and public institutions a sceptre of responsibility in the fundamental choices for favouring equal conditions for all citizens in the new society of information and knowledge, as regards access to information in addition to their possibility to express themselves freely and share information and messages without restrictions or constraints, but within the limits and rules of coexistence within a modern civil society.
Continuation of the real-time summary 
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Preliminary summary of Bruno Somalvico's intervention.
The characteristics of television in the cross-media era: the start of the cycle of fragmentation
What we foresaw in the mid-nineties, when the end of Mass Communication was announced, is now being realized. Thus we are witnessing the decline of generalist television, the beginning of the fragmentation of television audiences and the growing role of viewers in the construction of their own media diets. We are now experiencing a third season of television, characterized by fragmentation, as we enter a new cycle after those of the monopoly and the mixed system.
Giuseppe Richeri has highlighted four main characteristics of this new cycle:
1. The conditions of offer and access to television content are widening and diversifying and the barrier to market access is reducing.
2. The symbiotic two-way relationship between container and contents is ending and access to a wide range of different programs in competition with those of television is starting.
3. The direct payment for programmes by users as a substitute for advertising is becoming a force for market growth
4. Audiences and their viewing locations are fragmenting and consumption modalities are growing, not only at home but everywhere, thanks to the content available on “videophones” as well as audio and video files sent via email or uploaded on the net and enjoyed in real time or postponed on personal computers or through set-top boxes and PVR personal video recorders
In this third season of radio and television in the cross-media era the components of the system are changing, with the traditional models being put into question from the chain that produces value (value chain) to the network that produces value (value network) and the entry of new operators into the market (electronics producers, computer companies, content aggregators). In the new sector the numbers of firms are increasing and new players are emerging, together with new hybrid platforms designed to convey radio and television from circular broadcasting to the new broadband networks. Furthermore radio or television broadcasters and the editors and publishers of newspapers are becoming transformed into providers of audiovisual media services and electronic newspapers and books. The old field of Public Service Broadcasting, which is developing new non-linear network services, is becoming reconfigured as Public Service Media.
From the electronic Babel of the start of the millennium to the new forms of aggregation of the Net
We are now entering a new phase in which the future of radio and television is linked to the world of the Net. Initially characterized by considerable instability and unpredictability during the speculative bubble that hit Internet at the start of the new millennium, the universe of the Web is no longer the chaotic electronic Babel that we described in an essay in the first half of the last decade. Instead, in the second decade, it is starting to be structured and organized both around proprietary platforms set up by some of the giants of the field such as Apple, Google and Microsoft, as well as by means of new encouraging initiatives such as the Canvas project in the UK which aims to develop open technical standards with the Open IPTV platform in order to promote its adoption by the greatest possible number of players in the chain of the industrial sector (hardware manufacturers, content editors, internet connection providers) since the project sees their cooperation as essential in order to ensure an orderly transition from Broadcast to Broadband. The fragmentation of audiences and the proliferation of offers are hastening the end of the centrality of mainstream (generalist) television and mass communication, with the abandonment of the universality of the service in favour of a selective access based on the economic and socio-cultural capacities of the audience. In some ways these current trends are expanding the digital divide between the info-rich and the info-poor into the realm of television. This separation was detected and reported a decade ago when it was limited to Internet access and computer use. It now necessitates new modalities of aggregation and active participation by users and, above all, new forms of social cohesion and the creation of a “sensus communis”, i.e. a new shared sense of belonging to a community which is able to take the place of the “great ceremonies” broadcast in the second half of the 20th century by mainstream television. The success of social networks among young people is too recent for us to see if they will succeed in satisfying this need and in any case, despite the tumultuous growth of cellular telephony and SMS messaging over a third of Italian families are still excluded from access to the Internet.
For a cross-media public service in the society of information and knowledge
We are still convinced that public services can attain an important if not specific and distinctive role at this stage of hybrid cohabitation between linear media and new participatory media. We believe that if they are able to adapt their missions to the new needs of today's society, they will be able to play an essential role in ensuring a smooth transition from the electronic Babel of the present to a new, rich and orderly cross-media offer. They will contribute decisively for passing beyond the present atomized and fragmented society, encouraging the emergence of an increasingly open and reticular society, in which single individuals and personalities will be able to find shared values, aggregating and communicating in new ways and forms. Faced with the saturation of traditional economic resources and the decreasing trend in annual growth rates not only of the licence fee but also of advertising, public service media are certainly a cost for democracy today. But without them our democratic societies could become much poorer in many ways.
The Rai of the Third Millennium – on the eve of the expiry of its Convention with the Italian in 2015 – must rediscover the reforming spirit of the series of congresses held (stagione dei congressi) on the future of public service television in the early seventies (from 1969 to 1974). At that time, through an internal competition within the monopoly, Rai managed to emerge from the fossilized regime of previous years by satisfying the expectations not only of the extension of pluralism but also of the participation of civil society in public service reform and in the growth of broadcasting freedom.
This issue is especially relevant today during this stage of transition from the centrality of radio and above all of television to that of the Net and the future of Internet with the coexistence of linear and nonlinear media, traditional and participatory media, certain public service missions for the entire community, contents generated according to precise obligations and specific requirements and contents generated directly by users for individual sectors or even individual users. This is no longer a sort of Hundred Flowers Campaign as in the time of the free television and radio stations of the seventies, but countless swarms and groups of users that “set up camp” together, exchanging signals and increasingly interacting with those responsible for the traditional programming schedules. From this swarm a new reticular order can arise which is capable of forming and shaping all the different age groups and generations of Italy in the first years of the third millennium and of making an impact on the organization and distribution of knowledge in the coming decades.
The 150 year anniversary of the unification of Italy: 2011 as Year Zero for the new portal of Italy on the Net 2011 provides an opportunity to recall the history of radio and television in Italy in the twentieth century and to initiate a thorough reform of the public service in Italy and a well-ordered transition to cross-media technologies, giving the Rai – in imitation of the BBC's leading role in realizing the Canvas project in the United Kingdom – a decisive role in building a hybrid Open IPTV platform for promoting equal access without discrimination to all the services of the society of information and knowledge by means of the creation of a large national portal and a genuine cross-media hub in the heart of the Mediterranean.
In 1961, the centenary of the Unification of Italy, the radio broadcasting system set up in 1924 was less than 40 years old and it was still the instrument of communication most present in Italian homes even though television, which had entered the scene seven years previously, in 1954, was beginning to take over and would soon be dominant. Cinema was the main Italian medium of entertainment at the time and, like the theatre and classical music concerts, it was enjoyed collectively in movie theatres or summer arenas. Fifty years later on the cinema – having overcome the crisis of the seventies and especially of the eighties when the home video market became established – is experiencing a revival thanks to multi-screen movie theatres and 3D cinema but mainly because of pay TV and individual use via Internet in forms that do not always protect intellectual property. The radio is a lady in her old age, just under ninety, and television is a mature mother, fifty-seven years old, who is about to become a grandmother.
Grandma Rai is now preparing to pass on her sceptre to the Web. Radio and television are destined to merge into a large new cross-media broadband electronic network within which its linear services are destined to increasingly coexist with the new participatory networks of the web and the new services that are directly downloadable on the net as well as with electronic newspapers, periodicals and books on-line. Such a network will probably radically change the behaviour of users. After using the remote control to operate their television sets and after buying decoders to receive new digital television signals, thanks to new devices and terminals (videophones or newspaper and electronic book readers such as IPAD) the Italians will have increasingly personalized new hybrid media diets, free from the barriers of space and time so that everyone will be able to communicate with others at any place and at any time of day.
Conclusions
Understanding the new scenario of cross-media communication means giving back to politics and public institutions at all levels, starting with local authorities, a sceptre of responsibility in the fundamental strategic choices for favouring equal conditions for all citizens in the new society of information and knowledge, as regards access to information and their possibility to express themselves freely and share information and messages without conditions, but within the limits and rules of coexistence in a modern civil society.
Having unified the Italian language from 1961 through television Italy can now make sure that the 150th anniversary of the country’s political unification is the starting point of a new cross-media public service which is able to: 1. ensure a well-ordered transition to the broadband networks,
2. acquire large new digital resources accessible to all and realized with the consensus of all,
3. create a new digital cross-media district capable of operating within a framework of more simple and transparent rules of the game, with a system of publishing, audiovisual and entertainment companies, but also with other players engaged in education, tourism and the promotion of our products who are equipped to deal with the new challenges.
Only in this way – as stated in the policy and guidelines document of Infocivica – Italy will not suffer from the digital divide, but will recover from the technological and social gap that has developed in the last fifty years, while restoring and regaining the splendour of its heritage and participating actively in decision-making processes within international institutions without suffering the pressures of global conglomerates. It will also be able to satisfy the fundamental principles of freedom of communication and the consequent political self-determination, which are the rights of citizens according to all the European Constitutions. This must be done with the collaboration of all, first of local and regional bodies, coordinated by the State and the European Union, according to the guidelines established by new worldwide governance bodies.
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See also:
2009 INFOCIVICA CONFERENCE
IS BUILDING AN EUROPEAN PUBLIC SERVICE TELEVISION POSSIBLE ?
After the Lisbon Treaty : problems and prospects
Video 2009 INFOCIVICA CONFERENCE
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