Tuesday, July 6, 2010

mysteries of Italian TV

I don't watch much Italian TV, but when I do happen to tune in I can't help but wonder about these oddities:

1) Why do shows start at random times like 3:05 or 9:40?

2) Why do commercials have to be announced/introduced by screen images like the one I posted above? I've never had a hard time differentiating a TV show or movie from a commercial so the need for this escapes me.

3) Why do they have TV guide readers? Some channels (like RAI) have these ladies who come on the air and tell you what the evening's TV schedule will be. I find it amusing yet senseless.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Also:
1 Why is Jerry Scotti on everywhere when he seems so talentless?
2 Why are there no good documentaries? (We all know the answer to that one! It begins with B.)
3 Why are all the women barbie dolls?
4 Why are films so ruthlessly cut in two at the most interesting bits with a load of blaring, intrusive ads and 'notizie'?
5 Why are there so few programmes about culture and the arts?
6 Why is 'Who wants to be a millionaire' on so relentlessly? Yawn!!!
7 Why oh why oh why??
I don't watch it either for the above reasons!

Saretta said...

I have no answers, but your questions made me snort and laugh while commiserating with you! 3:05 indeed! Why not 6:37 at that point? LOL! And I have to agree with Anonymous about Gerry Scotti..wtf? :-)

Emmina said...

Why do they cut the closing titles from movies, going straight to pubblicitĂ  instead, so that actor's name you've been trying to remember the whole time or that stunning location remain forever mysteries....?? The answer: they made more advertising money that way and money is more important than service. PUNTO.

Kataroma said...

I agree apart from the fact that I have a soft spot for Gerry Scotti. :)

What's the deal with all those variety shows?

Why is Isola dei Famosi always on?

Unknown said...

I've asked the same questions to Italians close to me, and this is what I've learned:

Q: Why do shows start at random times like 3:05 or 9:40?

A: They insist that it doesn't matter what time it starts. I guess they're right, but it does seem odd, doesn't it?

Q) Why do commercials have to be announced/introduced by screen images like the one I posted above? I've never had a hard time differentiating a TV show or movie from a commercial so the need for this escapes me.

A) Yes: Infact it's because some people here were getting confused, and taking these snake oil messages as fact. At about 1988, a new law required that the publicita indicator be displayed before a publicita and now it's there forever.

Q) Why do they have TV guide readers? Some channels (like RAI) have these ladies who come on the air and tell you what the evening's TV schedule will be. I find it amusing yet senseless.

A) Just more bad telivision. To sum it all up, Italians are also not happy with they're telivision. If they didn't have broadcast rights to last decades U.S., French and German (dubbed) telivision their wouldn't be shit to watch on public TV. The RAI and MEDIASET news broadcasts are worse than our FOX NEWS depending on your politics.

Bad telivision, and SKY is their only salvation and window to the world.