The battle for Italy
After reshaping the French media landscape in a matter of months, the European market’s leading players have turned their gaze on Italy, where the traditional players have not said their last word. Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch shares the pay-TV market
with the former “Cavaliere,†Silvio Berlusconi, whose Mediaset empire is coveted by many.This could explain the recent offensive by French “oligarchs†Vincent Bolloré and Xavier Niel, who have acquired shares – 20.3% and 15.1% respectively – in Telecom Italia, the country’s leading telecom operator. Telecom Italia is seen as the way to get into the Italian media market and intense negotiations are now under way between Bolloré, Berlusconi and Murdoch, according to Italian journalist Fiorina Capozzi, the author of a book on Bolloré’s European ambitions. “After France, Italy is in the process of turning into a hunting ground for these oligarchs,†she said. “It will soon be the rest of Europe’s turn.â€
