A Slippery Slope: The Rise and Fall of the Domestic Soap Opera in Italian Public and Commercial Television

Prior to the mid-nineties, Italian television did not produce any soap operas. Daytime serials were imported mainly from the USA.

Unexpectedly, the most commercial television genre was produced for the first time by the public service broadcaster: Un posto al sole was aired by RAI in 1996. The commercial competitor Mediaset immediately responded with Vivere in 1998 and CentoVetrine in 2001. Un posto al sole still airs today, while both Mediaset’s soaps were cancelled.

The paper focuses on the rise and fall of domestic long-running daytime serials, on the different choices taken by the two competitors and on the perspectives opened up by the genre on Italian TV schedules.