Bad Guys. Die Sendepolitik des italienischen Sky-TV

Nowadays Italian TV fiction production is the result of both a long historical tradition and a complex broadcasting scenario. There are three different models that emerged, each one of them corresponding to the main protagonist of this setting: the pedagogical approach resulting in hagiographic miniseries, socially committed fiction and relevant comedies of public service broadcaster Rai; procedural and legal dramas following the US commercial models and romance-filled prime time soaps of commercial television Mediaset and a cable-oriented tension towards anti-heroes, high-budget productions and “quality television” of pay-TV operator Sky Italia. This paper outlines the main traits of each model, focusing on their main titles and most emblematic genres, as well as on the national production companies that helped the broadcasters in defining and establishing peculiar “fiction styles” and editorial policies.