Last Monday, late in the evening, the text of the new Scheme arrived before RAI Service Agreement between the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy and Rai for the period 2023-2028 so that the parliamentarians can express the required mandatory but non-binding opinion.
Rai service contract: because it is strategic
It is a document of absolute strategic importance for the future of Public Radio and Television Service of our country and is also placed in the direct perspective of the renewal of the ten-year Agreement between the State and RAI scheduled for 2027. The Service Contract, which was created precisely as a supplementary regulatory device to the Agreement, should fully define the specific terms of the Public Service “mission” in the context of an ever-evolving audiovisual market.
The negotiation of this document began last year close to the expiry of the previous one, set for 2022, and then extended to 30 September next. The subjects formally and directly interested in the debate are: the competent Ministry (MiMit), the AgCom and the RAI Supervisory Authority. The envisaged stages are: the Council of Ministers approves the guidelines (act of guidance of 18 May 2022); definition of the "guidelines" by AgCom (Resolution 266 of July 2022); approval of the joint scheme between MiMit and Rai and, finally, passage to Supervision where the political debate is now opening and then reaching a definitive version that should be approved by next 30 September.
Rai service contract: what has changed
The new Contract has substantial and different system architectures compared to the previous one. First of all, an element immediately emerges clearly already from the Premise (previously absent in the previous Contract) and it is the introduction of the much discussed KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) which, for the first time, appear explicitly in a public service contract of this kind. Point 5.c states that the Ministry and RAI deem it necessary first "in line with the public economic resources deriving from the license fee" and then "... to ensure greater cogency of the obligations assumed in the service contract, in particular through the introduction of measurable goals as well as strengthening the methods, tools and bodies for verifying the implementation of the aforementioned objectives”.
The topic is complex and delicate, if only because it is directly related to what is currently under discussion on the future of the canon, its amount and how to collect it. As is known, they coexist within the Meloni government very conflicting opinions between those who would like to abolish it completely (the League) and those who even consider it low compared to what is paid in the rest of Europe. The fact is that introducing the KPIs into this Contract poses a potentially disruptive risk for the future of RAI: how they are identified, who should be the person in charge of defining their "measurement" and with what criteria and what would happen in case of default? Complex questions to which the draft schema does not provide any answers. But what marks the difference not only with respect to the previous contract but in the very nature of the document is the logic of the performance exchange that is, a change of obligations is paid as a fee. In other words, it could assume a scheme which, in summary and paradoxically, could resemble "Dear citizen, the State will guarantee you health, education, social services, etc. only if you behave well", without then specifying what virtuous behavior consists of. . The premise of the Contract states that this can take place through a "adequate" level of quality of the service provided. What is meant by "adequate" is not known.
Rai becomes a Digital Media Company
The second element of great importance refers to the art. 3, where we talk about Digital Media Company . We read that “RAI undertakes to complete the transformation from broadcaster to digital media company…”. The two terms do not seem to be interpreted correctly: first of all, the primordial nature of RAI or "Public Service broadcaster" and then a "digital media company" is not specified, as far as the relevant literature is known and as far as the other broadcasters are concerned. Europeans can be defined as such. In fact, the much-quoted BBC was the first to avoid being assimilated to a concept of this kind which presupposes a market logic (profits, etc.) very different from a substantial logic of financing and public service. It is interesting to read what is reported by the site "Investopedia", which writes "How do media companies make money? Media companies primarily make money from advertisements and paid subscriptions. Other revenue drivers include internet services, filmed entertainment, and licensing”. This is a completely different thing from RAI and the financing model envisaged by the law (the license fee).
Finally, the most radical and fundamental "design" notation. Where in the previous contract the specific obligations were listed in detail and at length in 7 pages in the art. 25 (where all knowledge relating to the television, radio, dedicated offer, information was included (including the passage that aroused so much controversy on "investigative journalism" which has now disappeared in the new text), audiovisual industry, minors etc. now all this is relegated to the first of the "attachments" of only two pages which, moreover, is specified in art. 25 which, although it constitutes an integral part of the contract "... are not subject to publication in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic". In other words, in summary, what were previously the specific obligations covered by the Contract now instead become private options, without control and without controllers.
Rai service contract: towards a long debate
There is a strong feeling that MPs will have much to discuss and explore. And not only them: a press release from Rai journalists where it reads: “Another issue brought to the attention of the Commission is the total cancellation in the new contract of the article which commits the company to the valorisation of the assets of the Rai showcases; The Commissioners "were also told of the surprise of the journalists' union in not reading in the text any reference to the Italian Constitution which encompasses the values that inspire public service". Finally, "particular attention was paid to the issue of resources, with reference to the license fee which must guarantee certain and long-term financial resources for Rai".
