The director of RAI Channel 1
public broadcaster denied Tuesday that a decision had been made
to start the New Year's countdown 40 seconds early.
"Under no circumstances was a decision so irrational and
disrespectful of the public...shared with network executives,"
Giancarlo Leone said.
"Authorization was neither requested nor given".
RAI 1's program L'Anno che Verrà (The Year to Come) sparked
widespread condemnation when it anticipated the New Year's Eve
countdown by 40 seconds during its live December 31, 2015,
broadcast from the Basilicata city of Matera, which is to be the
European Culture Capital in 2019.
Program director Antonio Azzalini was disciplined for the
mistake, but told La Repubblica daily in an interview out
Tuesday that the move to start the countdown early was RAI
"practice" and that he had no reason to believe Leone would have
disagreed with his decision.
Leone, however, denied this vehemently.
"No such practice existed, nor was such a hypothesis ever
taken into consideration," he said.
"Believing one's action to be shared by others is an
ambiguous and misleading formula - in our line of work
responsibility is everything, and is based on knowing and doing,
not on conjecture," Leone said.
RAI has never "covered nor supported" such decisions, the
executive at the public broadcaster's flagship Channel 1 said.
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