State broadcaster RAI said
Wednesday that it is sacking Antonio Azzalini, the manager
blamed for the early start to countdown to midnight on New
Year's Eve.
"After careful reflection RAI has decided to interrupt its
working relationship with the manager who decided to start the
New Year countdown early," RAI President Monica Maggioni told
the parliamentary oversight committee of the State broadcaster.
Azzalini was the programme director of RAI 1's L'Anno che
Verra' (The Year to Come) show, which was blasted for
anticipating the New Year's Eve countdown by around a minute
during its live December 31, 2015, broadcast from the Basilicata
city of Matera, which is to be the European Culture Capital in
2019.
Azzolini said later he would appeal against his sacking,
instructing his lawyers to ask magistrates "to acquire documents
that were denied the defence in the disciplinary hearing".
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