Franceschini has put straitjacket on us (3)

(ANSA) - Rome, November 10 - Culture Minister Dario Franceschini "has sewn a straitjacket onto us" with a new law requiring TV channels to broadcast Italian films or serials in prime time, Mediaset director Gina Nieri said Friday. "Why on earth, in 2017, should I be forced to broadcast an Italian film between 18:00 and 23:00," Nieri asked at at an event at State broadcaster RAI.
    Last month the cabinet approved a decree setting quotas for Italian films on Italian TV.
    Franceschini said the new rules "valorise creativity and Italian cinema".
    The cabinet said there would be "strong penalties" for breaking the rules.
    Amazon and Netflix will also have to apply them, it said.
    The salient points of the new rules, sources said, are that every Italian TV channel will have to show at least one Italian-made film or serial in prime time once a week - or twice a week for State broadcaster RAI.
    There will also be a compulsory rise in investment quotas for acquiring or producing Europan works, and sanctions for non-compliance will also rise.
    photo: Franceschini