Putting programmes together

Abstract

Summary: The present essay tries to analyse how both public and commercial television channels in Italy structure their broadcasting schedule. The enquiry is carried out from within, by examining the process of making up scheduling choices as revealed by a series of interviews with the people who, in their respective organizational tasks, are responsible for, or participate in, the elaboration of the programming framework: that is, heads of networks and heads of programming departments. The research focus therefore takes a sociological approach that illustrates the broadcaster's role and is rather rare in the Italian research tradition. The basis of the enquiry is an interview using an open-ended questionnaire which resulted most of the time in a guided exchange. The essay tries to reconstruct the work that goes into the elaboration of a schedule, describing the stages, structural elements and choices involved, and analysing them in relation to the environmental setting and the broadcaster's identity.