Aeranti-Corallo, the federation representing around 600 local radio and television broadcasters in Italy, marked 50 years of local broadcasting on July 9 at its RadioTV Forum 2026 in Rome, celebrating the landmark 1976 Constitutional Court ruling that ended the country’s state monopoly on local radio and television. The event also looked ahead, with industry leaders calling for regulatory and technological changes to strengthen the future of local broadcasters.
Marco Rossignoli, national coordinator of Aeranti-Corallo, said FM continues to provide the widest coverage across Italy but argued that further DAB+ rollout should support localized network splitting, allowing broadcasters to deliver programming to specific geographic areas and strengthen local advertising markets. He also renewed calls for broadcast radio to feature in all connected vehicles.
Rossignoli also urged policymakers to provide stable public funding and continued incentives for technology investment. He noted that Italy’s local broadcasting sector employs around 2,000 journalists and emphasized the need for a renewed national labor agreement that balances business sustainability with employee protections.
Reflecting on the sector’s history, Rossignoli argued that local broadcasters have repeatedly adapted to technological change and economic disruption while maintaining strong connections with their communities. “We celebrate 50 years of freedom and pluralism,” Rossignoli said. “It is on this heritage that the future of the sector must be built.”
Franco Mugerli, president of Corallo, the association representing Catholic radio and television broadcasters, traced the origins of local broadcasting to the 1970s, describing it as the social media of its era by giving citizens a public voice outside the state broadcaster. “Our presence continues to offer an original contribution,” Mugerli said, adding that local broadcasters have embraced digital platforms while preserving their public service role and commitment to media pluralism.
Italy’s Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, also unveiled the design for a commemorative postage stamp celebrating the 50th anniversary of local radio and television. The stamp, which Aeranti-Corallo proposed, will enter circulation on July 28, coinciding with the anniversary of the Constitutional Court ruling that opened the market to private local broadcasters.
Part of the “Excellences of Italian Cultural Heritage” series, the circular stamp depicts a transmitting antenna radiating electromagnetic waves around the number 50. Claudia Giusto of the Philatelic Center of the Italian State Printing and Mint Institute designed it. Rossignoli described the stamp as “a prestigious institutional recognition for the entire local broadcasting sector.”
The forum concluded by honoring approximately 100 local radio and television stations that have operated continuously in Italy for the past 50 years.
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