Silvio Berlusconi Leaves a Logan Roy-Esque Legacy as Powerbroker in Italian Media and Politics
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent There are many reasons why Silvio Berlusconi’s death, at 86 due to complications from chronic leukemia, represents the end of an era.
Berlusconi single-handedly created the concept of private national network television in Italy. He was part of that rare breed of Logan Roy-esque media moguls to emerge in Europe in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Rupert Murdoch and Germany’s Leo Kirch.
At a time when Italy’s airwaves were monopolized by state broadcaster RAI’s stodgy channels, his Mediaset TV platform imported Hollywood series such as “Dallas” and “Baywatch” and movies like “Rambo” and “Conan the Barbarian.” The locally produced topless quiz show “Colpo Grosso” also defined Berlusconi’s TV pioneer days.
There was no turning back. After his Mediaset TV venture boomed and the self-made mogul snapped up daily newspaper Il Giornale, the A.C.
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