ATLas - Atlas of Local Televisions aims to establish an inventory of privately owned local tv channels operating in Italy between 1976 and 1990. The research explores the beginning of legal transmissions on a territorial scale, their first adventurous phase, the consolidation of some experiences as well as the failure of others, besides the impact of local broadcasting on aesthetics, programming and audiences, until the establishment of the market duopoly.
The work focuses on five particularly relevant networks (Antenna 3, Sardegna 1, TeleRoma56, TeleSanterno, Videogruppo) in their respective regions (Lombardy, Sardinia, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont), tracing their histories and reconstructing their role in the evolution of the Italian media system and the broader social and cultural structure of the country. Not only did these broadcasters constitute an initial element of contrast to the public service monopoly, but they were also able to create a strong link with their reference territories and urban institutions.
Despite the direct and indirect impact of these channels in shaping the national media environment over more than four decades, the lack of access to archives and the limited knowledge of their evolution has so far confined these networks to the margins of academic investigation, often fragmentary also due to the scarcity of reliable sources and information. Thus, the project adopts a highly innovative methodology, combining the cultures of television production and distribution with film and media history, as well as with oral, social and territorial history and studies on archives and infrastructures. The final purpose is to address local channels and their development in a systemic and multifocal perspective.
Specifically, ATLas delves into the phenomenon: 1. through access to and mapping of data, materials and formal and informal archives; 2. through in-depth interviews with insiders, audiences and stakeholders; 3. through the reconstruction of mutual influences within the tv field and the analysis of how the circulation of good practices, ideas and programmes took place.
The project aims to set up an online platform where clips from the channels’ programming will be progressively collected, together with photographs, documents and other resources, made available in digital format either through a surfable database or through the creation of special virtual exhibitions, arranged into thematic routes. Free access to the research results complies with the most advanced forms of cultural and social valorisation of the audiovisual heritage, laying the foundations for a permanent and updatable atlas of national local broadcasting.
Thanks to the wide network of institutions and subjects involved, both on a national and local level, ATLas will also disseminate the results of this research through workshops and conferences, in parallel with a rich outreach activity which will involve students and general public, also including the publication of volumes, contributions in special issues and open-access journals and projects of scientific consultancy.
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