Format

This month saw the 74th edition of the annual Festival di Sanremo take place. One of the largest events in Italian television, the show aired on Rai 1 from Tuesday 6 February and runs until Sunday 11 February. The launch night had an audience of 10.5 million and a record-breaking market share of 65.1%. The gran finale reached 14.3mln viewers and audience share of 74.1%.

Rai 1 capitalised the ‘Sanremo effect’ of the brilliant week dedicated entirely to the 74th Sanremo festival, and aired a special edition of Tale e Quale Sanremo (Tr. Just Like Sanremo) on Saturday 17 February. Participants perform the best-loved songs from previous editions of the musical extravaganza. Produced by Endemol Shine Italy. The show recorded 3mln viewers with an audience share of 19.9%.

Additionally, the documentary Perché Sanremo è Sanremo (Tr. Because Sanremo is Sanremo) aired on Wednesday 21 February, looking at the titular festival. Produced by Rai and Eliseo Entertainment scored 1.6mln viewers with an audience share of 11.8%.

Canale 5 broadcast the ninth series of Lo Show dei Record (Tr. The Record Show) on Sunday 4 February at 9.40pm. The entertainment show, based on the Guinness World Records franchise, is hosted by Gerry Scotti and produced by RTI and Banijay Italia. The first episode reached 2.3mln viewers with an audience share of 16.5% vs Rai 1 rerun of the popular detective series Montalbano that scored 2.5mln viewers and an audience share of 16.6%.

The Voice Senior launched its fourth edition on Friday 16 February at 21:30 on Rai 1. In addition to the seven episodes focusing on older talent, there will be an additional two episodes featuring intergenerational family performances in the model of the Voice Generations spin-off. Produced by Fremantle Italy. The premiere got 3.5mln viewers with an audience share of 21.5% vs Canale 5 entertainment show Ciao Darwin (season 9th) that scored 2.8mln viewers with an audience share of 19.7%.


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The talent competition Dalla Strada al Palco (Buskers) returned for its third series on Rai 2 on Tuesday 20 February in prime time (prod. Stand By Me, part of Asacha Media) and recorded a good 1mln viewers with an audience share of 6.07%.

Netflix launched the Italian adaptation of its musical reality Rhythm + Flow under the title Nuova Scena - Rhythm + Flow Italia on Monday 19 February. Over eight episodes, three judges looked for the best contemporary Italian rapper, with a prize pool of €100,000 for the winner. Produced by Fremantle.

Amazon Prime Video launched LOL Talent Show – Chi fa ridere è dentro (Tr. LOL Talent Show: Whoever Makes You Laugh Is In) on Thursday 22 February. The five-part series sees judges select comedians to join the upcoming fourth season of LOL: Last One Laughing, also set to be available on the streaming platform. Produced by Endemol Shine Italy.

Food Network launched the cooking travel show Resto Green on Friday 23 February. The 4 x 35’ show sees TV personality Chiara Carcano and chef Federico Fusca travel across the country with the aim of challenging restaurateurs to produce zero waste in the kitchen. Each restaurant is provided with a box of ingredients, which must be used to create a recipe – contestants can eliminate or replace only one ingredient.

Sky Documentaries premiered four-part series Moda - Una Rivoluzione Italiana (Tr. Fashion: An Italian Revolution) on Saturday 24 February. The docuseries explores the link between dressing and social and gender roles over the past century. Through interviews with fashion experts and protagonists, it aims to provide an in-depth look at the history of Italian fashion, from the early 1900s to the present day. The series is a Sky Original show co-produced with PanamaFilm and Cinecittà.