Mediaset

Canale 5 titles

Long-running series

Source: OFI

Despite being only a second and third season, both these fictions can be considered traditional series, since for the audience of Canale 5 their identity comes from far. The reason of their deep roots can be found in their star system: Rosy Abate is the spin-off of a previous successful series (Squadra antimafia) also starring Giulia Michelini, an actress who literally grew up in Canale 5 and its fiction. As for Gianni Morandi, an icon of Italian popular culture, he had already been the protagonist of other Canale 5 series well before L’isola di Pietro.

Both fictions represent an example of those noir variations presently taking place in romantic stories, an international trend that Mediaset had implemented and exploited in Italy before Rai.

Canale 5 titles

New series

Source: OFI

The new series of Canale 5 are definitely innovative. Both feature female protagonists and tackle two genres generally challenging for Italian fiction: hospital and legal dramas. Oltre la soglia is an episodic series that stages an unprecedented setting and a difficult theme (teenagers with mental problems) on the trail of the success of Braccialetti rossi. Il processo is a series with a very specific and original format, as it is built on a non-linear time structure.

The disappointing rating performances, beyond the greater or lesser success of the two titles, call into question a greater problem: the difficulty of innovation when rooting in tradition is missing, and production scarce. This precludes the consolidation of a star system and the possibility to build audience loyalty to the fiction product.