In Italy, TV Call-In shows are licensed. That is not part of the regulation, but of the law itself. Articulo 88 de Regio Decreto No. 773, Testo Unico delle Leggi di Pubblica Sicurezza, dated June 18, 1931, says that the right to operate lotteries, gambling or prognostic games is allowed only to the state or licensed institutions. Media companies are not allowed to combine premium rate numbers with a chance of winning, since this would be gambling.

The spectrum covered by this resolution is quite broad: The use of premium rate numbers for the candidate hotline of the Italian version of “Who wants to be a Millionaire” was declined because the ultimate winner has a chance to win money.

Posted on January 9th, 2008 by lbraum
Filed under: Call-In TV, Italy