Italians Endorse Berlusconi’s TV Empire at Ballot Box

ROME —  Italian couch patate are not mogul-wary. They like the well-tried commercial television formula of variety shows, movies, soap operas, soccer and glitzy ads--even if they do enrich a politically ambitious billionaire.

Final returns Monday from a national referendum endorsed the ownership of three major national networks by former and would-be Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Voters Sunday rejected three propositions that would have forced him to sell two of his three stations, compelled his advertising agencies to curtail TV sales and limited the number of TV commercials.

Viewer partiality for privately owned channels was reinforced by majority support for a referendum proposal that would pave the way for at least partial privatization of three state-owned TV channels.

For Berlusconi, who was forced to resign as prime minister in December after only seven months in office, the referendum marked a comeback for himself and for the political right wing that he leads. Sunday’s vote, which gave Berlusconi clear victories of between 55% and 57% on the three private TV questions, is also a victory for the free market.

“Results show we are in tune with the public opinion,” said Antonio Taggiani, a spokesman for Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party. The TV referendums were backed by an alliance of leftist and centrist parties seeking common ground on which to oppose Berlusconi. Observers said the results will spur fresh calls by the right for general elections no later than October.

Although he will not now be forced into a fire sale, Berlusconi said Monday that he will continue talks on divesting one or more of the channels of his Fininvest empire. Australian-born tycoon Rupert Murdoch, among others, had expressed interest.

“The future of Fininvest will be decided with due calm and will be based on reasonable considerations, the same ones that led voters to express themselves the way they did on Sunday,” Berlusconi said.

The Milan tycoon entered politics early last year, repeatedly promising to sell part of his media holdings that include a publishing house, magazines and newspapers as well as the advertising agencies and three TV stations.

The center-left tried to force the pace with Sunday’s referendum following victories in regional and local elections earlier this year, but the attempt backfired. Berlusconi’s stations and the three state channels share about 90% of the viewing market in the most closely held and politicized TV system in Western Europe.

In other referendum questions Sunday, voters agreed to abolish limits on the formation of trade unions and to end automatic salary deductions of union dues. They also voted to stop the exile of Mafia prisoners to remote parts of Italy on the grounds that rather than cutting them off from their roots they risked creating new ones for organized crime.