The presenter told FQMagazine: “That was the beginning of the end, when I heard ‘new narrative’ I understood what was going to happen. The new narrative certainly didn’t mean the narrative the public needed.”
When a Fabio Fazio When we ask him how many pebbles he removes from his shoes, he picks up a book from the desk: “They gave it to me. Is called ‘The Rome Television Center‘, dates from 1957, published by Leonardo Sinisgalli. It’s a masterpiece of what Rai was in the beginning, an art book in a way. I come from forty years of a life that I couldn’t even imagine was mine, I can’t hold a grudge. I have no hard feelings towards Rai because I am part of the history of this company. I never felt like a stranger or insulted.
The appointment is promptly at 5 p.m. “I don’t know what good things he can think of, let’s chat,” insists the man of the moment, who grants rare interviews. After four episodes, the average viewership was “What’s the weather like” At Nine, group Warner Bros. Discoveryis sensational: around 11% share with over two million viewers.
He was aiming for 4%, was that superstition?
“Anyone who knows the numbers knows that superstition could have been for reasons of caution, I was hoping to achieve 5-6%. I would never have come up with this data. It would have been presumptuous, or perhaps amateurish, to expect them.
Have you had sleepless nights in the last few months?
“I experience my job completely differently than you think. Things went as everyone knows, and then you try again. The goal was to do the best and not leave a bad impression. I couldn’t even imagine that it could change the television landscape so radically.
You write that Fazio broke the duopoly.
“I haven’t broken the duopoly, it’s just a program added to a network. We may have shown that there is room to build something somewhere other than the usual places. There is an option to use the platform formula in plain text. Four years is a very long time, I don’t expect my path to be easy. I’ve taken the first four steps, there are a hundred more to go.”
However, since the telequake occurred, Che tempo che fa’s numbers are practically the same as Rai3’s. Are the format and the presenter stronger than the television station today?
“It is a topic that is very close to my heart. They’re just theories that come up after the fact, after which we’re all fine.” I have two teenage children at home and I know what television is to them: what the microwave is to me. Something I will use when needed. For them, the sentence “I’ll stay at home tonight and watch what’s on TV” is unthinkable. It is the death of the schedule and the so-called editorial line, young people under 30 are looking for what they want, be it the Fedez podcast or the series on Netflix. The bet was: If it’s true that people are looking, someone will be looking for us. I didn’t think to that extent.
Generalist television performs poorly.
“General television, especially public television, must be the place where viewers recognize themselves. This recognition runs through the history of the network and the faces you rely on, it is the difference between a platform and a free-to-air network.”
On Sunday, compliments came from Deputy Prime Minister Tajani, she replied: “I’m happy, I don’t know how many others will be happy.”
“The Secretary of State’s compliments on a program broadcast on Nove, I don’t know how much they can please those who have thought of foregoing our program.”
Everything moves along a fleeting line: he wasn’t kicked out, he wasn’t held back.
“I have taken note of their decisions as I do not own the company. They have not legally renewed my contract, even though it may seem meaningless. I have found a new home.
On the right there is talk of the need for a “new narrative,” but the ratings aren’t there for now. Is it a public or political need?
“That was the beginning of the end, when I heard ‘new narrative’ I knew what was going to happen. The new narrative was certainly not the narrative the audience needed.”
After the elections, did you understand that it would end like this?
“In the past few years I had more than one hundred and twenty warnings (the allusion refers to the attacks of Matteo Salvini, editor’s note) about what was going to happen to me, and I was pretty sure that it was about Finding symbols that I could offer.”
After the release, Salvini wrote “Belli Ciao.” What was he thinking?
“I didn’t understand why he had to sign our release, it wasn’t necessary. I’m grateful to him, but I already knew it (laughs, editor’s note).”
The new Rai closes its doors to Saviano and Fedez and opens them wide for Fabrizio Corona.
“I don’t mind Rai opening its doors to everyone, I think it’s a duty. It is the problem of exclusion that I feel very sorry for and it is the antithesis of public service. I have had important teachers in my life such as Angelo Guglielmi, Carlo Freccero and Paolo Ruffini: no one has ever excluded anyone. Television is created by adding, not taking away.”
“His” Rai3 is in trouble. What effect does it have on them?
“Public service is everyone’s legacy. Mine too, even more so now that I’m just a user. I am very sorry and I think that public television has an important role to play, and not the role of abuse and dominance, but a place where a place can be created for everyone.”
What ended up on Nove a long time ago, you have to do without showcases, archives and foreign offices.
“We hope that Rai will sell us the archive material. True, we don’t have Rai offices, but we rely on CNN. The important thing is not to lose freshness and authority.”
Luciana Littizzetto almost seems more relaxed, perhaps less afraid of controversy?
“It’s also how I feel about myself (laughs, editor’s note). We are both more relaxed. For the last five years I have had to constantly defend myself. Alone. It felt like sacrilege because I stayed to work there. At a certain point, understandable fatigue sets in.”
The main face of Nove is Maurizio Crozza, who is allergic to guest appearances and interviews. We see him on “What’s the weather?”
“I hope so, I invited him to the premiere too. He said to me, “I’ll never go anywhere like you.” He’s right.”
Several prime ministers have been through the weather. Did you also invite Giorgia Meloni?
“Not this year. We invited her several times last year, even before her debut, and she always said she wasn’t available.
Are Striscia la NOTEIA’s outbursts about Giambruno political news?
“Yes, of course. I don’t know if I would use the outliers, but when we talk about a prime minister, we can’t say he has no relevance. Everyone told him to be careful with what he said, Ricci and Striscia la notizia have always done this and it would be naive not to think about it.
Your Tavolo conquers audiences and critics, is there a connection to Arborian TV with Frassica and Ferrini?
“He remembers her, it’s a tribute. The idea is to prepare many ingredients and cook them as they come. I don’t have the setlist, it’s jazz TV. It is a wonderful cross.
It hosts faces from other networks and airs products on the platforms. This aspect was controversial in Rai. Would you now like to have faces from public service in your programs?
“We have Simona Ventura and Francesco Paolantoni. The idea of putting up fences doesn’t make sense, from day one at the helm of Discovery I said, “We have to tell everything there is.” Then if they don’t send me guests out of some grudge, that’s a problem of those who don’t send them. The doors are wide open here. “Television is the history of the present, television must be contemporary.”
Since he now works for a commercial television station, he is exempt from the question of remuneration. Vespa said: “Fazio is a master of contracting.”
“I’m sorry he’s not happy with his earnings, I can help him. I don’t want to argue beyond his jokes.
How did you explain the obsession with his fees?
“I have always wondered the opposite, because no one asks how much the company earns by broadcasting this product or how much it loses by not broadcasting it. Luckily we do a well-paying job, very well-paid if you look at the others. We are among the lucky ones who have a duty to give back the happiness we have had, not only through taxes but also through virtuous behavior. Even the Auditor General was inconvenienced by my contract. The amazing thing was that I was only focused on money, a superficial and indifferent bar exercise. It served to set the stage for what happened. I think of Saviano, of whom they say, “He has the company,” as if it were a privilege.”
To the applause of many, she decided not to give the anti-vaccination people any space, because with her you can’t see the Vannaccis on duty.
“Not everything can be said. At that moment we were unarmed, unvaccinated, we were afraid of dying in the night. I live in an area of Milan between two hospitals, I lived alone at home while my family was in Liguria, I did nothing but listen to ambulances. For me it seemed natural and necessary to provide a service to the public, to always keep at it. I had also suggested keeping one channel on at all times, with all colleagues taking turns to keep people company at home. The anti-science sentiment is unacceptable and I will not be the one to express it.”
What makes her angry?
“I don’t express my anger, it’s bad for my health. Over time, when I think about my children and the work and life situation I have, I think it’s stupid to be angry. I have learned to give things the right weight, every problem my children have is more important than any problem I have. It takes time to acquire it.
Success can be overwhelming.
“Television puts you at the center of everything, even in your family you think that everything revolves around you. It’s a hateful thing that I’ve been trying to keep at bay since the days of Those Who Football. From that moment on, I understood that we had to avoid talking about ourselves. For professional reasons I’m not annoyed, I know the rules of the game. I don’t know, I don’t waste time explaining, I sometimes regret the ease with which one is led to judge things one does not know.”
They accuse him of being a do-gooder and of being less urgent towards the guest.
“I saw everyone’s affection for Vincenzo Mollica on Sunday, it was beautiful. For years they told him that he only spoke well. One evening Enzo Biagi called me, it was the last months of his life, he said to me: “Remember that we”, a we with great meaning for me, “who use words, can do a lot of damage.” Thinking Remember, when you have doubts, you need to think about what your mother and father taught you. An interview is not about making someone uncomfortable, but about getting to know the person, understanding their position and point of view.
Can you get results from an interview without being pushy?
“I believe that it is necessary to respect the people in front of us. Once, at the beginning of Che tempo che fa, I was very uncomfortable with Zeffirelli. I was ashamed, called him some time later to apologize and he was very nice. I missed the opportunity, I could talk to him about wonderful things and I talked to him about alleged building violations at his house. Because I thought I was cool because I was evil, you need a license to claim the right to say unpleasant things. Respect for those who do it, another job. I don’t think I have that license, and maybe I never will.
How do you explain to your children what is happening in the Middle East and Ukraine between war and stadium factions?
“The first fact is generational, I have two children aged 19 and 15, we assume that parameters based on our education, for which words have a certain meaning, are self-evident. Even the word “Middle East” means nothing to them. My attempt is to explain it by contextualizing it to a place and time. We do not realize that the 20th century education we have is much closer to the 19th century than to the present. And they don’t have these tools, the real problem is being able to involve them in what’s happening in the world.”
His relationship with Mike Bongiorno, from fan to renter.
“As a child, I let my father take me to the Astor cinema in Savona. Mike came on Sunday mornings to promote encyclopedias. It was incredible for me to see that, I said, “Dad has the same glasses as on TV.” Many years later my wife and I were looking for a house to rent and I found myself downstairs in a property, that belonged to his wife Daniela. Mike had the video intercom hooked up to a TV station, I tuned in at half past six, I knew he would be back and I was watching him. When I did the first Sanremo, I came home after the last evening, it was four in the morning. Mike had come to the landing to put up a series of notes, he had written me all the comments night after night. I keep everything.”
The boy, who starts out as a Raffaella Carrà impersonator, ends up interviewing Pope Francis. When you look back, what do you see?
“It seems very strange to me. It’s like I opened a giant clamp one day and haven’t closed it yet. I always have this stupid feeling when I’m living it, like it’s really just a parenthesis, I’m the one who thinks I’ll never go on TV.
Is it true that you should host an event show dedicated to Carrà on Rai1?
“It’s true. It wasn’t done because a lot of time was wasted and I was very sorry.
His contract with Discovery runs for four years and includes additional projects.
“I would like to do something new.”
Fiorello says he has to ask Discovery for a release and make Sanremo 2025.
“After Amadeus’s triumph, Fiorello is the only one who can do it! I think that these four years in the new house that hosts me are the last four years of my career and that it will be very difficult to return to Rai.”
Many stars have appeared in your shows. What’s the strangest request you’ve received?
“Madonna wanted everything black, even the carpet had to be black, she didn’t want to hear any noise on the floor. At the time of Those Who Football, Elton John was craving Smarties. An important quantity, except those of one color. So there was someone who had to choose one by one. These things amuse me because in what other profession can something similar happen?”
What are you preparing for the next episodes?
“On Sunday, after almost ten years, Beppe Grillo returns to television for a meeting that, in my opinion, will be extremely surprising.”
Are there any more recordings coming?
“We are working on many names, but we are not looking for a coup at any cost. It’s not the name that makes the point, it certainly helps. But we are working on construction, that makes the difference. The climate that is created.”
Fabio, who should you thank?
“Bruno Voglino and Guido Sacerdote, who took me in at the first audition for Pronto Raffaella. A big thank you to Enrico Vaime, with whom I worked in radio for twenty-five years. Black out, I was nineteen. To save me money on the taxi, Luciano Salce took me to the airport. Vaime said, “You know, with Ennio…” and Ennio was Flaiano. I was lucky enough to experience the Rai of the 50s and 60s in 1983. I lived forty years of Rai, but it was as if I had lived sixty thanks to them.”
He is good, rich, famous, successful. What is missing?
“Maybe I don’t have the time, I would like to have more time.”
Make?
“Maybe it’s trivial, but the only thing I care about is spending as much time as possible with my children.”