It’s a hectic weekend that precedes Monday’s Rai board of directors, which sees the appointment of Roberto Sergio as the new chief executive following the resignation of Carlo Fuortes. Pressure calls from the parties have reached the councilors whose voice is the least obvious. Obviously Sergio will not vote on Monday. And while centre-right councilors Simona Agnes and Igor De Biasio are sure of their yes, and Francesca Bria to the contrary (Pd share), independent Riccardo Laganà would be for an abstention (which is worth a no), as would he did the earlier ad. At this point, the votes of President Marinella Soldi (whose vote counts double in the event of a tie) and that of Alessandro di Majo (M5S share) would be decisive. The Grillini are negotiating an important direction for Giuseppe Carboni, without which there would be a no or an abstention. If this were the case, under the conditions of parity, Soldi’s vote would be decisive.
“The board is already in the hands of Matteo Renzi,” read the rumor that circulated yesterday, alluding to the relationship between the former prime minister and Soldi. A problem that Sergio will not have after his appointment, when he will have to indicate the directors of the genre (the opinion of the board is not binding) and the masthead (it will be enough if there are not 5 votes against). Instead, there must be a majority for the approval of the year-end budget and for the next appointments in the subsidiaries Rai Cinema, Rai Com and San Marino Rtv. “The decision of the board will be primarily a verdict on the method used to cast Rai,” tweeted Fnsi President Vittorio Di Trapani. “The Rai law must be changed,” attacks Usigrai’s secretary, Daniele Macheda. Yesterday Pd and M5S rejected the hypothesis that Report, the transmission of Siegfried Ranucci, will be cancelled. Rumors in Rai circles denied.
Instead, Fabio Fazio would be close to signing with Discovery, whose program would move to Nove. The conductor has been awaiting confirmation since March 15, when he asked if his contract, which expired at the end of June, would be extended. However, no one would have entered into negotiations to persuade him to stay. Speaking again yesterday, Fuortes denied the rumours, saying he was “unavailable to take on the role of Artistic Director of the San Carlo Theater”. The artistic director does not deny that it “would be a pleasure and an extraordinary honor” to direct a theater whose “noble tradition is continued to the current direction by Lissner”, who is thus honored by him. But San Carlo is “perhaps the most iconic and identifying place” for Naples and “should be treated as such,” stresses Fuortes. Therefore, “the superintendent must have broad and common support from the whole community” and his appointment “shall in no way be distorted, biased, or appear to be biased”. For this reason, he concludes that “in my opinion, the requirements for the exercise of the function of superintendent are not met”. No act of government can therefore lead Fuortes to San Carlo. But what would happen if “the whole community,” represented on the San Carlo board of directors, clamored for it?