ABSTRACT
Traditionally, Italy’s television audience is mostly female: this is one reason why the
television industry is continually investing in, expanding and diversifying the con-
tent, channels and formats available for women.1 In recent years, the Italian television
market has witnessed the launch and consolidation of several multi-channel plat-
forms, which have significantly restructured the market and the entire competitive
landscape. Channels explicitly dedicated to women and prominently featuring
factual entertainment programming or scripted drama are an increasingly significant
phenomenon on contemporary Italian television and have a pervasive presence on
both free and pay-TV. Many elements combine to construct a channel’s identity,
calculated to target a female-only audience: these include the name of the channel,
the logo, the graphics and, of course, the programming. Just as the idea of ‘television
for women’ now encompasses a very diverse spectrum of channels, genres and
programmes, so new female-gendered channels address a range of ideal viewers with
very different ages, tastes and consumption styles.
