January 6: Wess and Dori Ghezzi win the last edition of Canzonissima with Un corpo e un'anima (A body a soul). The show ends its cycle on the sly; the final evening is not aired because a strike and the results of the contest are announced briefly by the news program.[1]
March 1: Gilda wins the Sanremo Festival, presented by Mike Bongiorno ad Sabina Ciuffini, with Ragazza del sud (Southern girl). It is considered the weakest edition of the contest, boycotted by the record companies and almost ignored by RAI, which broadcasts only the final evening.
April 14: RAI reform is promulgated; the estate's control passes from government to parliament.[2]
May 14 the Parliamentary Committee for Supervision of Radio and TV Services settles downs; its first president is the DC Giacomo Sedati.[2]
May 23: the socialist Beniamino Finocchiaro becomes RAI president; the DC Michele Principe general director.[2]
August: RAI begins the technical trials of colour broadcastings, with the PAL system.[2]
September 24: RAI broadcasts Federico Fellini’s La dolce vita, 15 years after its release in the theatres. The movie, till then judged too outrageous for the Italian public, had been already aired by the major European televisions.[3]
Private Channels
In 1975, besides the already numerous cable TV, the private channels by air spread in Italy. They operate with little means and out of legality; yet, many Italian praetors acknowledge them the right to broadcast.
March: Telebiella, the pioneer of Italian cable televisions, stop to broadcast.
List of private channels born in 1975
in Livorno, TVL Radio Televisione Libera (later Telelivorno), founded by the businessman Paolo Romani and the 24 years old journalist Marco Taradash (15 January).[4]
in Milan, Telealto Milanese, founded by Renzo Villa and Enzo Tortora, (April 10). It gets a noticeable success, thanks to the presence of RAI stars, as Tortora, Cino Tortorella and Walter Chiari, and is the first private channel to air a news program, but declines after the Tortora√ leaving.[5]
in Cagliari, Videolina, the main Sardinian television, again existing (June 19).
Debuts
Il dirigibile (The airship) – show for children, hosted by Toni Santagata and Mal, with a cast mixed of actors and puppets; 5 seasons.
L’ospite delle due (The 2 PM guest) – first talk show in Italian television, aired the Sunday evening, hosted by Luciano Rispoli; 2 seasons.
Il pomofiore (The fruit-flower) – amateur show hosted on Telealto Milanese by Enzo Tortora, then on Antenna 3 by Lucio Flauto; 6 seasons. The contenders get by the public flowers (for the good performances) or fruits (for the bad ones). It is the first success show of the Italian private television.
Shows of the year
Drama
L’amico delle donne (The women's friend) – by Davide Montemurri, from Alexandre Dumas fils.’s play, with Carlo Giuffrè and Giuliana Lojodice. A man of the world, expert of female psychology, solves the conjugal problems of an aristocratic couple.
Processo per l'uccisione di Raffaele Sonzogno giornalista romano (Trial for the murder of Raffaele Sonzogno, Roman journalist) – by Alberto Negrin, with Ferruccio Amendola and Antonio Guidi, inspired by a true crime happened in Rome in 1875 and never fully clarified; 2 episodes.
Miniseries
Una città in fondo alla strada (The town at the end of the road) – by Mauro Severino, with Massimo Ranieri and Giovanna Carola; 5 episodes. The adventures of a boy and a girl from South Italy, looking for a better tomorrow in Milan.
Giandomenico Fracchia, sogni proibiti di uno di noi (Giandomenico Fracchia, forbidden dreams of one of us) - comedy by Antonello Falqui, with Paolo Villaggio and Ombretta Colli; 4 episodes. Villaggio plays one of his typical characters, a timid and cowardly clerk who seeks refuge in fantasy.[12]
Quello della porta accanto (The next door's guy) – comedy with musical numbers by Stefano De Stefani, with Ric e Gian as two neighbours of opposite characters, a quiet accountant and a playboy; 5 episodes.
La traccia verde (The green track) – by Silvio Mestranzi, with Sergio Fantoni and Paola Pitagora; 3 episodes. Mix of sci-fi and detective story, inspired by the controversial theory of plant perception; a murder is solved thanks to the witness of a house plant, recorded through a polygraph.[16]
Variety
Di nuovo tante scuse (Many apologies again) – by Romolo Siena, with Raimondo Vianello and Sandra Mondaini; the show repeats the formula of Tante scuse.[17] It is the most seen show of the year, with 26, 7 million viewers.[18]
Fatti e fattacci (Deeds and foul deeds) – by Antonello Falqui, with Gigi Proietti and Ornella Vanoni as two wandering actors, playing stories inspired by the Italian folklore and the crime news. Winner of the Rose d’or, it is one of the few RAI variety socially minded.[19]
Mazzabubù – by Antonello Falqui, with Gabriella Ferri and the Bagaglino troupe. Sequel to Dove sta Zazà, the show recalls nostalgically the Italy of the Fifties.
La compagnia stabile della canzone con varietà e con comica finale (The permanent song company, variety and slapstick included) – hosted by Christian De Sica, with Mia Martini (who gets a personal success as singer and variety actress), and Renato Rascel .
Mia, incontro con Mia Martini (Mia, meeting Mia Martini) – by Antonello Falqui.[21]
Totanbot – musical variety by Romolo Siena, with Iva Zanicchi.[22]
2 November - Pier Paolo Pasolini, 53, writer and director. He was one of the severest censors of the Italian television, until requesting its shutdown, but also a constant guest in the RAI cultural programs.[23]