I delays in television programming can trigger real media storms. The last episode is that of Lilli Gruber who yesterday got angry about the delay accumulated by Enrico Mentana’s news (“incontinence is a bad thing”). The journalist today replied piquedly via social media, also towards his top management: “Heavily contemptuous judgement” from which “so far no one among La7’s top management has felt the need to distance themselves”. However, this is not the first time such delays have become a source of discord between hosts.
Also Bianca Berlinguer when she hosted ‘Cartabianca’ on Rai3 was notorious for these slips. A significant incident was the 20 minute delay in her program which caused thethe anger of Maurizio Mannoni, host of ‘Linea Notte‘. “We go on air out of a sense of responsibility”, the host commented harshly at the beginning of the programme. A year later – during the episode of 25 October 2022 – however, it was ‘Cartabianca’ that lost out, starting late due to Marco Damilano, who with his programme, ‘The Horse and the Tower’, had exceeded it by 17 minutes.
And also Bruno Vespa he is not new to these dynamics and when someone needs to be reproached he doesn’t think twice. In October 2020, the host of Porta a Porta launched a double dig at the editorial staff of Tg1, first criticizing his colleagues for not mentioning his program, then underlining their delays. Also in the same year, in December, he also criticized Amadeus for having exceeded the time by half an hour with ‘Sanremo Giovani’. “There are more important programs than ours”, the journalist commented sarcastically. In the end, Milo Infante which with its program ‘2pm’ on Rai 2 is constantly delayed by Tg2. In March of this year the host’s last outburst: “Many of you write to us ‘but is it possible that you never manage to leave on time?’ The answer is obviously no,” he commented in a polemical tone.