{"id":302947,"date":"2025-07-30T04:07:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/302947\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T04:07:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T04:07:12","slug":"silvio-berlusconi-haunts-germanys-media-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/302947\/","title":{"rendered":"Silvio Berlusconi haunts Germany’s media scene"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nBERLIN \u2013 <\/b>A brief wave of political nostalgia swept through the German government\u2019s press briefing in Berlin this week, when a spokesperson announced that Silvio Berlusconi would be the next high-profile guest to visit Friedrich Merz\u2019s Chancellery.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

One problem: the longest-serving prime minister of post-war Italy died two years ago \u2013 as a member of the press corps quickly pointed out.<\/p>\n

In fact, it\u2019s not Silvio, but his son Pier Silvio Berlusconi who\u2019s been invited to Berlin to discuss his family\u2019s attempt to take over Germany\u2019s second-largest private media company, ProSiebenSat.1, via the late patriarch\u2019s media empire, MediaForEurope (MFE).<\/p>\n

The plans initially surfaced in March, but MFE announced on Monday that it would raise its offer to stakeholders to take full control of the company, in which it currently holds a 30% stake. <\/p>\n

\nThe move has aggravated concerns about the editorial direction of ProsiebenSat.1, which operates two of Germany\u2019s largest private broadcasters,\u00a0prompting rare interference from Berlin.\n<\/p>\n

\n\u201cA change of ownership must not lead to a restriction of journalistic independence,\u201d warned Germany\u2019s Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Wolfram Weimer. He said that he had invited Berlusconi, as it was important to review “who is behind” the takeover of “such an important institution”.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe bid has revived the spectre of Silvio Berlusconi \u2013 the four-term prime minister, media magnate, and former owner of the football club AC Milan.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe German press long viewed his string of private and political scandals from afar, often with a mixture of fascination and disdain.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn the late 2000s, as EU countries like Italy struggled under billion-euro debt burdens, frugal Germans were bewildered by the repeated electoral success of Berlusconi and his centre-right party, now known as Forza Italia.\n<\/p>\n

\nThat frustration was rooted not only in his stubborn reluctance to reform Italy’s debt-laden economy, but also in Berlusconi’s repeated legal entanglements, including allegations of tax fraud and bribery \u2013 such as paying hush money over his infamous ‘bunga bunga’ sex parties. He denied all charges.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Independence at stake?
\nThese days, the focus of German concerns over MFE\u2019s takeover bid is less about Berlusconi\u2019s scandal-strewn party lifestyle and more about media impartiality.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe have been warning about the takeover by Berlusconi’s heirs for some time now,\u201d said Mika Beuster, chair of the German Journalists Association (DJV). \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\nIn the 1990s and 2000s, Berlusconi’s broadcasters, such as Italia 1 and TG4, were known \u2013 and often criticised \u2013 for steering their editorial lines toward a right-wing or pro-Berlusconi direction.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe media empire is still considered to be close to Forza Italia, while Berlusconi himself had good relations with Russia’s pariah president, Vladimir Putin, which is now raising eyebrows in Germany.\n<\/p>\n

\nBeuster from the DJV said he was “concerned about jobs in journalism, and on the other hand, because of the troubling proximity of MFE media to right-wing populist positions.”\n<\/p>\n

\nPier Silvio Berlusconi has attempted to assuage such concerns\u00a0though his reassurances have been met with scepticism. MFE, he said, was not seeking \u201ctotal control\u201d, but rather a stake that would allow the company to \u201cprovide a clear direction, grounded in a joint vision\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\nWhile it would not be easy for the German government to stop a takeover, Berlusconi will need to persuade stakeholders and best the Czech investment conglomerate PPF Group, which currently holds a 15% stake in ProSiebenSat.1 and is looking to increase it.\n<\/p>\n

\n*Nicoletta Ionta contributed reporting.\n<\/p>\n

\n(aw, jp)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BERLIN \u2013 A brief wave of political nostalgia swept through the German government\u2019s press briefing in Berlin this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[2000,299,1824],"class_list":{"0":"post-302947","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-germany"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114940218096856479","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}