Videoage International August-September 2021

8 Four Decades of Int’ l TV Biz August/Sept. 2021 V I D E O A G E 1981-1990: This period can be described as “The Easy Rider” years, when international TV wasn’t yet on corporate radar screens, and the international TV people involved could run their business at their own pace and style. VideoAge launched in 1981 when Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi became the de facto king of private TV. At that time, Milan’s MIFED was a major film-TV market and RAI’s Prix Italia was considered the world’s most important TV festival. The following years saw the emergence of territories like Australia (epitomized by leaders such as Kerry Packer), Canada (boosted by the Banff TV Festival, headed by innovator Carrie Hunter), and the growing economic and social power of religious broadcasting in the U.S. (exemplified by the opulent lifestyle of TV preacher Jim Bakker, who in 1989 spent five years in prison on federal charges). 1981 1983 1982 1984