Like a sense of propriety in high office, the normal rules of competition are a somewhat alien concept in Italy’s media sector. Nowhere has this been more apparent than in the TV business, where Silvio Berlusconi, the country’s prime minister, enjoys a near monopoly via his ownership of commercial broadcaster Mediaset and his de facto control over Italy’s state broadcaster RAI.

In what amounts to a classic pincer movement, RAI and Mediaset have this year adopted a series of unusual tactics to frustrate the development of Sky Italia, News Corp’s successful satellite pay-TV operator and the only real alternative to Italy’s incumbents.